Chesterfield Regional Airport Chesterfield, VA October 20-21, 2007

Photography and story by Rich Kolasa

  For the third time in the last five years, Chesterfield Regional Airport and resident FBO Dominion Aviation hosted an autumn weekend airshow featuring Patty Wagstaff, the Iron Eagles, warbirds (mostly from the Fighter Factory), and numerous other performers and displays.

    Located southwest of downtown Richmond, Virginia, Chesterfield is a beautiful mid-sized general aviation airport in a scenic area of Virginia. The airshow weather gods gave the show superb weather on both days, with Saturday’s skies spotted with some puffy white clouds left-over from the passing storm on Friday, and Sunday’s skies being essentially cloudless. The temperature was unseasonably warm, near 80.

     Patty Wagstaff again was the crowd-favorite headliner, this time with her new paintjob and a bandaged throttle hand, courtesy of a 10-stitch cut on her ring finger that came from a minor accident at home. The Iron Eagles were also back again, thrilling the enthusiastic crowd with tight formations and dazzling crosses.

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     As with the two shows previously held here, Jerry Yagen’s Fighter Factory provided a number of warbirds, along with Larry Kelly’s pristine B-25 “Panchito”, Becky Luther’s T-28, and a number of T-6/SNJ’s including mid-day Saturday arrival Kevin Russo, who flew his nice aerobatic routine. Warbirds in the air were the afore-mentioned B-25, the P-51D “Double Trouble II” flown by Ray Scott, and a few SNJs.

 

     On the ground, static displays included the Berlin Airlift’s C-54 from Allaire, NJ, a TBM, Skyraider, and PBY from Fighter Factory, a couple of Army Blackhawk helos, and numerous light trainers and civilian aircraft. A Ford Mustang car show also added some style, as each vintage auto was photographed with the mighty P-51 on Saturday morning.

 

      The flying in the afternoon airshow included “Doctor Smoke” in his SF-260 and his innovative multi-colored smoke system, the Golden Knights Black Team (jumping from their Twin Otter since the C-31s are in the paint shop), separate L-39 flights from “Angel 7” and Jethro in his “black bunny” Albatross, plus Walt Pierce’s solo aerobatics and his grand-daughter Nicole Rodriguez’s debut as a solo wing-walker on the big Stearman! Pat Davidson’s “Under Pressure” jet ambulance provided some heat on the runway each day, racing the Iron Eagles and Kevin Russo on separate days.

 

      Wayne Boggs was back as airboss, with his lovely wife Carolyn by his side, though this time they were joined on the stand by narrator Rob Reider in his first visit to Chesterfield. Rob made the announcement of a new business venture by Patty Wagstaff and Dominion Aviation’s Mike Mickel, appropriately named “Patty Wagstaff Aviation”, an FBO soon to be at an airport near you.