DARING MEN AND WOMEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES: WINGS OVER GILLESPIE DAZZLES CROWD

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By Miriam Raftery

June 10, 2009 (El Cajon) – A daredevil performance by famed stunt pilot Martin Kennedy thrilled spectators at Wings Over Gillespie, a three-day air show held June 5-7. Kennedy maneuvered a Staudacher S600, considered one of the world’s top aerobatic planes, through a series of tumbles, spins and heart-stopping freefalls that seemingly defied the laws of gravity. Kennedy, a geochemistry professor at the University of California, Riverside, also demonstrated moves he invented including the “barber pole” and the “boomerang.”

To view his performance at Gillespie, watch our video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muHVSYEqlHQ

For more of Kennedy’s performances, visit his website: http://www.kennedyairshow.com/

“We had close to 22,000 people over the entire weekend,” said air show chairman Bob Simon, wing leader of Air Group One, the San Diego division of Commemorative Air Force (CAF), sponsor of the show. “In the past, we’ve had 15,000 to 17,000 people,” said CAF is a national organization founded after World War II to preserve vintage aircraft. “They bought a couple of Bearcats and expanded from there,” said Simon. Today, 69 wing groups around the nation maintain about 159 airplanes. In San Diego, Air Group one has over 100 members.

Other air show highlights included recreations of famous World War II and Viet Nam air battles with pyrotechnic displays. In commemoration of D-Day, eleven planes complete with parachutists recreated the famous invasion battle to the delight of onlookers in El Cajon on Saturday, June 6th. Visitors also had the opportunity to view displays of vintage aircraft and chat with pilots, including members of San Diego 99, a local chapter of the International Organization of Women Pilots, which dates back to Amelia Earthart.

Guests also observed firefighting aircraft make an aerial water drop – and got an unexpected up-close look at a fire engine in action after a pyrotechnic display ignited a brush fire on the infield.

For the future, Simon predicted, ““Next year, consider the response that we got, I think it will be bigger and better.”

For more information on the air show, including photos and additional videos, visit: http://www.wingsovergillespie.org/.

 


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