Great Colorado Air Show Draws Over 30,000 to Northern Colorado Regional Airport

    Oct. 19, 2021
    After a long 19-year absence, the Great Colorado Air Show returned to the skies above the Northern Colorado Regional Airport in Loveland.

    By Tamara Markard

    Source Greeley Tribune, Colo. (TNS)

    Oct. 19—After a long 19-year absence, the Great Colorado Air Show returned to the skies above the Northern Colorado Regional Airport in Loveland.

    The show, which took place Saturday, Oct. 16 and Sunday, Oct. 17, saw a sold-out crowd of more than 30,000 over the weekend.

    The show drew some of the best demonstration pilots from around the state and across the U.S. including Lucas Oil Airshow pilot Mike Wiskus, pilot Dagmar Kress from Denver and pilot Barry Hancock from Utah.

    Kress has been flying for 36 years and became hooked on aerobatic flying after taking a ride in an aerobatics plane.

    "I enjoy being free like a bird. You turn the airplane on and it does what you do with it," she explained. "It's all about the people and the plane is a vehicle for me to enjoy the people too."

    *

    More sights from the Great Colorado Air Show that took place Oct. 16-17, 2021 at the Northern Colorado Regional Airport in Loveland. (Photo credit Randy Owens/RandyOwens.Smugmug.com)

    *

    More than 30,000 fans came out over the weekend to watch the Great Colorado Air Show at the Northern Colorado Regional Airport in Loveland. (Photo credit Randy Owens/RandyOwens.Smugmug.com)

    *

    More sights from the Great Colorado Air Show that took place Oct. 16-17, 2021 at the Northern Colorado Regional Airport in Loveland. (Photo credit Randy Owens/RandyOwens.Smugmug.com)

    *

    More sights from the Great Colorado Air Show that took place Oct. 16-17, 2021 at the Northern Colorado Regional Airport in Loveland. (Photo credit Randy Owens/RandyOwens.Smugmug.com)

    *

    More sights from the Great Colorado Air Show that took place Oct. 16-17, 2021 at the Northern Colorado Regional Airport in Loveland. (Photo credit Randy Owens/RandyOwens.Smugmug.com)

    *

    More sights from the Great Colorado Air Show that took place Oct. 16-17, 2021 at the Northern Colorado Regional Airport in Loveland. (Photo credit Randy Owens/RandyOwens.Smugmug.com)

    *

    The U.S. Navy Blue Angels have been performing at different cities across the nation and around the world for 75 years. (Photo credit Randy Owens/RandyOwens.Smugmug.com)

    *

    More than 30,000 fans came out over the weekend to watch the Great Colorado Air Show at the Northern Colorado Regional Airport in Loveland. (Photo credit Randy Owens/RandyOwens.Smugmug.com)

    *

    Parachute teams demonstrated different maneuvers for audience members at the Great Colorado Air Show that took place Oct. 16-17, 2021 in Loveland. (Photo credit Randy Owens/RandyOwens.Smugmug.com)

    Show Caption

    of

    Expand

    Kress said that she hopes shows like the Great Colorado Air Show inspire audience members to take an interest in aviation and aerobatic flying.

    "They might see a show and choose to go for a career in aviation," Kress said. "There's a lot of opportunities and possibilities in aviation right now."

    In addition to specialized aerobatic planes, the show featured demonstrations from an F-35 Lightning II, A-10 Thunderbolt II and P-51 Mustang and a mini-jet piloted by Tom Larkin.

    As audience members fixed their eyes to the sky, performers were busy doing barrel rolls, inverted spins, double hammerhead, torque rolls and other tricks while filling the sky with white smoke.

    In between plane demonstrations, the U.S.A.F. Wings of Blue and the U.S. Navy Leap Frogs parachute teams showed audience members what they can do with just a piece of fabric and some string.

    As the parachute teams made their way to the ground, people in the audience cheered and waved.

    Each of the shows over the weekend was capped off by a performance from the U.S. Navy Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron.

    "I am retired Navy so I am here to support the Blue Angels," said Mark Madsen from Denver. "You can't beat a Blue Angels show; they are the best flight team in the military. I have seen them twice before and they are amazing. Their maneuvers are tight and they are highly trained pilots."

    U.S. Air Force retired veteran, Jeff Gallos from Fort Collins, had to "respectfully disagree" with Madsen about the team being "the best" precision flight team in the military.

    "I mean, they are good, you can't deny that. But I would argue that the Air Force Thunderbirds are better," Gallos said, chuckling. "Since the Thunderbirds aren't in this show, I decided to come out and support the Navy. But just for the record, the Thunderbirds are the best."

    No matter what branch of the military people served in or supported, everyone in attendance were excited to see the U.S. Navy Blue Angels take to the air to showcase their amazing tactical skills and perform jaw dropping maneuvers.

    The U.S. Navy Blue Angels were formed in 1946 when Chief Naval Operations, Admiral Chester Nimitz had an idea to create a flight exhibition team to help raise public interest in the military branch and bolster Navy members' moral.

    Since then, the team has performed for over 500 million fans and takes part in around 40 air shows per year. The team spends about 300 days on the road traveling to and from air shows.

    The squadron is made up of 16 officers that serve in specific jobs such as pilots, events coordinator, maintenance officer, flight surgeon and other critical roles.

    Candidates interested in becoming a pilot for the Blue Angels must be "career-oriented, carrier-qualified, active duty Navy or Marine Corps. tactical jet pilots with a minimum of 1,250 flight hours," the organization's website reports. New pilots and support officers are chosen by a unanimous vote. Officers serve two to three years on the team while enlisted personnel serve three to four years. After their tour, team members return to their prior positions with the Navy or Marine Corps.

    The flight team is comprised of six pilots that fly the Boeing F/A-18 Hornet jets and three pilots assigned to the Lockheed Martin C-130 J Super Hercules support aircraft.

    Pilots flying in the squadron for the 2021 season are:

    * Jet No. 1 — Capt. Brian C. Kesserling, flight leader and commanding officer.

    * Jet No. 2 —LCDR. James Haley, right wing

    * Jet No. 3— Maj. Frank Zastoupil, left wing.

    * Jet No. 4 — LCDR. James Cox, slot

    * Jet No. 5 — CDR. Ben Walborn, lead solo

    * Jet No. 6 —LCDR. Cary Rickoff, opposing solo

    * C-130 "Fat Albert" pilots — Maj. Rick Rose, Capt. William Huckeba and Capt. Jackson Streiff

    Streiff is one of the newer members to the team and one of the few Marines that are assigned to the flight squadron. The Marine has been flying C-130 planes for over 4 years.

    "One of my good friends joined the team a year before me so I submitted an application because I thought it would be a cool experience," he explained. "I am pretty fortunate to get selected to be here."

    For more information on the Great Colorado Air Show and possible future events, go to www.greatcoloradoairshow.com.

    ___

    (c)2021 the Greeley Tribune (Greeley, Colo.)

    Visit the Greeley Tribune (Greeley, Colo.) at www.greeleytribune.com

    Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.