Planes, jets fly high at air show
Posted On: Monday, May. 4 2009 05:17 AM
By Mason W. Canales
Killeen Daily HeraldTEMPLE — It not every day two F-18s take off from the Draughon-Miller Central Texas Airport, nor is it every day that two A-10 Thunderbolt IIs sit on its runway, but jets do add to an air show.
The Central Texas Air Show took place at the Draughon-Miller Central Texas Airport Saturday and Sunday from 1 to about 5 p.m.
“We are really proud to have the air show here,” said Sharon Rostovich, airport manager.
The show has taken place for the pass 23 years, but moved from Georgetown to Temple seven years ago, Rostovich said.
Central Texas families gathered on both days to watch the various planes twist, spin, twirl, and loop as pilots performed aerobatic stunts in the sky above the airport.
“I like watching the airplanes when they go upside down,” said Dilynn Schoening, 7, of Austin.
Dilynn; her parents Lynn and Nicole; and 3-year-old brother Oliver sat and watch the show from a field inside the airport.
“It (the show) is awesome. We’ve been here before, and we liked it,” Nicole said.
The family’s favorite part of the show is the demonstrations of air-to-ground battles, Schoening said.
The family rushed to be closer to the action during a Vietnam War-era re-enactment to watch planes mock bomb opposing forces and helicopters drop off re-enforcements.
“It was cool,” Dilynn said. “I got a tape of it. I liked it when they made all the explosions.”
Rick Vig and his son, George Vig, 12, of Temple, attended the air show for the first time Sunday. Both were impressed by show, they said.
“I’ve been waiting to come to this, and I never have,” Vig said.
“It is not often that you get to see planes like these flying in the sky,” Vig said pointing to planes from World War II taking off from the runway.
While Vig enjoyed seeing the F-18s take off from the airport too, it was the combination of planes that made the event for George.
“This is great, because you get to see modern planes and historical planes,” George said.
George is a huge plane enthusiast and is a part of the Heart of Texas Young Marines of Waco, he said.
Other then listening to the pilots’ stories, it is the enthusiasm of the children and adults that makes hosting the air show well worth it,
Rostovich said.
“It is something for them to get excited about, and that is what we want to get people interested in general aviation,” Rostovich said.
Rostovich is glad Beth Jenkins, the air show director, has held the air show in Temple the last seven years, she said.
Contact Mason W. Canales at
mcanales@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7554.