I never thought that I'd start my 2018 air show season in Rexburg, Idaho with the biennial Legacy Flight Museum Air Show! But as timing of certain events would have it, this one worked out unexpectedly! The main reason I'm in Idaho this weekend is because of my former-roommate's wedding reception down in Idaho Falls, which happens to be the same day as the air show! So I ended up killing two birds with one stone on this trip. It was great to come back to my old stomping grounds and pay a visit to the Legacy Flight Museum where I once volunteered at! I also got to see a few of my old colleagues, and it was great seeing them!
This year's show was themed "Fire in the Sky." It was a typical line-up of the museum's aircraft participating, along with a few aerobatics, starting with my friend Todd Therp, Buck Roetman, and Brad Wursten. Barry Hancock of Pilot Makers Air Shows also started his 2018 air show season by making his first-ever performance in Rexburg with his yellow T-6G Texan. And of course, the show ended with the traditional missing-man formation with the museum's aircraft.
Following the conclusion of the air show, the flight ramp was opened up to allow for opportunities to check out the performing aircraft, so I stuck around for a little over an hour to get up close to the planes, especially some of the latest acquisitions made by the Legacy Flight Museum!
Links:
Legacy Air Show 2018 - Flight Ramp
Legacy Air Show 2018 - Todd Therp (Interavia I-3)
Legacy Air Show 2018 - North American T-6 & P-64 Demo
Legacy Air Show 2018 - Barry Hancock (T-6G Texan)
Legacy Air Show 2018 - Grumman Tracker & Twin Beech
Legacy Air Show 2018 - Stinson Gullwing & Stearman
Legacy Air Show 2018 - Lee Lauderback (P-51D "Ole Yeller")
Legacy Air Show 2018 - Howard DGA-15 Demo
Legacy Air Show 2018 - Buck Roetman (Pitts S-2S Special)
Legacy Air Show 2018 - Brad Wursten (MXS-R)
Legacy Air Show 2018 - "Fire in the Sky" Finale
Legacy Air Show 2018 - Missing Man Formation Fly-Over
Legacy Air Show 2018 - Post-Show Displays & Flights
Photo Preview & Highlights:
Aerobatics by Todd Therp
The first thing I managed to see after arriving was none other than my former-associate during my days at the Legacy Flight Museum, local talent Todd Therp and his Russian Interavia I-3. He performed the usual basic aerobatics.
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| Todd Therp in a climbing roll after takeoff. |
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| Eight-point roll. |
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| Photo pass. |
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| Todd taxiing his Interavia I-3 (N4413N) back to the ramp after landing. |
North American T-6 & P-64 Demo
It was time for some warbird action, starting with some North American Aviation (NAA) heritage and their radial engine aircraft. The Legacy Flight Mueseum's SNJ-3 Texan and P-64 along with Barry Hancock's T-6G Texan took to the skies for a few fly-by passes before moving onto Barry Hancock's Pilot Maker Air Show routine.
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| Barry Hancock's North American T-6G Texan (N49388) airborne after taking off on 17. |
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| The Legacy Flight Museum's North American SNJ-3 Texan (N676JD) airborne after takeoff on 17. |
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| The Legacy Flight Museum's North American NA-68/P-64 replica (N64NA) airborne after takeoff on 17. Pretty thrilled to see a P-64 fly for the first time! |
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| The T-6G and SNJ-3 in a formation fly-by. |
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| Barry Hancock breaking formation to get ready for his solo aerobatic performance while the museum's SNJ-3 gets set up for landing. |
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| One of many solo passes made by the museum's P-64. |
Aerobatics by Barry Hancock
After the museum's SNJ-3 and P-64 landed, Barry Hancock of Pilot Maker Air Shows began his solo aerobatic performance in his North American T-6G Texan.
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| Taking it up into the vertical. |
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| Doing a barrel roll pass. |
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| Halfway through the 8-point roll. |
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| Photo pass. |
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| Landing on 17 following the conclusion of the demonstration. |
Twin Beech & Grumman Tracker Demo
Up next were the two largest aircraft from the Legacy Flight Museum's warbird collection: the Beechcraft Model 18 and the Grumman S-2 Tracker, consisting of several fly-by passes. Looking at the Rexburg-Madison County Airport, a Twin Beech fairs pretty well. But the Grumman Tracker, being the largest aircraft in the collection (and probably the largest aircraft based at the airport) is really exciting to watch, especially when operating from a short runway like Rexburg!
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| Beechcraft SNB-5 Model 18 (N90265) airborne after taking off from 17. The SNB-5 is the Navy and Marine Corps designation for re-manufactured SNB-2s and SNB-2Cs. |
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| Grumman S2F-1 Tracker (N8115M) rotating on 17. |
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| Fly-by pass of the Twin Beech! |
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| Photo pass by the Tracker! |
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| Twin Beech landing on 17. |
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| Twin Beech clear of the runway. |
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| Twin Beech taxiing back to the ramp. |
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| Grumman Tracker on landing roll-out on 17; this one always uses the entire runway! |
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| The Tracker taxiing back to the ramp. |
Stinson & Stearman Demo
Up next was an emulation of the golden age of aviation with the museum's Boeing Stearman and their latest acquisition, the Stinson "Gull-Wing" Reliant, consisting of several fly-by passes.
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| Stinson AT-19 (V-77) Reliant (N43YF) "Yankee Ship" airborne after taking off of 17. |
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| Boeing B75N-1 Stearman (N49259) airborne after taking off of 17. |
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| Photo pass by the Stearman. |
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| A pass by the gull-wing Stinson! |
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| "Yankee Ship" landing on 17. |
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| Stearman landing on 17. |
Aerobatics by Lee Lauderback
In what has become a routine tradition whenever an air show happens in eastern Idaho, Lee Lauderback of Stallion 51 Flight Operations once again performed his solo P-51 Mustang routine in John Bagley's North American P-51D Mustang, "Ole Yeller," the very Mustang once owned and flown by the late-Bob Hoover.
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| Lee Lauderback airborne off of 17 in the North American P-51D Mustang "Ole Yeller." |
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| Lee making a photo pass in "Ole Yeller." |
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| Lee making break for landing. |
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| On landing roll out. |
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| Greeting the crowd as Lee Lauderback taxis by. |
Howard DGA Demo
Taking us back again to that era of the "golden age" of aviation, Todd Therp took up the museum's Howard DGA-15 for a couple of passes show off a "Damn Good Airplane!"
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| Todd Therp in the Howard DGA-15P (NC52991) airborne after taking off of 17. |
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| Todd making one of many fly-by passes in the "Damn Good Airplane!" |
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| Landing roll out on 17. |
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| Todd Therp taxiing the "Damn Good Airplane" back to the ramp! |
Aerobatics by Buck Roetman
Up next was Buck Roetman of Wild Horse Aviation and his Pitts S-2S Special.
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| Buck executing a knife-edge after takeoff in his Pitts S-2S Special (N99MF). |
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| Climbing out. |
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| Final pass before landing. |
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| Buck landing back on 17. |
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| Taxiing the Pitts back to the ramp. |
Aerobatics by Brad Wursten
Brad Wursten concluded the aerobatics portion of the air show in his MX Aircraft MXS-R.
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| Brad Wursten airborne off 17 in his MX Aircraft MXS-R (N545EA). |
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| Barrel rolling. |
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| Knife edge photo pass. |
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| Landing on 17. |
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| Brad taxiing his MXS-R back to the ramp. |
"Fire in the Sky" Finale & Missing-Man Formation
Finally, the flying portion of the air show came to close. In typical Legacy Flight Museum fashion, the museum's former combat warbirds got in the air and made multiple simulated attack runs with pyrotechnics going off in the adjacent golf course. Following the passes, the fighter aircraft performed the show's traditional Missing Man Formation to honor all those who served.
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| Bell P-63C Kingcobra (NL163FS) airborne off 17. |
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| Lee Lauderback taking "Ole Yeller" up again! |
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| North American P-51D Mustang (N551BJ) "Mormon Mustang" airborne off 17. |
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| North American P-51D Mustang (NL2869D) "Section Eight" airborne off 17. |
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| The Grumman Tracker getting airborne off 17 once again. |
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| And finally, the P-64 replica gets in the air off 17 as well. |
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| An attack pass by the P-63. |
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| One of many passes by the "Mormon Mustang." |
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| A pass by the P-64. |
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| Lee Lauderback in "Ole Yeller" making a pass. |
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| "Section Eight" making a pass. |
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| The Grumman Tracker making a pass with bomb bay doors open! |
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| The three Mustangs and the Kingcobra set up for the Missing Man fly-over. |
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| The "Mormon Mustang" breaking formation for the Missing Man. |
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| The Kingcobra, "Section Eight," and "Ole Yeller" doing a formation break for landing. |
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| P-63 landing on 17. |
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| Lee Lauderback slowing "Ole Yeller" down on 17. |
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| "Section Eight" rolling out on 17. |
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| And finally, the "Mormon Mustang" rolling out on 17. |
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| The Grumman Tracker rolling out on 17. |
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| The P-64 landing on 17. |
Post-Show Displays & Flights
At the conclusion of the flying demonstrations, the flight ramp was opened up to the public, allowing for close-up access of all the aircraft that participated in the air show.
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| Cessna 305C/L-19E O-1E Bird Dog (N305CM). |
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| Cessna 305C/L-19E O-1E Bird Dog (N305SU). Note the unusual main landing gear. Known as the Whitaker gear which was an option available on Bird Dogs, this kind of landing gear was before tundra tires came along for bush flying! John Bagley himself made the modifications. |
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| Aviat A-1C-180 Husky (N97WY). |
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| Honda HA-420 HondaJet (N420KA) parked on the ramp. Quite an unusual sight in Rexburg given that jets rarely fly to this airport given the short runway length! But the HondaJet is more than capable of flying into places where most jets can't! |
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| John Bagley taking "Ole Yeller" up with a passenger on board for a joyride. |
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| "Yankee Ship" getting airborne with a few passengers on board for a joyride. |
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| Waco CTO (NX8517). This is another new acquisition by the Legacy Flight Museum as of late-2017. This aircraft is a modern-day vintage replica built in 2012 by Rare Aircraft Ltd. |
And with that, my 2018 air show season is off to a good start! Never did I expect that it would happen to be in an area I was quite familiar with, but certain circumstances made attending this air show possible. It was great to return to Rexburg and see some familiar aircraft along with a bunch of new ones! Next up on my personal air show tour is Hill Air Force Base in Ogden, Utah next weekend!
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