Sixteenth annual AirFest in Lower Township attracts hundreds of aviation lovers

Aug. 30, 2012

Aug. 30--LOWER TOWNSHIP -- All eyes and camera phones were pointed toward the sky Wednesday as a

B-24J Liberator appeared overhead near the roof of the hangar at Naval Air Station Wildwood.

"Here it comes," said several voices in the crowd as they watched the World War II plane make its way to the Cape May County Airport.

The plane was one of three -- the others a B-17G Flying Fortress and a P-51C Mustang -- to land in succession at the airport as onlookers snapped as many pictures as they could.

"I just like the sight of the big planes," said 12-year-old Jonathan DeDemenico after his father took a picture of him with the B-17 in the background.

The boy and his father, Robert DeDemenico, of Westfield, were among hundreds of visitors who made their way to the airport for the 16th annual AirFest, a three-day event that serves as both a fundraiser and a history lesson.

Joe Salvatore, director of the Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum, said the AirFest got its start in 1997 and has grown to include displays on all manner of aircraft, vendors and the trio of planes that arrived Wednesday provided by the Collings Foundation.

The planes travel across the country, offering a glimpse at the aircraft that helped win the war.

While they are polished and in excellent care, the planes reveal their past in small ways, such as the 11 swastikas that line one side of the P-51 nicknamed Betty Jane.

The swastikas represent each German aircraft that the plane shot down.

"I think that (the visitors) should take out of here a belief in the country and the need to continue to be brave and always stick by this country," said Army veteran Bob Olivieri, of Cape May.

Olivieri, 81, spent his time in the 1st Infantry Division in Germany as one of the occupation troops sent in after the war had ended.

"I think it's great," he said of AirFest. "I reminisce a lot and I can only be grateful that I made it back."

Salvatore added that while the hangar at the airport is home to the museum and AirFest, it was a very active training facility during the war.

"Forty-two men died here and there were 129 crashes," he said. Salvatore grew up in Wildwood and recalled watching the planes that came from the Naval Air Station as they flew over the island.

Now, he devotes his time to preserving its history. Plans include adding six hotel rooms, decorated in 1940s style, and a restaurant inside the hangar as another way to draw visitors, he said.

Ed Kille, 72, of Woodstown and North Wildwood, served in the Air Force in 1964 and said that history and a love of aviation are both draws for AirFest.

"I just marvel at the ingenuity of this old military equipment," he said. "You can learn from the past. It just shows you what they were able to do in that generation."

DeDemenico said his father served in the Army during World War II, but never spoke of his time in the military. He said AirFest gave him and his young son a chance to learn about that time.

Something Jonathan agreed was important to both of them.

"(My grandfather) did something for our country," the 12-year-old said.

Contact Trudi Gilfillian:

609-463-6716

[email protected]

Copyright 2012 - The Press of Atlantic City, Pleasantville, N.J.