Duluth Airshow Salutes Aviation on 2023 Opening Day

Jul. 16—DULUTH — My Duluth Air and Aviation Expo experience began Friday, when I found myself sitting in the nose of a B-25 bomber flying west over the city's hillside. I had to remind myself not to be distracted by the extraordinary view; to consider the fact that I was flying in a historic military plane built for a war that began and ended before my parents were born.

A day later, on Saturday, I watched that same plane fly low over a Duluth International Airport runway several times while a voice heard over loudspeakers told the story of the Doolittle Raid: a dangerous 1942 air attack on Japan involving planes of the same make. "God bless you, raiders," intoned the voice as proud music surged.

The reality that boundary-pushing aviation carries unavoidable risks, even in peacetime, was driven home less than an hour later, when a member of the U.S. Navy Parachute Team was seriously injured during a stunt jump. The airshow paused for 45 minutes while the injured jumper received care and was evacuated by helicopter.

(In a Sunday news release, the Duluth Airshow said the jumper was in "stable condition" at Essentia Health-St. Mary's Health Center but that the team would not be participating in Sunday's show as an official investigation is planned.)

The pause was a somber interval in a day that otherwise had a carnival atmosphere, with attendees browsing displays and parking their portable chairs to watch several hours of aerial entertainment. The accident happened during a second appearance by the U.S. Navy Parachute Team, who also opened the show with several jumpers trailing streams of color and carrying a "don't tread on me" flag.

Rob Reider, whose

website

describes him as "the most sought-after announcer on the North American Air Show circuit," narrated the day's events with a chummy sincerity. When the parachute team's cargo plane took off with a roar during introductory remarks by U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, Reider declared: "That, Senator, is the sound of freedom."

Duluth's own 148th Fighter Wing had pride of place with the first official jet demonstration. "They're going to beat up the field a little bit," said Reider as a pair of F-16 Fighting Falcons zipped through the air. Numerous attendees wore "Top Gun" shirts, and no wonder: The airshow was very much in the spirit of Maverick's infamous control tower flybys.

Between regular departures for United and Delta passenger flights, a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III cargo plane demonstrated a short field landing, rolling backward after coming to a quick stop. (No, Reider explained, the plane doesn't have a backup cam.)

While the wildfire haze that gave the Northland's morning skies a red tint had largely lifted by early afternoon, the airshow audience greeted a much more proximal source of smoke with the arrival of the fire-belching Smoke-n-Thunder Jet Car.

A ground vehicle so fast it needs to deploy a parachute as a brake, the jet car later provided a moment that caused attendees to leap from their camp chairs and hold phones aloft: it raced an airplane, Kyle Fowler's bright yellow Long EZ, introduced as having come "all the way from Canada!" The race was judged a draw, though the Jet Car was surging ahead by the time its chute fluttered out.

Stunt pilot Britt Lincoln took the air in an Extra 330SC monoplane and performed a stomach-flopping series of maneuvers, even as she chatted merrily with Reider by radio.

The part-time Minnesotan told the News Tribune's Dan Williamson that being a stunt pilot has "ruined rollercoasters." It was only the second-ever air show for the pilot, who's currently training for this fall's World Advanced Aerobatic Championships.

Duluth-based Cirrus Aircraft took the spotlight next, demonstrating two popular small aircraft while wowing the crowd with accounts of the company's

whole-plane parachute technology

and an

autopilot feature

that can land a plane safely if a pilot becomes incapacitated.

As if for contrast, an inflatable Navy mascot bearing a certain resemblance to the automatic pilot from the satire "Airplane!" merrily waved and posed for photos with show attendees while the Cirrus planes went through their paces above.

After the Cirrus planes demonstrated the comfort a civilian pilot might be able to enjoy, a P-51 Mustang and A-10C Thunderbolt II flew past in formation — reiterating the day's theme that much of America's aviation innovation has been directed toward military ends, and used at potentially lethal peril to pilots and crews.

The heritage flight soundtrack comprised a wide-ranging medley of Aaron Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man," Def Leppard's " Rock of Ages," Prince's "When Doves Cry" and Dwayne O'Brien's "We Remember." The latter song, an anthem for military aviation preservationists, has lyrics including, "Keep them flying / So that all who see them will know / that their freedom was won by the blood that flowed / and remember."

The mood lightened with the appearance of veteran aerialist Craig Gifford, in his Staudacher S-300, who demonstrated his ability to use the sky as a giant halfpipe while announcers explained the kind of lower-body clenching required to keep a pilot's blood from flowing out of the head under seven to 10 times the force of normal gravity.

(Gifford, of Minneapolis, made headlines around the world in 2020 when he successfully made an emergency landing on Interstate 35 in Arden Hills, Minnesota. The Minnesota Department of Transportation

declared

it was "impressed by the pilot's effort to zipper merge from above!")

The day's remaining attractions included additional military plane demonstrations, culminating in the climactic appearance of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels. The crowd cheered loudly for Amanda Lee, a University of Minnesota Duluth graduate who is the first woman to pilot with the elite demonstration squad.

As has been the case throughout the squad's eight-decade history, the Blue Angels demonstrated the extraordinary power and precision of expertly piloted fighter jets. Executing maneuvers in such close coordination that they looked almost computer-generated, the pilots provided the reliable star attraction attendees were counting on.

As I walked back to my ground transportation on Saturday, I remembered scooting on my back from the B-25 nose into the seat where I'd strap in for landing.

Given that I'd received much of my previous exposure to World War II aerial combat tropes as

interpolated

in pop culture like "Star Wars," it was a rare opportunity to experience the reality of riding between whirling propellers in a plane that was heavily armed in its heyday, but was also highly vulnerable to return fire.

The plane, named the "Miss Mitchell" in tribute to another plane that flew in Europe and Africa during the war, is an authentic B-25 of similar vintage that was used for stateside training and later restored by the

Minnesota Wing

of the Commemorative Air Force.

Seeing the amazement in his passengers' faces after Friday's media flight, our pilot grinned. "It never gets old for us either," he said.

___

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