At Wings Over Houston Airshow, an Annual Affair Adapts to Peculiar Pandemic Year
The four tiny dots appeared amid a streak of smoke high in the sky trailing the tail of an airplane, each one a skydiver in free-fall at 120 miles per hour after jumping from the plane. Van Halen’s hit song “Jump” blared from speakers facing a sea of cars as people next to the vehicles raised their heads in marvel.
Although an extraordinary performance with somewhat strange circumstances on the ground, the stunt Saturday afternoon presented a sense of normalcy in a year that’s been anything but that as it was among numerous acts during the first day of the annual Wings Over Houston Airshow, which marked one of the first major events to occur in the Houston area amid the coronavirus pandemic that grounded life to a pause months ago. It was also one of the few airshows that materialized this year, albeit a “drive-in” modified one.
Absent were the food and drink vendors who set up shop throughout Ellington Airport, tents where guests can get autographs, games and other exhibitions. Instead drivers were directed to park in socially-distant spots. Spectators were permitted to set chairs and tables on one side of their vehicle, but not the other to maintain space between others in accordance with recommended health guidelines. Designated sections with porta potties were the only places people were allowed to wander to. Every attendee was expected to answer several health screening questions upon arrival.
Some onlookers stood in front their cars while others sat atop of their trucks and minivans, umbrellas dotting the lines of shiny cars underneath a brilliantly sunny day with not a cloud in sight for most of the show. In all, 1,352 tickets — each good for one car with up to six people — were sold and more than 1,200 had already been sold for Sunday.
Organizers work two years out in planning the event, but they did not get approval from city officials until mid-September this year, director Bill Roach said.
“We had a few short weeks to pull it all together,” he said as a plane buzzed by overhead.
The uncertainty of the event’s fate for weeks was among the most difficult aspects of preparing, Roach said, as was putting on a show on short notice. But a core of loyal volunteers helped.
And in line with the rest of the year that’s dished out plenty of curve balls, weather conditions forced the cancellation of Friday’s performances. Had all gone as planned, the weekend would have been the first three-day show that Roach, who has served as director for about 16 years and before that as chairman of the board for a decade, could remember.
But on Saturday it came together. His favorite part? “Having the air show. Period.”
“We’re honored to be able to do it and make it happen and not break the continuity of entertaining our fans,” Roach said.
In the middle of the vehicles near the runway sat Josh Hearne and his wife Edelweiss on the bed of a pick-up truck holding umbrellas. Hearne recalled attending the event as a young boy and enjoyed watching the F-16 Fighting Falcon, which earlier in the day had crossed the center stage at a velocity of 950 feet per second, according to an announcer, in one of several maneuvers.
“It’s been perfect,” said Hearne, a 40-year-old resident of Missouri City. “The whole logistics of the event given the circumstances.”
Nearby on a chair sat Ashley Pickhardt, a 22-year-old pilot, observing and learning from those in the sky including Debby Rihn-Harvey, an iconic aerobatics competitor who’s won numerous world championships, ranks among the top of such competitors in the nation and has inspired countless individuals.
“I can’t imagine doing anything else with my life,” Pickhardt said, glancing at a plane in the sky.
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