Vintage plane show planned on Monday

by Daily Inter Lake
| July 17, 2013 9:00 PM

If everything had gone as planned, U.S. Air Force F-16s would have been streaking across the sky over the Flathead Valley this weekend.

Due to federal budget cuts, however, the Flathead Valley air show featuring the Thunderbirds was postponed.

Instead, members of the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce’s air show committee, including Air Boss Gib Bissell, have arranged for a show of vintage aircraft that will take to the skies the evening of Monday, July 22.

The fly-by will be a highlight of the Chamber’s cruise aboard the Far West and will include vintage aircraft dating from as early as the 1920s.

Scheduled for the fly-by are:

v A Corsair and a T-6 owned by Ray Thompson. The Corsair saw service during World War II and the Korean War and was in use by some air forces through the early 1960s in Indochina and Algeria. The T-6 was used to train military pilots for the United States, England and the British Commonwealth.

v Travelair owned by Hank Galpin. This sturdy monoplane was built in the 1920s.

v Pitts owned by Marshall Friedman. First built in 1944, this light aerobatic biplane dominated world aerobatic competitions in the 1960s and 1970s.

v Stearman owned by Dick Schaus. Built in the 1930s and 1940s, the Stearman was a biplane used to train pilots for the U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force and the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Flying with the pilots of these vintage aircraft will be three members of the Thunderbirds, the U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron.

They include Kalispell native Maj. Jason Curtis, Major Joshua Boudreaux and Maj. Curtis Dougherty.

According to Chamber President Joe Unterreiner, this week’s announcement that the Thunderbirds would resume training is a hopeful sign that the local air show (with an appearance by the Thunderbirds) might be a reality in 2014.

Monday’s fly-by will be visible from shore, but the best vantage point will be the deck of the Far West as Chamber members cruise Flathead Lake from 7 to 9 p.m.

To reserve tickets for the cruise, visit the Chamber website at www.kalispellchamber.com and click the online registration button; or call 758-2803. Registration is limited to 145 people.