MONTGOMERY, N.Y.—Historic bombers, modern fighters, and smoking show planes buzzed and thundered over Orange County Airport on Aug. 23 and 24.
Thousands of locals, tourists, and plane enthusiasts watched the Air Dot Show from the grassy fields of the Orange County Airport in Montgomery. With pleasant late August weather, clear skies, and no mishaps, the demonstrations were a pleasure for all involved.
The show began with soldiers from West Point parachuting with the American flag as the National Anthem was sung.
As soon as the parachutists landed safely on the ground, Mark Meredith was in the sky in his Super Chipmunk plane, Chippy.
The retired Navy captain flew his blue, art deco-style show plane in arcs, spirals, and dives. Smoke billowed from its belly, leaving trails in its path. The final act of Meredith’s performance was racing a Cyberbeast, a high-performance variant of the Tesla Cybertruck.
Chippy was originally built in 1951 as a British-built trainer aircraft. It served many roles over the years, including as a crop duster in Australia and a military trainer in Canada. Meredith acquired the plane in 2009 and spent five years and 5,000 hours turning it into the masterful acrobatic aircraft it is now. Chippy won a coveted Lindy Aircraft Award as the Champion Customized Classic in 2015.
Once Meredith had grounded his plane, a C-17 Globemaster from the Stewart Air National Guard Base did three laps over the runway, its four massive turbines roaring 500 feet over the crowds on the field.
The C-17 is the U.S. Air Force’s main transport plane, capable of carrying 85.5 tons. It can even transport an M1 Abrams main battle tank.
The next demonstration, by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), featured two F-16 Viper fighter aircraft escorting a Piper PA-31 Navajo. An officer from NORAD explained the procedures of how the organization responds to unidentified aircraft in restricted airspace.
The two F-16s came up on each side of the Navajo, a six- to eight-seat double-engined plane. They guided it to land on the runway, where the theoretical airspace trespasser would be picked up by law enforcement.
The next plane to fly was a B-25 Mitchell bomber called Panchito. The gleaming silver aircraft participated in combat in the Pacific theater of World War II. The bomber simulated a bombing run, with the aircraft coming in on a long swooping arc and the bomb bay dropping open at the lowest point. Then the B-25 flew back up into the sky.
The announcers told the daring story of the Doolittle Raid during the demonstration. As the story goes, 16 B-25 bombers under Lt. Col. James Doolittle undertook a near suicide mission in 1942 to bomb Tokyo. The United States had been on the back foot since the bombing of Pearl Harbor in late 1941 and needed a victory for morale. The B-25s made it all the way to Tokyo, where they caused some minor damage to military and industrial targets.
With not enough fuel to return to their aircraft carrier, they headed toward the Soviet Union. The fuel was still too little, and 15 bombers were ditched over China. A single bomber made it to the USSR. Of the 80 airmen on the mission, 69 returned to the United States with the help of the Russians and Chinese. In retribution for aiding the U.S. airmen, the Japanese army launched Operation Sei-go, killing an estimated 250,000 Chinese civilians in the provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangxi.
Next after the B-25 came a Douglas C-47 Skytrain named Placid Lassie and a T-6 Texan named the Pilot Maker.
The C-47 is a World War II-era transport aircraft that served many roles, including transporting troops, cargo, and paratroopers. It was painted with the “invasion stripes,” black and white stripes on the wings and tail of all Allied aircraft that flew in the invasion of Normandy. The marker was used to tell friend from foe.
The T-6 Texan is a two-seat trainer plane from World War II that is notoriously difficult to control on the ground and in the air. The difficulty of the plane may have contributed to superior airmanship by American pilots in aircraft that were easier to control.
The V-22 Osprey’s massive twin propellers spun as it flew in from over the horizon. The blades rotated upward, and the aircraft began to hover low over the runway, blowing dust and grass clippings all over the front-row seats.
The Osprey is an aircraft that serves in the U.S. Marine Corps and has the ability to rotate its blades up and down. This allows it to land, take off, and move like a helicopter but also fly with the efficiency and speed of a plane. It’s critical for getting Marines in and out of combat, and can carry up to 24 men at a time.
Another Osprey was one of several vehicles scattered throughout the airfield that visitors could tour. The Osprey was particularly popular, with a line of people always waiting for a chance to see inside. Other vehicles available for exploration included a Black Hawk helicopter, a Chinook helicopter, a Humvee, a M113 armored personnel carrier, and a C-47 called the Placid Lassie.
The Placid Lassie was built in 1943 and was used on D-Day and the invasion of Normandy to pull gliders. The plane was later used in other operations, including Operation Market Garden and the Battle of the Bulge.
After the Osprey came the F-22 Raptor, the greatest stealth fighter aircraft in the world. The aircraft is renowned for its superb maneuverability, speed, and noise level. Just before the Raptor flew overhead, the announcers suggested that anyone with ear protection put it on immediately.
The fighter flew a tight circle around the runway completely on its side, showing off extremely tight turns and flips, then followed up with a maneuver called the back slide. The jet flew straight up and stopped, then slid backward toward the ground in a controlled descent, its nose still pointing straight up toward the sky.
The Air Dot Show ended with a heart-touching heritage flight, dedicated to all the U.S. military members and the sacrifices they have made. A P-51 Mustang and an F-22 flew laps over the airport side by side before splitting off into different directions.
Master Sgt. Brady Pummel, a demo team superintendent for the F-22, said it’s rare to see F-22s at air shows because of their maneuverability. Normal air show aircraft have guns and armaments stripped off to make them more maneuverable, while F-22s need to remain combat-capable. And any combat unit that needs F-22s gets priority over air shows.
Regarding the Orange County Air Dot Show, Pummel said: “I’ve been to a lot of air shows, but I have not been to many that have such a homey feel. A lot of times, there are millions of people at these air shows, and you can’t really go out in the crowd and talk to everybody. It feels like we’re family here. We have been greeted very well.”
