In The Air
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The USAF Thunderbirds
The Thunderbirds were officially activated June 1, 1953, as the 3600th Air Demonstration Unit at Luke AFB, Ariz. The unit was nicknamed the “Stardusters.” Their first aircraft was the straight-winged F-84G Thunderjet, a combat fighter-bomber that had seen action in Korea. Early in 1955, the team transitioned to the swept-winged F-84F Thunderstreak.
Jacquie B Airshows
Launching into the air show circuit at the age of 50 in a one-of-a-kind aircraft certainly qualifies Jacquie Warda as an extraordinary pilot. Aerobatics is her passion but not her only flying interest. Inspired by over 20 years of watching the Reno Air Races, Jacquie trained to compete in the 2001 races in the bi-plane class. In her inaugural year, she brought in an impressive 6th place showing in the Bronze class.
Jacquie has logged over 2,200 accident-free hours in the 24 years she has been flying in a variety of aircraft including a Stearman, AT-6, T-28, Beechcraft King Air, Baron & Bonanza, Aeronca Champ, Citabria, Decathalon, Lancair, Sukhoi, Yak 52, Nanchang CJ-6 and the Extra 300. Her favorite aircraft is her unique Pitts S-1T.
Tim Weber Airshows
Tim Weber discovered aviation at the age of 13. Having moved within bicycling distance of Turf Soaring School in Phoenix, Arizona, it wasn't long before Tim was a regular visitor to the airport. By the time Tim was 14 years old ha had gone from being the kid looking through the fence to becoming a line-boy, trading work for flying lessons.
Jane Wicker Airshows
Step into our time machine and visit the Golden Age of Aviation. Jane Wicker demonstrates the daring and breath taking art of wing walking. Not just wing riding. This is the real thing. With no safety line and no parachute, she amazes the crowd by climbing, walking and hanging all over her beautiful 450 HP Stearman she affectionately calls “Aurora”. All this right in front of your eyes.
Billy Werth
Growing up in an Air Force family, Billy has been around some sort airplane his whole life. He started flying in 1988 and graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Professional Aviation Technology from Indiana State University in 1994. In 1992 he started teaching aerobatics and has been hooked ever since.
Grayout Aerosports .
PV-2 Harpoon
The Lockheed PV-2 Harpoon was introduced late in WWII as a follow up patrol bomber to the PV-1 Ventura, which was used extensively by both the US Navy and the British as a land based anti-submarine/shipping aircraft. The 545 Harpoons that were built in 1944 and 1945 had longer wings that resulted in both better controllability and increased fuel capacity for longer range patrols. The Harpoon during these long range patrols could carry up to 3,000 lbs of bombs or depth charges and normally had 5 forward (7 with the dorsal turret rotated forward) firing .50 caliber machine guns for strafing attacks against enemy shipping and ground targets.
FM-2 Wildcat
For the first time ever at the Indianapolis Air Show will be the rare General Motors built FM-2 version of the Grumman F4F Wildcat. Flown by both Navy and Marine pilots in the early stages of WWII in the Pacific, the Wildcat was instrumental in winning the Battle of Guadalcanal in late 1942 and early 1943 over the Japanese Imperial Navy and Army. Although the Wildcat was at a performance disadvantage against its main adversary, the Japanese Zero, US Naval and Marine pilots were able to develop tactics that brought the enemy's advance to a halt. Like all Grumman aircraft, the F4F could take considerable battle damage and still bring its pilot home. The FM-2 is a development of the original model made lighter and more powerful in order to operate from escort carriers. It is called the “Wilder Wildcat” and served in both the Atlantic and the Pacific. The Eastern Aircraft Division of General Motors built 4,777 FM-2s in its Linden, NJ assembly plant from 1943 until 1945.
F4U Corsair
The F4U is one the most famous and recognizable fighters from WWII, and was the first U.S. fighter to exceed 400 MPH in level flight. The trademark gull wings are the result of having to place the main landing at the lowest point in the wings to prevent the huge 13 foot diameter propeller from hitting the ground or flight deck on takeoffs and landings. Many, especially former Naval and Marine aviators, consider the Corsair to be the best American fighter of WWII. It continued to be produced into the early 1950’s allowing it to have the longest production run of any fighter that served in the Second World War. It also served with the Marines and Navy in Korea and was last flown by the Marines in 1965.
P-51D Mustang
The Mustang was considered by many to be the finest fighter that that the U.S. produced and flew in WWII. Powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, it had the ability to escort B-17 and B-24 heavy bombers all the way to their German targets, which greatly reduced the losses the bombers were suffering from German fighter defenses. Many high German military officers realized the war was lost when they first saw P-51s in the skies over Berlin. Although it excelled as a long range escort, which it also did for the B-29s on their trips to Japan, the P-51 also turned out to be an excellent ground attack aircraft, destroying many enemy aircraft on the ground. During the Korean War, Mustangs were used extensively in the fighter bomber role and also served with the Indiana Air National Guard in the 1950’s.
F8F Bearcat
During the second half of 1945 US Navy Bearcat units were being trained and on their way across the Pacific to join the war against the Japanese Imperial Empire. Advance units had reached Hawaii when the war came to an end, so the F8F never saw combat with the US military. The reason for the pressing need for the new fighter was its excellent climb rate, which was twice that of the Grumman F6F Hellcat, the current fighter serving on Navy carriers at the time. With the ever constant and increasing threat of the Kamikaze, the F8F would have been excellent in the air defense role to protect the fleet through earlier interception of the incoming enemy. With a gross weight of just over 9,100 pounds, of which 3,000 lbs. was in the 2,100 hp engine, the F8F set and still holds the record for a piston powered aircraft for climb-to-time from brakes off to 10,000 feet with a time of just 96 seconds.
AT-6/SNJ Texan
The AT-6 (SNJ was the Navy designation) Texan was the advanced trainer used by all services in WWII. Over 15,000 of these aircraft were built, and they are the most numerous of the warbirds still flying today. During WWII a trainee had to master the Texan in order to receive his wings, which was a handful to fly, but at the same time it did represent the difficulty that would be found in the more advanced fighters, bombers and transports. There were various types of aircraft in both of the primary and basic categories, but when he moved up to the advanced trainer, there was only the AT-6 that was available and used. During the Korean War the T-6 was used by the USAF as forward air control aircraft and known as a Mosquito.
L-5 Sentinel
Liaison aircraft were used by all of the services in WWII for various tasks, including the evacuation of the wounded to field hospitals. These small aircraft were the predecessors to the medivac helicopter that was developed during Vietnam. The small L Birds had the capability to land and take off from very short landing strips and were most useful along the front lines not only for medical evacuation, but artillery spotting and the movement of messages and people from location to location.
C-45 Expeditor
The Beechcraft Model 18, or "Twin Beech", saw military service during and after World War II in a number of versions including US Army Air Force’s C-45 Expeditor, AT-7 Navigator, and AT-11 Kansan; and for the United States Navy, UC-45J Navigator and the SNB-1 Kansan. The AT-7, AT-11 and SNB-1 versions were used for navigator training, bombardier training, and aircraft gunner training with the AT-11 and SNBs being fitted with turret mounted machine guns, bombardier noses with bombsights, and operational bomb bays containing practice bombs. The C-45’s and UC-45J’s were used as transport for military personal and light cargo hauling. Of the total 8,000 Twin Beeches built, 1800 were constructed for the military during WWII. C-45s were operational with the US Air Force until 1963, while the US Army kept their Expeditors flying until 1972. Many Twin Beeches are still hauling cargo in the 21st century, attesting to its solid design, operational efficiencies, and utility.
L-19/O-1 Bird Dog
The "Bird Dog" was originally ordered by the US Army after WWII to replace the various liaison aircraft that had been used and worn out during that conflict. Cessna delivered 2,486 L-19’s to the Army between 1950 and 1954, of which 60 were diverted to the US Marines. A few saw duties during the Korean conflict, but it was in Vietnam that the O-1, as it was then designated, saw considerable duty. Acquired by the Air Force from the Army, it was used extensively in the early stages of the American involvement as a forward air control aircraft until being replaced by faster aircraft later in the war.
L-17 Navion
The Navion was designed by North American Aviation in 1946 as a civilian aircraft, and Ryan Aeronautical Company bought the design and manufacturing rights in 1947. Over 1,100 were produced, which were used extensively during Korea in a wide variety of roles, including cargo transport, liaison, forward air control, and VIP transport.
T1 Bulldog
The "Bulldog" was used until just recently by the Royal Air Force as a primary trainer for all of its aviation cadets in Great Britain. It features side by side seating for the pupil and instructor which results in better cockpit communication during training, and is fully aerobatic to teach the fledging aviator the necessary maneuvers needed for military flight competency. Currently there are 62 "Bulldogs" operating in the United States.
P-47 Thunderbolt
The P-47, affectionately nicknamed "Jug", was the largest and most heavily armed single engine fighter of WWII, with an internal armament of eight .50 caliber Browning machine guns and nearly 3000 rounds of ammunition. Although originally conceived as a lightweight interceptor, the P-47 developed into a heavyweight fighter and made its first flight on May 6, 1941. The first production model was delivered to the Army Air Force in March of 1942, and in April, 1943 the Thunderbolt flew its first combat mission; a sweep over Western Europe. Used as both a high-altitude escort fighter and a low-level fighter-bomber, the P-47 quickly gained a reputation for ruggedness and the ability to absorb punishment, which would allow both the aircraft and pilot to return safely home. This was due to its sturdy construction and air-cooled radial engine, which enabled the Thunderbolt to absorb severe battle damage and keep flying. During WWII the P-47 served in almost every active war theater and in the forces of several Allied nations, and by the end of the conflict, more than 15,600 had been built, 6,242 of these in Evansville, IN.
EA-1E Skyraider
The Douglas “Skyraider”, powered by a Wright R-3350 18-cylinder radial engine producing 2700 hp, could carry more than 8,000 lbs in bombs, is considered to be the best propeller attack aircraft ever produced, and yet it was literally designed over night in a hotel room. Douglas designers were in Washington, DC in 1944 to see if they could still bid on a new aircraft design for the Navy, and were informed that the new aircraft would only be considered if they produced the plans the next morning. The engineers returned to their hotel, worked all night, and the next morning presented the new design to the Navy, which accepted the plans. Although first flown in March of 1945, first production did not come off the assembly line until 1946, too late for the “Skyraider” to see action in WWII. However, the “Skyraider” served in both Korea and Vietnam where it earned the reputation for the ability to carry heavy loads, loiter for long periods over the target, and absorb large amounts of battle damage and still return home. The most famous role of the “Skyraider” was that of "Sandy" missions in Vietnam, which was the escorting of rescue helicopters to the sites of downed airmen and providing suppressing fire during the retrieval of the pilots. Although it had a propeller and couldn’t fly nearly as fast as the jet aircraft of that era, it could stay at the rescue site and drop bombs and rockets for extended time periods until the pilots were extracted.
Nanchang CJ-6
The Nanchang CJ-6 is the Chinese version of the YAK-18 Russian trainer that was produced after World War II and into the height of the Cold War. The original Chinese version of the aircraft, designated CJ-5 and produced in Nanchang from 1954 until 1958, did not have a retractable landing gear, which made it unacceptable as an initial jet trainer as was originally intended and desired by the Chinese military authorities. This led in to the design of the CJ-6 which included the retractable landing gear and a more powerful engine producing 285 horsepower instead of the previous underpowered 145 hp.
UH-1 Iroquois (Better Known As The Huey)
During the Vietnam War the United States Military used at least 68 different types of aircraft. These included everything from the smallest observation planes to the some of the world's largest bombers and transports. But there is just one aircraft that is synonymous and most identifiable with that conflict, and that is the Bell UH-1 Iroquois. The army named all of its aircraft after American Indian Tribes but the official name never really caught on. The reason for this is that when this aircraft went into service the original designation was HU-1 for Helicopter, Utility, One. The HU-1 was later reversed by the Pentagon for standardization among the different services to UH-1, but by then the unofficial Huey nickname from HU had been established and has stuck with it even until today. The Huey had all sorts of missions that included command and control centers flying over a battleground to psychological warfare missions for dropping leaflets on suspected enemy locations. This was the only aircraft in Vietnam that was used by all four of the military services.
The Hoppers Jet Formation Team
This single engine advanced jet trainer was built in Czechoslovakia and used by Russia, the Eastern Bloc and many of the world's Air Forces in training for the more advance fighters. With a top speed of 617 mph the L-39 could also be configured as an attack aircraft carrying up to 1,100 lbs in bombs, rockets, or a 23mm cannons in gun pods. There were three main variants produced, of which the L-39C was built as a pure trainer and was used by numerous air forces throughout Eastern Europe beginning in 1974 and continuing through today. The L-39C become the most popular jet warbird in the world due to its low operating cost and ease of maintenance, which is a based on the Warsaw Pact philosophy of building aircraft that were simple to maintain and operate.
Hopperflight Included in the website is video of their performance in Indianapolis in 2009.
Be sure to come early and enjoy the multitude of exhibits and displays as well as an expanded food & drink selection, exhibits, and many static displays of airplanes you can see up close and personal.
Performers, Schedule & Events are subject to change .
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