“Old Glory” was on static display during the morning at the DAV Flight Team display and now took to the
skies. It put on a number of passes. It soon attracted the attention of the Commemorative Air Force’s A6M3
Zero, which performed several strafing runs on the Mitchell. Soon enough the CAF’s F6F Hellcat was air‐
borne and after a spirited dogfight managed to “down” the Zero. A formation flight by all three of the Pa‐
cific Theater warbirds thrilled the crowds. Steve Hinton later flew a solo demonstration in the P‐38J Lightning
“23 Skidoo.” Jacquie Warda put on an amazing demonstration in her EXTRA 300, showing what is possible in
an aircraft designed especially for aerobatic flight. All eyes were on her bright red plane as she crisply and
energetically went through her routine.
The highlights of the show, and what many had travelled a long distance to see, were the Canadians. Captain
Adam Runge started it off in the CF‐18. Rotating so sharply on takeoff that he almost banged the cans on the
runway, “Manik” kept pushing the envelope throughout his show. His high‐speed passes, high‐g turns and
rolls showed off all aspects of the beautifully decorated airframe. Each year’s theme inspires a new paint
scheme. “To the Stars – Fuelled by Legacy” celebrates the 90th anniversary of the RCAF.
The Snowbirds then took off in sections of three, forming up and performing their system checks in the dis‐
tance. Saturday’s blue skies and puffy white clouds formed the perfect backdrop for the brightly painted red
and white Tutors. The nine pilots performed a variety of maneuvers in various combinations of aircraft, al‐
ways smoothly transitioning from one pattern to the next. Saturday’s performance was interrupted by the
launch of a US Forest Service Sherpa carrying smoke jumpers to fight a wildfire, but the action picked up
smoothly as soon as the box was clear again. The crowd clearly enjoyed the performance, cheering wildly
during many of the high‐action maneuvers such as the Lag Back Cross, but also enjoying the graceful nine‐
ship formation transitions. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Tutor, and it just keeps getting better
with age. After their performance the pilots came forward to the flightline to answer questions and sign
autographs.
Thanks to the Exchange Club of Redding, the show organizers, sponsors and all of the staff and volunteers for
making this such an enjoyable air show and to Michael Burke for arranging the media access.