Wings Over Wine Country returns to help community ‘Rise Together’
The Wings Over Wine Country airshow took a hiatus in 2017, to allow the host Pacific Coast Air Museum (PCAM) to move into new digs. A purchase agreement PCAM entered into with the county in 2017 included leasing land adjacent to the museum’s current site and the purchase the old Dragonfly building, a small metal hanger and Butler Hangar, a registered historical site.
“As far as the move, all the airplanes in the collection are being taken out for the airshowairshow and when that’s over they will go back to their new home next door on the old Dragonfly property,” said airshow manger Nancy Heath. “Most of them are over there now, but they’ll all go out to the airshow and come back to their new spots. We finally got all that and are back with the airshow.”
“We are still looking to raise funds to put in a new building there,” she added. “But we don’t think that’s going to happen very quickly, especially with permits at the county, because of the fires.”
This year’s airshow theme is “Rising Together” and Heath says local first responders will be represented and honored at the airshow. “We are having a huge response,” she said, calling it a “celebration of recovery in Sonoma County.”
“We’re going to have a huge display of emergency vehicles and equipment, and they’ll be a parade with all of that,” she said. “On the ground we’ve got a lot of informational things for groups that helped with the fire and the recovery.”
According to Heath, the Parks Department will be bringing its “Discovery Van,” and the Red Cross and U.S. Geological Survey will be on hand with information about emergency preparedness. In addition, a search and rescue unit from Menlo Park will be on hand with drones, giving a demonstration of how they were used in October to find hotspots.
But it won’t be just our own first responders and tragedies being remembered. “For first time ever, the original first responder plane from 9/11, the Air Force has OK’d us to move it over and show it off at the airshow,” Heath said of the F-15 Eagle that defended New York after the 9/11 attack.
Headlining acts at the show will include the following:
U.S.A.F. Wings of Blue Skydivers are the parachuting unit of the United States Air Force Academy. Since 1967, cadets have dominated national intercollegiate parachuting, winning 21 national championships.
“I think that people always like the Wings of Blue. They are really great, and they are young people, so they’re kind of the future,” Heath said.
Greg Coyler will fly his Lockheed T-33 Ace Maker. The Lockheed T-33s was the U.S. Air Force’s first operational jet and a piece of U.S. aviation history. Coyler is the founder of the nonprofit T-33 Heritage Foundation to help in the preservation of the type.
According to a statement, the Hawker Sea Fury has been considered by many to be the king of propeller-driven fighters. The aerobatic display performed by Dennis Sanders as he puts the Sea Fury through its paces will include smoke that shows off the craft’s wingtip vortices.
Vicky Benzing, an accomplished pilot, skydiver, Reno racer and prize-winning aerobatic competitor, is returning to Wings over Wine Country. She will fly her 1940 Boeing Stearman, originally a trainer, then a crop duster and now an aerobatic machine with a large radial engine.
Finally, the Red Stars are a group of pilots who fly Cold War era Chinese CJ-6 trainers. They are the one of the only civilian groups approved for flying in close formation. Spectators can appreciate their precision as they fly wingtip-to-wingtip in a carefully choreographed routine.
Heath wants everyone to know though that this year the show isn’t only in the skies. “I think the big thing is the emphasis a lot more on the ground than ever before,” she said. “If you’ve watched from the road previously, it’s a good year to come inside to see it all. We have a lot more than we’ve had in the past.”
The Wings Over Wine Country airshow takes place Saturday, Sept. 22 and Sunday, Sept. 23 at the Sonoma County Airport, 2200 Airport Boulevard, Santa Rosa. Door are open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. General admission is $20; with seniors $18 and students with valid ID are $8. Active duty military (with ID) and kids under 10 are free.
There is also the President’s Club, which features a catered lunch, complimentary beer and wine, complimentary parking, admission to the show, a tent on the flight line, continental breakfast, drinks, snacks, deserts and deluxe restrooms, for $125 per person.
Parking is $10, box seating is $15 (in addition to your admission ticket) and access to the wine and beer garden is $20. Tickets can be purchased at the Pacific Coast Air Museum gift shop, Oliver’s Market and Round Table Pizza locations in Santa Rosa.
