‘Fly away with me’
Annual Air-Faire event rolls into Ontario Saturday
By Larry Meyer
Argus Observer
Thursday, September 10, 2009 10:20 AM PDT
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| Bruce Needs, Payette, holds the ladder for Cliff Pamperien, Vale, while he washes down one of the military planes owned by Merle Maine, that will be on display at the air show on Saturday. |
ONTARIO — Like the first air shows at the Ontario airport back in the 1980s, the Ontario Air-Faire 2009, this Saturday, will feature some top aerobatics acts, and Air-Faire Committee Chairman Roger Smith said he is sure the weekend event will be one of the biggest shows in region.
“We’re the only show in town,” Smith said, referring to the number of air shows across the area that have canceled.
The original local airplane event at the airport was dubbed the Eastern Oregon Air Fair, which ran from 1982 to 1985, but it ended because of financial problems, Smith said.
Among the acts during those years were the Great American Flying Circus, Northern Knights and Art Scholl, one of the top aerobatics pilots in the nation.
The current Air-Faire event evolved out of pilots just flying into Ontario for breakfast.
“Pilots will pay $300 to $400 to fly in for breakfast,” Smith said, admitting he is one of them.
Gradually, aerobatics were added to the pilot breakfast club, along with a static display of planes, and the show has grown.
“Merle Maine, with his jet warbirds, was the backbone of the show and still is,” Smith said.
Maine boasts a growing collection of vintage military planes, which include American and Soviet-made aircraft, some that date back to the Korean War.
“He does not get enough credit for what he has,” Smith said. “Some of these have a great history.”
One of the highlights of this year’s show will be John Bagley’s P-51 Mustang “Ole Yeller.” Smith said the plane was originally owned by Bob Hoover, another top pilot in his day who flew with Chuck Yeager.
It takes a lot of people to put on the show now.
“I’ve got close to 100 people on Air-Faire day,” Smith said. There is a core committee of about 40 people who work on it starting before spring each year.
“It’s pretty complicated,” Smith said. “Gary Taylor is our air boss.”
Smith enjoys the fair for more than just the planes and the aerobatics. Having served in the Idaho Air National Guard for 21 years, Smith hosts a reunion of his surviving squadron members at the air show and they have a great time, he said.
The Air-Faire starts at 8 a.m. with a breakfast to help raise money to keep the air show going.
The cost is $6 for “all you can eat.”
Because of the numbers aerobatic pilots coming to the show, the plans are to start that program earlier, at about 9:30 a.m., having a pilot in the air ready to start as the opening ceremonies conclude, Smith said.
Admission to the air show is free.
At 11:30 a.m., radio-controlled planes will be having combat, he said, and after that the aerobatics will begin again and continue until about 3 p.m.
Larry Meyer is a reporter for the Daily Argus Observer. He can be contacted at LarryM@argusobserver.com.
