AIR FESTIVAL PREVIEW OFFERS THRILLS; EVENT WILL BE HELD TODAY, SUNDAY AT CAPE AIRPORT

Dennis Marchi, right, of Cape Girardeau jumped from an airplane with members of the U.S. Army Golden Knights parachute team during a tandem jump Friday at the Air Festival being held at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport.

Mike Lunn could have taken his P-51 Mustang flight simulator to an air show in Bloomington, Ill., this weekend, but he chose Cape Girardeau instead.

"They treat you well here," he said.

Flight simulators, helicopter rides, graceful parachute descents and powerful jet engines are all part of the third annual Cape Girardeau Regional Air Festival taking place from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. today and Sunday at the airport.

Some of the best acts performed overtime on Friday to offer a preview of what to expect.

When the Army's Golden Knights parachute team allowed Angela Nichols to jump out of their C-31 aircraft first, it wasn't because they are gentlemen.

"We take turns narrating the jumps for crowds," said Nichols, who has been a Golden Knight for one year. "This was my turn."

As the male members of the Golden Knights demonstration team jumped, Nichols told the crowd how jumpers reach a speed of 120 mph before pulling their ripcords at 3,000 feet.

Once the chutes open, the jumpers are able to control their aerial movements so minutely that one can stand on another's shoulders on the way down.

Cape Girardeau's Dennis Marchi jumped with the Golden Knights on Friday. Actually, he jumped with just one Golden Knight. Marchi, general manager of Schnucks, was strapped to the jumper's back for a tandem jump.

Looking over the shoulder of his partner as they stepped out of the airplane at 9,000 feet, Marchi said he had no fear.

"They spent a lot of time with me, showing films and going over what was going to happen and what to expect," he said. "It went exactly like they said it would."

Marchi would jump in the shows this weekend if the Golden Knights would let him, he said.

But the schedule is already full. A Vietnam rescue re-enactment, flights by World War I era fighter planes, and formula one air races around a three-mile oval should keep heads turning, said Bruce Loy, the air show director.

Lunn's flight simulator can turn heads and bodies 360 degrees for three and a half minutes as they experience flight over the mountains of Southern California. But Lunn won't operate the ride while Jimmy Franklin's jet-powered WACO biplane is in the air.

"I'll tell them they need to stop and watch his show," Lunn said. "It's the best in any air show."

Franklin, who has been performing air stunts for 32 years, just added the jet engine to his plane a year ago.

"I've been known for doing things out of the ordinary," Franklin said. "With the jet engine, I was just looking for more."

Years ago when other stunt pilots were placing wires on the tails of their planes to catch flags, Franklin was snagging soda bottles off the ground, he said.

But his 2,000 horsepower jet engine has given him a new set of abilities. His plane can climb 15,000 feet a minute going straight up, he said.

"I've got more than enough power now," he said.

Whenever his 20-year-old son Kyle performs with him as a wing walker, as he will this weekend, Franklin said he feels different during the performance.

"It just comes from spending your whole life keeping your children out of harm's way," he said.

But neither he nor his son is afraid.

"We talk about what we will do in emergency situations in advance, so we know what we're doing," Franklin said. "We're having fun entertaining people."