AVIATION DAYS ATTRACTS CROWDS OF ABOUT 60,000

It's no surprise that the Navy Blue Angels Flight Demonstration Squadron was a hit with spectators at Cape Aviation Days.

But several of the 25,000 to 30,000 people who attended the show Sunday said they also were impressed with a Stealth Fighter fly-by, hot-air balloon races and the aerial acrobatics of the Peterson-Krier Airshow also part of Aviation Days.

Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport Manager Mark Seesing, who was chairman of the air show, said he couldn't have asked for a better show even the weather cooperated.

"Everything went real smooth," he said. "Everything went off as planned. It got started on time, and I think people were funneled out of here pretty well considering the volume of cars we were dealing with."

Seesing estimated the two-day crowd total at close to 60,000. Thousands more spectators set up camp in the Nash Road industrial tract and other areas near the airport to watch the Blue Angels.

Aviation Days also included parachute jumps, an A-10 Wart Hog demonstration and a large static display of aircraft.

Seesing said that although the Blue Angels rarely perform at the same site in consecutive years, he hopes to bring the Navy squadron back to Cape Girardeau soon.

"I was talking with them last night and they only do 15 percent repeat shows, so we won't see a show next year," Seesing said Sunday. "But basically, if you have a good show and they like your facilities, they'll book a couple years down the road."

The airport manager said Blue Angels officials were impressed with Cape Girardeau's airport facilities and the city's hospitality.

"Even their maintenance people have commented on what an excellent field we have here," he said. "Also, the people of Cape Girardeau really welcomed them with open arms. I think it would be pretty easy to get them back."

Seesing said he plans to continue to have Aviation Days each year, although next year's show will be "a little tamed down." He said bringing acts like the Blue Angels to the air show gives the city national exposure.

"Something like this really brings a lot of recognition to Cape Girardeau," he said. "The balloon people are from all parts of the country and the Angels and their maintenance people brought family to Cape Girardeau from all over.

"It really does bring a lot of people here and allows the city to showcase itself."

Seesing said many of the spectators told him they were delighted with the Stealth fighter fly-by Saturday and Sunday and the balloon races.

The weather cooperated to allow four of five planned balloon races to be held during the weekend. Roy Caton of House Spring piloted his balloon sponsored by Wehrenberg Theaters to a first-place finish Sunday evening.

James and Linda Fox of Dexter brought their two sons Lynn, 13, and Jared, 11, to the air show for Mother's Day. While the boys waited in line to walk through a huge C-130 cargo plane parked on the grounds, their parents enjoyed skydivers making one of many jumps during the two-day event.

Both James and Linda Fox said they were awed by the Blue Angels demonstration.

James Fox had seen the show when he was his son's age and Linda Fox had seen the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds when she was young, but neither experience matched the Angels show Sunday, they said.

"I thought the Blue Angels did a tremendous job," said Linda Fox. "It was awesome. It was a great Mother's Day present."

She said she also enjoyed the Stealth. "I liked that almost as well as the Blue Angels," she said. "I was really amazed."

James Fox said he enjoyed the Peterson-Crier air show, particularly when Jo Peterson piloted a plane as it plunged 5,000 feet, performed aerobatic maneuvers and made an emergency landing all with the power shut off.

Steve Joyce of Canalou said he also was impressed with Peterson's feat: "The dead stick landing amazed me."

But he and his wife, Cris, agreed the Blue Angels were the real marvel.

"Unbelievable," said Steve Joyce. "The last time I'd seen them, my Grandad brought me out here when I was about 6.

"I'd give my eye teeth to ride on the back of one of those. All I could do was stand there with my mouth open. It's just amazing what those planes can do."

Cris Joyce also said she enjoyed the Stealth. "I thought that was really something," she said.

As a flight attendant, Lee Ann Stevens of Cape Girardeau is used to the noise associated with the Blue Angels show. She's also flown in other tactical aircraft.

But that didn't dim her appreciation of the Blue Angels Sunday.

"I thought it was a very good show," she said. "I've seen the Blue Angels before and the Thunderbirds, but this was an exceptional show."

Chris Torbet of Marble Hill said he "acted like a little kid" while seeing the Blue Angels for the first time Sunday.

"There were an awful lot of little kids surrounding me that were a lot older than I am," he quipped. "I'd do anything I'd mop floors for them just to be associated with that outfit.

"It just makes you awful proud of your country when you see the kind of aircraft we have and the kind of men we have to fly them. If you're not proud watching these guys fly by, something's wrong with you."