AIR SHOW ATTACTS A CROWD

A crowd of more than 1,400 people turned out for Fly Cape Aviation Days Saturday, despite sweltering heat that prompted many spectators to seek shade beneath the wings of some of the huge aircraft displayed.

The open house and air show at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport continues today, from noon to 5 p.m.

"I think everybody had a good time," Airport Manager Mark Seesing said of the Saturday event. "I think we had a good show."

He said that with the forecast of cooler temperatures, the air show may draw an even larger crowd today.

Seesing said 196 people took airplane rides Saturday. The rides were offered by Cape Central Airways for a nominal charge.

World War II vintage bombers, a B-25 and a B-17G sitting on the airport tarmac drew a constant stream of onlookers, both young and old.

Three A-10 Warthogs, modern military jets, also proved to be crowd pleasers, as did the high-flying aerial maneuvers and a simulated bombing run involving one of the Warthogs Saturday afternoon.

The simulated bombings were achieved by detonating "bombs" of dynamite, gasoline and flour set up on the ground bordering a runway at the airport.

J.T. Seesing of the Cape Girardeau Airport Advisory Board was delighted by the A-10 aerial show.

"I thought it was a tremendous demonstration with the A-10," said Seesing, who handled announcing duties for the open house and air show.

"They shot off a few `bombs' and with the smoke that came over, I thought it was a Kuwaiti oil well," he remarked with a smile.

J.T. Seesing said he was pleased by the size of Saturday's crowd. "I think the crowd has been great," he said from his announcer's perch on an auctioneer's truck.

The A-10 used in the aerial display was one of two brought in from the England Air Force Base in Louisiana. A third, brought in from Barksdale Air Force Base at Shreveport, La., was piloted by Maj. Bruce Thomas of the Air Force Reserve.

"As soon as I saw Cape Girardeau had an air show, I wanted to come," said Thomas, who is originally from Farmington.

"It's an ugly airplane actually, for a fighter," said Thomas, gazing up at the camouflage green jet fighter, with its two huge engines mounted side by side at the back of the aircraft.

Thomas said the engines are mounted that way for a reason. "One engine can catch on fire and totally burn up and not affect the other."

About 800 A-10s were manufactured between 1976 and 1983. They were used extensively in the Persian Gulf War, he said.

"It's called the tank killer," said Thomas, noting that it's designed to attack and destroy tanks.

It can carry a wide range of weapons, including air-to-ground and air-to-air missiles.

A cannon in the nose of the plane shoots 30 millimeter bullets. "No other plane in the world right now shoots a bullet that big," said Thomas, displaying one of the massive bullets. "It will bore through steel."

The cannon can shoot off 70 rounds a second. The projectiles travel at amazing speed, covering two miles in a second and a half.

While the A-10s were popular, nothing could compete with the fully restored B-17G, a World War II-era Flying Fortress.

With a span of 104 feet and a length of 75 feet, the massive, four-engine bomber drew a constant crowd of visitors, many of them paying a nominal charge to tour the machine-gun-turreted aircraft.

The plane, called the Sentimental Journey, is owned by the Arizona Wing of the Confederate Air Force (CAF), a nationwide group dedicated to preserving old military aircraft.

Sentimental Journey is one of only eight such bombers that have been restored to operating condition.

The airplane is on tour seven months of the year.

When it flies, the plane carries a crew of eight.

Crew member Jim Frame of Mesa, Ariz., flew the massive planes from an airplane factory in Tulsa, Okla., to bases in the U.S. and Scotland during World War II.

"I did it then because I had to. I do it now because I want to," he said of his involvement with B-17s.

The plane holds 2,800 gallons of fuel. It consumes about 200 gallons of fuel an hour. "Each engine also will burn about a gallon of oil an hour," said Frame.

The big bombers weren't made for comfort, he noted. "They were rugged built airplanes. They didn't have any extras in there."

The plane wasn't pressurized so oxygen masks had to be worn at high altitudes. There was no heat and no ventilation.

Frame said the bombers were designed to fly at an altitude of 40,000 feet. At that altitude, the outside temperature was as much as 40, 50 or 60 below zero, said Frame.

During the war, B-17 crew members wore electrically heated flying suits. "They were like electric blankets," recalled Frame.

The planes were noisy and there was a lot of vibration, he added.

Nearly 13,000 B-17s were assembled during World War II. "The B-17," said Frame, "was one of the most famous airplanes of World War II."

Two thousand of the massive bombers took part in one raid on Germany, he pointed out. "They said you could stand there at one point and see B-17s flying over for 30 minutes."

Frame said the CAF's Arizona Wing, based in Mesa, flies the B-17 to air shows around the country so that more people can view the airplane. "If we left it in Arizona, there wouldn't be that many people who would get to see it."

About 85,000 people tour the plane each year, Frame said.

The Arizona Wing wasn't the only CAF unit represented at the air show. The CAF's Missouri Wing, based in St. Louis, displayed a B-25 bomber at the air show. Saturday's air show concluded with two explosion-filled "bombing runs" by the B-25.

There is no admission charge for the show, but there is a requested $1 per person donation at the gate. Donations totaled about $1,400 for Saturday.