Rome News-Tribune

LOUD! Air show rocks Floyd County!

More ideal weather expected as the air show continues today.

- By Doug Walker DWalker@RN-T.com

One of America’s finest fighting machines, the U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor, wowed a massive crowd at the Wings Over North Georgia air show Saturday. The Raptor was joined by the U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbol­t, known as the Warthog, the Tora! Tora! Tora! demonstrat­ion team and aerobatic superstars for the show which may have enjoyed the best weather for an air show in Rome since John Cowman started the event in 2012.

Favorites who have performed in just about every show — like Michael Goulian and Buck Roet- man — were back, along with Patty Wagstaff, Jim Tobal and Scott Yoak, for amazing aerobatic maneuvers along with the USSOCOM Para- Commandos Jump team. But it was clearly the Raptor, the Warthog and the T0ra! Tora! Tora! demonstrat­ion that stole the show.

As eight different craft simulated Japanese Zero’s strafing Pearl Harbor, pyrotechni­c explosions rocked the audience and sent flames high into the sky. The narrator relived the history for the gigantic crowd and concluded the show with an audio tape of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s infamous address to Congress and the nation when he declared Dec. 7, 1941, “a day that will live in infamy.”

“We can always top it but this is a great, great day,” said Cowman. “We’ve exceeded our expectatio­ns with such a diverse line-up. I am happy with what we’ve produced this year.”

Cowman said nothing is locked in for the 2019 show yet, but he said that at this point, he’s shooting for a Labor Day weekend show.

“We’re hoping to get that secured up in the next couple of months but we’ll just wait and see how the cards are dealt out,” Cowman said.

Fans lined up to get autographs with many of the aerobatic pilots after their shows. Goulian said he was essentiall­y born into the aerobatic industry.

“I started flying when I was just 15 years old,” Goulian said.

“My family had a flight school in Boston and I just fell in love with it.”

He said the most challengin­g part of an air show is the concern about staying oriented.

“The airplane is rolling and you’re actually looking at the runway to maintain your orientatio­n. So at a place like this where the runways cross in the middle, believe it or not, staying oriented is very difficult,” Goulian explained.

The Raptor, Warthog and a World War II era Mustang put the wraps on the show with incredible formation flying for three aircraft that were built during different eras and designed for different missions.

A big air show convention will be held in Las Vegas in December at which time the major military teams, the U.S. Navy Blue Angels and the U.S. Air Force Thunderbir­d, will announce their schedules for next year.

The show will be back in action today with the gates opening at 9 a.m. and the show beginning at noon.

 ?? / Doug Walker ?? Smokes rises from one explosion as an aircraft simulating a Japanese Zero at Pearl Harbor strafes the runway at the Wings Over North Georgia.
/ Doug Walker Smokes rises from one explosion as an aircraft simulating a Japanese Zero at Pearl Harbor strafes the runway at the Wings Over North Georgia.
 ?? / Doug Walker ?? The Ladies for Liberty perform between aerial acts at the Wings Over North Georgia air show Saturday at Richard B. Russell Regional Airport.
/ Doug Walker The Ladies for Liberty perform between aerial acts at the Wings Over North Georgia air show Saturday at Richard B. Russell Regional Airport.
 ??  ?? LEFT: Part of the mammoth crowd at Wings Over North Georgia. The show will continue again today at Richard B. Russell Regional Airport.BELOW: The F-22 Raptor (from top), a P-51 Mustang and the A-10 Warthog fly in tight formation. / Doug Walker
LEFT: Part of the mammoth crowd at Wings Over North Georgia. The show will continue again today at Richard B. Russell Regional Airport.BELOW: The F-22 Raptor (from top), a P-51 Mustang and the A-10 Warthog fly in tight formation. / Doug Walker
 ?? / Doug Walker ?? Eli Sarver, 11, with world champion aerobatic pilot Michael Goulian.
/ Doug Walker Eli Sarver, 11, with world champion aerobatic pilot Michael Goulian.
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