Great Georgia Air Show Peachtree City, GA October 13-14, 2007

Story and photography by Chris Buff

  The 2007 Great Georgia Air Show took place on October 13 and 14 at Falcon Field in the picturesque town of Peachtree City, Georgia. This year’s edition featured beautiful weather, exceptional flying, and a wide variety of aircraft.

 

  World War II airframes were well represented including three B-25 Mitchells, two P-51 Mustangs, and a rare P-47 Thunderbolt. Elsewhere on the ramp were an assortment of T-6 Texans, a Tora! Tora! Tora! vintage Kate torpedo bomber replica, and the last appearance of the PBY-5A Black Cat. It seems that this beautiful Catalina has been sold to a new owner in Singapore.

 

  The flying began with the USAF Academy Wings of Blue parachute team delivering the colors in front of the crowd while the Red Eagle Air Sports Team circled the jumpers on their way down. Later in the day, the Red Eagles demonstrated their precision and outstanding formation work and Gary Ward amazed the crowd with high energy aerobatics in his MX-2.

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  Greg Koontz performed an impressive inverted ribbon cut with his Super Decathlon and Les Shockley’s jet truck thundered to over 300mph. The Alabama boys showed how a pickup truck could be used for anything, including a convenient, moving landing platform for a Piper Cub.

 

  The Viper East F-16 team got everyone’s attention with a powerful, high-G flight demonstration followed by the Heritage Flight with the Viper East F-16 and Crazy Horse 2.

 

  The Flying Farmer Charlie Kulp gave his best during his last Great Georgia Air Show appearance. Charlie is planning on retiring this month and he will be missed.

 

  Ed Hamill flew fast and low in the Air Force Reserve Pitts and the always impressive Aeroshell T-6 Texan Team flew with their trademark grace and abundant smoke.

 

  In addition to the excellent aerobatic performances, the crowd was treated to flybys by the USAF C-17 Globemaster III and B-2 Stealth bomber. A World Airways MD-11 and Delta 757 made several low passes as well. Other flight demonstrations included the locally based CAF P-51 Mustang “Red Nose” and a USAF C-130 Hercules.

 

  At the end of the day, the large and appreciative crowd clearly enjoyed the clear skies, great food and thrilling entertainment.