Airshow returns to Elkhart to honor veterans

May 19—ELKHART — Elkhart Municipal Airport will honor veterans in its first airshow since 2006.

Gates open at 7 a.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. Sunday for the Elkhart Salute to Veterans Airshow, which will feature more than 20 different performers and military units including German tanks, Corsairs, P51 Mustangs, a 1942 Douglas C-53 Skytrooper, and multiple stunt plans. There will also be three different War War II reenactments including warplanes, paratroopers, and pyrotechnics.

"You'll have round shoot paratroopers just like in the Second World War, jumping into the battlefield, and then you'll also have aircraft flying over the battlefield and simulating strafing," said Andy Jones, Elkhart Municipal Airport Director. "You'll see explosions on the battlefield and pretend casualties."

More than 100 reenactors are expected.

Pilot Jeff Linebaugh learned to fly as a child from his father, who was a WWII aviator.

"This is a way for me to honor him," he said. "He was this 19-year-old kid flying a World War II bomber. It's amazing."

Linebaugh's dad joined the war near the end, and directed traffic for those planes being redirected from Germany to Japan. He is flying a North American P-51 Mustang for the show with the Commemorative Air Force.

"It was the first fighter that could accompany the bombers deep into Germany and protect them," Linebaugh said. "It really made a big difference throughout the war...It's a beautiful airplane. The performance on it is just amazing and it's a super special privilege to get to fly this. I've heard it said that it's like being given the keys to the Washington Monument, getting to fly this thing. It's a privilege."

Dozens of other planes and era military equipment will be on-site and performing throughout the weekend. Reenactments are hosted by the National Historic World War II Reenactment Society

There will also be a Douglas C-47 Skytrain and a Beechcraft C-45 Expeditor.

Co-pilot Matt Throckmorton explained that the Douglas C-47 Skytrain is similar to the Douglas DC-3, a popular airliner from the 1930s. As an airliner, released in 1935, the Douglas DC-3 was the first to be profitable, but in 1938, manufacturing of the unit was converted to the Douglas C-47 Skytrain to help with the war effort.

"In World War II, paratroopers would jump out of this type of airplane," Throckmorton said. "It can carry cargo, it can carry passengers, it can drop paratroopers. It was a multipurpose airplane. It was a workhorse in the Canadian Airforce until 1975."

Jordan and Nicole Brown, Terre Haute, bought a Beechcraft C-45 Expeditor for their 10th wedding anniversary in 2010 and a few years later in 2014, they found another of Nicole's favorites, the Douglas C-47 Skytrain.

"It's a family passion," Nicole said.

They fly planes privately as well as in airshows. Both are on display and performing at the show.

The Brown's Douglas C-47 Skytrain was in the China Burma India Theater during World War II.

"A lot of them are still working today daily," said Throckmorton.

Their Beechcraft C-45 Expeditor originally left the factory in 1942 as a Beechcraft AT-11, a bomber trainer, but after the war, it, along with thousands of other units, was modified into the Beechcraft C-45 Expeditor for strategic air command, or executive transport. Beechcraft C-45 Expeditor aircraft left military possession in 1969 and eventually made its way to university possession and later landed in private hands.

"You can see who the crew was, where it went, what is hauled, it's pretty amazing, really," Jordan Brown said.

Admission is $30/day or $50 for a two-day pass and $15/day for 12 and under. Kids 5 and under are free when accompanied by an adult ticket holder. Parking passes are included with advance ticket purchases.

Active duty, reserve, and retired military members can receive free general admission. A valid CAC or USID card is required to be presented upon event entry. Parking passes are the gate is $5 per car for non-ticket holders.

The Elkhart Municipal Airport is located at 1211 C. R. 6 West, Elkhart. For more information, to purchase tickets in advance, or find a schedule of events, visit salutetovets.org.

Dani Messick is the education and entertainment reporter for The Goshen News. She can be reached at dani.messick@goshennews.com or at 574-538-2065.