Hundreds of people and dozens of pilots took advantage of Saturday's perfect weather to enjoy Jefferson City Memorial Airport's Annual Open House and Fly-In.
For many, a highlight of the day was a chance to see an historic B-25J Mitchell Bomber.
Tom Wagoner, who lives in Fenton and serves as a flight safety officer, greeted visitors and educated them about the role the medium-range bombers played in World War II.
He noted similar planes were used in the April 18, 1942 raid on Tokyo. They were the first American bombers to reach Japanese skies after Pearl Harbor.
"There were 16 of these on the USS Hornet," he said.
With a 68-foot wingspan, they weren't designed to take off from an aircraft carrier like the Hornet, he said.
The versatile plane was used to drop bombs on sites below from a level of about 13,000 feet and move in much closer to strafe targets as well.
This particular plane, called the "Show Me," was originally built at North American Aviation's Kansas City Fairfax plant in 1944. Although never used in combat, it was reconfigured as a navigation trainer and served in that capacity until the late 1950s. Today it is owned by the Commemorative Air Force, a non-profit agency that tries to keep 156 historic aircraft operational. The plane's permanent home is Smartt Field St. Charles County Airport.
He said the crew attempts, as much as possible, to adhere to the authenticity of the original model, replacing worn parts with exact replicas and using new technologies only minimally to preserve safety.
Wagoner chuckled when asked if he enjoyed volunteering for the flight crew.
"We actually pay to have this fun," he explained, adding he's always been a fan of WWII aviation history. "We try to keep the plane busy every weekend, and I go as much as I can."
Seeing the warbird was a thrill for Holts Summit resident Paul Pennington.
Pennington came out to support the Jefferson City Radio Control Club, whose members brought to the open house an assortment of smaller model planes.
"We're all wannabe pilots, so we pilot model airplanes," Pennington said. "It's a great time."
Seeing the GrowMissouri airship or blimp - which has been parked in the grass near the airport for several days now - was also a popular attraction Saturday.
Pilot Trevor Hunt greeted a steady flow of curious visitors. He told them the non-rigid airship was about 200 feet long and can carry eight passengers and two pilots. Two Porsche turbo engines are capable of pushing the ship along at a speed of 60 miles per hour, although 30 is more typical.
"Kids like it," Hunt said. "It's like a big, fun toy."
Other visitors were drawn to some of the smaller or more-experimental aircraft on display Saturday.
Robert Helms, a newcomer to Jefferson City, was busy chatting with people who might be considering building their own planes from a kit. Helms sells airplane engines on behalf of a Belgium-based company called ULPower Aero Engines, he said.
Parked next to Helms' display were two Light Sport Aircraft models - single seat and two-seat planes - designed to appeal to a pilot's sense of fun. Manufactured by Zenith Aircraft, the company's kit-production facility is located not far away in Mexico, Missouri. With red, blue and white trim, the planes - which cost about $55,000 and take up to 1 1/2 years to construct - cruise along at about 115 miles per hour and need to refuel about every four hours.
"You can build the airplane yourself," Helms said. "It's really fun."
Duane Smith, a California, Mo. resident, enjoyed the whole show, he said. Although it wasn't overcrowded, there was plenty of exciting things to see and lots of opportunities for children to get involved.
"I like the older planes," Smith said. "And I found the experimental planes interesting. It's just a nice day."