Columbia celebration features annual two-day air show

Remembrance, parades and family barbecues are inevitably linked to Memorial Day. In Columbia, however, there's another time-honored tradition: jumping out of planes.

Or, at least, watching people jump out of planes.

The Salute to Veterans Corporation will hold its annual air show at the Columbia Regional Airport Saturday and Sunday, the two days before Memorial Day. The event will be held from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. each day.

The show will include parachute jumps from the U.S. Army and the Canadian Armed Forces, as well as demonstrations of planes that date from World War I to the present.

Jessica Houston, the organization's media chair, said many attendees love the jet teams - and the "deafening" engines make them hard to miss. But, she added, the older planes can trigger memories for the veterans.

"Some of them, especially the older veterans, will get to see the planes that they actually used to fly," she said.

Houston said the show's focus is honoring veterans.

"If we're told and given some heads up for some of the older veterans from Korea or Vietnam, we try to honor them," she said.

One of the older planes scheduled to fly is a 1948 AD-1 Skyraider, which saw action in the Vietnam War and Korean War. It also saw service in the British Royal Navy and in the air forces of France and the Republic of Vietnam. This year will be the first time the Columbia air show has displayed a Skyraider.

Among the other attractions are:

  • Demonstrations from the Royal Canadian Air Force CF-188 Hornet Tactical Demonstration Team, the U.S. Army Black Daggers Parachute Team and the Skyhawks, the Canadian armed forces parachute team.
  • Flight demonstrations of the WWII-era de Havilland Vampire, the Lockheed T-33 and the WWI-era Curtiss Jenny.
  • Tours of the SAFR C-17 Globemaster III, the USN C-1A Trader and the USN P-3 Orion.
  • Displays of the WWII-era Piper L-4 Grasshopper, two USAF A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft and the Cessna L-19 Bird Dog.
  • The Salute to Veterans parade at 10 a.m. Memorial Day in downtown Columbia.
  • The annual reunions of the Tuskegee Airmen and Women Air Force Service Pilots.

Shuttle buses will be available Saturday and Sunday at the MU Trowbridge parking lot and at the Jefferson City Memorial Airport. Houston said the organization is encouraging attendees to take the shuttles due to limited parking because of construction.