Valkaria AirFest prepares for takeoff at South Brevard airfield: 6th annual event features rides, displays and demonstrations

Valkaria Airport Manager Steve Borowski, right, helps pull out a experimental aircraft built and owned by Art Irvine, left, of Palm Bay

GEORGE WHITE/FOR FLORIDA TODAY

Things are looking up at the Valkaria Airport, as evidenced by recent improvements and exciting plans for Saturday’s Valkaria AirFest.

Sponsored by the Valkaria Aviation Association, the sixth annual event will feature aircraft rides, displays and model rocket and aviation demonstrations. But it also will give airport officials a chance to explain recent and planned improvements on the South Brevard airfield.

“The airport has changed dramatically over the last five or six years by the improvements and the popularity of AirFest,” said airport manager Steve Borowski. “When we started, people didn’t even know where the airport was, but we’re on the map now.”

VAA board chairman Art Irvine of Palm Bay is proud to show several experimental aircraft he has built, including a gyrocopter and a high-speed aerobatic Midget Mustang.

“The show’s a lot of work, but it’s important because we’re working to develop a positive relationship in the community,” he said.

Taking the theme “Rides, Rides and Rides” literally, rides will be available for an additional charge in an open cockpit biplane, aerobatic airplane, glider, helicopter, powered parachute, (tethered) hot air balloon, Cessna and gyrocopter.

Other offerings include a land demonstration by high-speed airboats by the Indian River Airboat Association, static display of an Air Force C-130 Hercules cargo plane and the show’s first-ever demonstration of a Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, sometimes called a “drone.”

“We’ve had small radio-controlled aircraft before, but this is a big aircraft and a jet. It’s a drone like the ones they fly over Afghanistan,” Borowski said.

Aviation history also will take center stage as, in the wake of the release of George Lucas Films’ “Red Tails,” some original members of the Tuskegee Airmen will sign books and hold a photo session.

Other planned appearances include champion aerobatic pilot Patty Wagstaff and James Bond’s jet pilot Corky Fornof.

The event will take on a special quality when a twilight airshow will be performed by the AeroShell T-6 night performance team during a hot air balloon glow and just before a fireworks display.

The details

What: Valkaria AirFest 2012

When: 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday. The daytime air show will be from 1 to 4 p.m. and the evening air show will be from 5:45 to 6:45 p.m.
 

Where: Valkaria Airport, 2865 Greenbrook St., Malabar
 

Cost: The cost is $10; free for county employees with ID.
 

Info: Call 321-952-4590 or visit www.valkariaairfest.org

 

Source:  http://www.floridatoday.com