The Vinton County Pilots and Boosters Association has received verbal approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to hold an air show at the Vinton County Airport this year. The approval came after weeks of plan development to meet new air show requirements which affect almost all phases of an air show.
Air Show Coordinator Nick Rupert, as well as others, met with representatives of the FAA who explained the new requirements mostly focus on safety. Rupert told Association members, at a meeting held Sunday, August 11, “After all the work the air show is a go!”
This will be the 49thversion of the show which had to be cancelled last year, not due to FAA requirement changes, but to having no pilots to perform.
Rupert said there is much to be done prior to the air show including a mock emergency training session at the airport with three Vinton County Fire Departments, EMS squads, law enforcement, and others in the business of emergency response.
The 2019 Vinton County Air Show will be held Sunday, September 22 and BBQ chicken dinners, an air show tradition, will be served beginning prior to noon. The air show will begin at 1 p.m. with skydivers and then the flying will begin. There are five scheduled aerobatic acts this year, some from older friends of the airport along with a new performer or maybe two.
There will be a yet to be determined entry fee to get into airport property. Airplane rides will be available after the show is over. During the show Pumpkin Ridge and Airport Roads will be closed to all traffic. Once the air show begins, visitors will not be able to enter or leave the airport.
More information will be released as it becomes available. Follow the airport’s Facebook Page for the most up-to-date information.