Warbirds Over Monroe – Photo Review

The 2022 Warbirds Over Monroe Air Show was held November 12 & 13 at the Charlotte-Monroe Executive Airport (EQY) in Monroe, North Carolina. It featured aircraft from the World War II era and beyond and civilian aircraft in aerial performances and on static display. Other than the Covid years, the airshow has been an held annually since 2005 as a celebration of Veterans Day.

I very much enjoy airshows but hadn’t been to one in more than 10 years. The airport is about a 20-minute drive from my house. I decided to check it out for a couple of hours last Saturday afternoon.

EQY is a public airport used primarily by private single-engine propeller planes but also multi-engine aircraft, corporate and private jets, and helicopters. It has a single 7,000 ft (2,134m) runway.

Spectators viewed the performances from the viewing area that ran parallel to the runway. Aerial performances occurred over the runway which was setback a few hundred feet from the runway.

Various military and civilian aircraft performed flybys and aerobatic routines. Here are some of the photos.

P-51 Mustangs were one of the best U.S. fighters of WWII and are very popular at airshows. R.T. Dickson simulated bombing and strafing runs in his P-51, Swamp Fox.

I took the short videos below of portions of an aerobatic routine in a high-wing civilian aircraft.

The flight lines for aircraft that were performing were roped off, but Spectators had reasonably good views of them as they sat on the ramp.

A lady who may have been a wing walker was dressed in a Wonder Woman costume. I missed the performance if she was.

This is a video of a wing walker, Ashley Battles, performing at the air show in 2013. Battles retired.  The lady in the photo above may be her replacement.  You couldn’t pay me enough!!! 

 

This AD-4 Skyraider was flown from a U.S. aircraft carrier (tailhook and folding wings) during the Korean War.

The man in the photo below is slowly hand propping a Gruman F6F Hellcat WWII U.S. Navy fighter.  Manually turning the propeller pumps oil into the engine and facilitates starting. Hand propping is dangerous.  Unless proper precautions are taken, it can actually start the engine.

I knew a pilot who didn’t take simple safety precautions once when he hand propped his little Cessna.  The engine started, and the plane taxied (the brakes weren’t set) into his car which was parked on the ramp nearby.  The propeller wrecked the car and the plane.  

The Warriors and Warbirds Museum is based at EQY. Spectators were able to tour its C-46F Commando Tinker  Belle.  It is one of only two airworthy C-46s in the United States.

 

The guide onboard said this aircraft was built in 1944 and that C-46s were flown from the factory to military bases by female pilots.

 

The Velocity Elite RG is a homebuilt aircraft.

Rides in a Vietnam War vintage Bell UH-1 Iroquois (nicknamed “Huey“) were offered for $110.

Last but not least, I was pleased to find that the airshow included a Civil Air Patrol Cessna 182.  This plane is flown by the CAP senior squadron in Concord, NC.  It is a tad more powerful than the Cessna 172 I flew when I was a member of the Indianapolis Senior Squadron.

 

Overall Impression

I always enjoy seeing vintage aircraft and aerial performances at airshows.  This one was no exception even though I stayed for only a couple of hours.  Next time I’ll being a folding chair.  On the short drive home, I got a text from my son about an accident that just happened at an airshow in Dallas, TX.  I’ll report on that in another post.

Have you been to airshows?  How did you like them?