Columbus AFB hosts one-day air show

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Keith Holcomb
  • 14th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. --  The 2018 Wings Over Columbus Open House and Air and Space Show was held April 21, here, providing roughly 21,000 people with hours of aerobatic acts and many static displays from the Air Force’s current inventory.

Curious individuals and families alike visited from the static to see what Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi had to offer during the airshow.

“One of the goals was to share aviation with the community,” said Capt. Justin Pedone, 14th Flying Training Wing media flight coordinator. “We hopefully inspired future pilots, mechanics or aviation industry leaders.”

The people who attended the air show saw over 15 different performers including the U.S. Army’s Golden Knights, the 58th Airlift Squadron's C-17 Globemaster III Rat Pack Demonstration Team from Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma, and the Air Combat Command F-22 Demonstration Team at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia.

Along with the performers, almost 50 different groups interacted with the crowds, including the Clydesdales, the 14th FTW Aerospace and Operations Physiology Flight and a C-17 crew’s medical evacuation and care capabilities.

Over 15 static displays showed aircraft of all kinds during Saturday’s airshow, including the B-52 Stratofortress.

The B-52 is a long-range, heavy bomber, able to perform missions of all kinds, and has been a part of the Air Force’s heritage since its first flight in 1954. Columbus AFB had been home to the 454th Bombardment Wing, and veterans who had been Airmen under the 454th BW gathered together for a reunion and had a B-52 flyover in honor of their service.

“We’ve been here since 1942,” Pedone said. “The base has got a rich history of flight in this region, going all the way back to WWII, and the airshow can not only educate people about our past and our history but will hopefully have excited the future generations to be a part of this heritage.”

The air show had hundreds of helping hands to make it work, and Col. Douglas Gosney, 14th Flying Training Wing commander, said he was thankful for all of the help Team BLAZE members received.