Newcomers join returning pilots at the 61st Chicago Air and Water Show
Touted by organizers as the largest free event of its kind in the U.S., the Chicago Air and Water Show returns this weekend for its 61st year in a spectacle venerated by pilots, parachutists and sailors across the world.
Two pilots are making their Air and Water Show debuts on two different teams. British military pilot Damo Green flies for his first year with Great Britain's Royal Air Force team the Red Arrows, which returns after an 11-year absence. And Jessy Panzer, a Lincoln, Nebraska-based civilian pilot who joined Team Oracle in April, will perform at the show for the first time as well.
“This is probably the biggest tour we've done of America,” said Green about the Red Arrows' 11-week deployment across North America.
Chicago is the team's first U.S. stop following a Canadian show in Halifax. Green said Red Arrows fliers are eager to be doing more than 20 shows across North America alongside the likes of other aerobatic teams such as Canada's Snowbirds and the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds. For the Air and Water Show, members of the Red Arrows are billed as “Special Honored Guests” behind the finale headliners of the U.S. Army Parachute Team Golden Knights and the U.S. Navy Blue Angels.
“There's always a healthy competitive nature to displays,” Green said. “It will be great to chat with them and learn from the teams.”
The Red Arrows team, headquartered in the English county of Lincolnshire, features 12 1970s Hawk T1 jets capable of flying at supersonic speed. Upon learning of the suburban village also named Lincolnshire, Green said he hoped the Red Arrows team members would be able to meet locals from the “American one.”
“Doing a show on a coastal site with such an iconic cityscape as you're going to have in Chicago, that's going to be something pretty special,” Green said. “And it's not just about the displays.”
Green emphasized that the Red Arrows has a ground team to engage with crowds and promote careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math).
“We're very keen especially to encourage young kids to get involved in those areas,” Green said.
Panzer, meanwhile, gets to fly alongside her mentor and Team Oracle founder Sean D. Tucker - a veteran of both the Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds.
“I've always heard great things about the Air and Water Show,” Panzer said.
She will fly the Oracle Extra 300L single-engine plane alongside Tucker's Oracle Challenger III biplane. Together they perform signature maneuvers with names such as the Centrifuge, an Inside-Outside loop, Tucker Upper, Snap and Torque rolls.
“We're making art in the sky,” Panzer said. “And we get to share with people who normally don't get to see airplanes doing this sort of thing.”
Panzer helps bring representation to a field that has been traditionally skewed toward men.
“We're all about trying to inspire people and getting every person to live passionately and live out their dreams,” she said. “Personally my hope is that little girls specifically see a woman up there doing this sort of thing, it makes it that much more touchable and real.”
2019 Chicago Air and Water Show
<b>Location:</b> Along Chicago's lakefront from Fullerton Avenue to Oak Street, with the focal point at North Avenue Beach, 1600 N. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, (312) 742-1168 or chicagoairandwatershow.us
<b>Times:</b> 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 17-18
<b>Admission:</b> Free, though some area venues have paid admission viewing parties
<b>Broadcasts:</b> Play-by-play coverage airs on WBBM Newsradio 780 and 105.9 FM both days from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. WBBM Newsradio will also provide livestream video at wbbm780.radio.com.