Page 6 - Aerotech News and Review, July 9, 2021

Successful California International Air Show grew from unlikely soil

Charitable millions fall from

sky, more than 40 years of

volunteer work

by Larry Grooms “Jim Gattis was just trying to raise
special to Aerotech News the money. He had the business inter-
ests, and he was our founder,” Wardwell
A promoter looking for an air show said. They traveled to other air shows
location back in 1981 would probably and discovered that more than half of all
have driven right through Salinas, Calif. new air shows fail after a season or two
It had a small population, a small for lack of money. Along the way, Gat-
municipal airport, and an aeronautics tis and Wardwell found guidance from
business sector pretty much limited to the International Council of Airshows
crop dusters. Salinas was billed as the (ICAS) which sets the gold standard for The headliner for the 40th anniversary Salinas Airshow, scheduled for Oct.
“gateway” to the touristy Monterey airshow safety, quality, stability, ethics 30 and 31, 2021, is the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds. Gates open at 9 a.m.
Peninsula. But being a gateway means and performance. on both dates, and more is available at www.salinasairshow.com.
you ain’t quite there yet. With knowledge from air show in-
But the longshot paid off big time for dustry experts, a sustainable financial
the little town that could, did and con- plan for a charitable non-profit orga- ing for victims of the attacks. we will pass through your donation in Hoover, the Christen Eagles, Wayne
tinues to defy the odds. nization, and broadly-based sponsor- “All the performers for Saturday and your name to your designated charity Handley, Sean D. Tucker, Patty Wag-
Today, 40 years after Salinas ships drawn by the chance to build the Sunday came out, but of course they and add to that an additional distribution
launched the presumptuously named airshow and continue their charitable couldn’t fly,” he said. “But we had first from air show proceeds equally divided staff , Art Scholl, Leo Loudenslager and
California International Airshow, the donations with the same dollars, The responders and a place where people among sponsors. The French Connection.
two-day event annually attracts ad- California International Airshow was could go to be together.” He added, That’s the key, but it’s designed to From its inception in 1981, the Sa-
mission ticket-buying crowds of up to an instant success. “We lost $250,000 that year, but we set unlock a plan relying on personal rela- linas air show showed its patrons cre-
50,000 people, and afterwards — when Wardwell, who served as the volun- up donation barrels around the field.” tionships built up by time spent working ativity in the air and on the ground. In
the bills are paid — distributes an aver- teer general chairman for three years, At the end of the day on Sunday, air together, in and for the community. The one of the early years, just before the
age $300,000-plus to Monterey County was honored by presentation of the aerobatic action was scheduled to be-
charities. Cumulatively, the California ICAS Sword of Excellence. The award show volunteers discovered the public Salinas Plan also seems to work best gin, the announcer began calling on the
had filled the barrels with $80,000 in
when combined with having top mili-
International Airshow reports having recognized the airshow’s generation owner of Pontiac station wagon to im-
passed through about $8.8 million over of $4.4 million in regional economic voluntary contributions, sent to New tary and civilian aerobatic performers, mediately remove it from a No Park-
its history. development and $8.5 million in chari- York City 9/11 relief. dozens of static aircraft, exhibits and a ing zone. Over several long minutes an
The year 2020 was a financial crater
fun and affordable family experience.
The social benefit was assessed by table donations over the period. increasingly agitated announcer issued
one of the air show’s enduring spon- Not that everything worked perfect- created by COVID-19 for all airways. And the not-so-secret sauce is engag- ever more angry orders for the car to be
But whatever the year, Wardwell
ing hundreds of community-minded
sors, Cardinale GMC in nearby Sea- ly all the time, every year. Wardwell moved. Finally, just moments before the
side. In an online testimonial in 2014, points out that air shows are subject to explains the mission of what the locals local volunteers, motivated by a will- show was to start, the announcer said,
the company wrote “ … the California anything Mother Nature throws at them, call “the C.I.A.” is always kept clear ingness to give of themselves to serve “Uh-Oh, the air show boss has had it
International Airshow has showcased and with Salinas just eight miles from and simple: Produce a World Class their community, families and country, with this guy,” as the sound of a heli-
aviation excellence while raising funds the shore of Monterey Bay, fog is a con- Community-based Airshow benefiting copter rotor built higher in a hangar area
for local non-profit organizations. This stant nemesis. He remembers one year local charitable organizations. Wardwell said Salinas emphasizes behind the terminal.
event has become the most successful in which a ground fog canceled the fly- It is, by most metrics, the most pride and respect for values and tradi- Suddenly, the noise was joined by the
Airshow organized to support charities ing show on Saturday, but the air show successful air show organized to sup- tions of American life, such as volun- sight of a Huey helicopter rising into the
in North America.” was saved when Sunday dawned bright port charitable organizations in North teerism and community involvement, air, a Pontiac station wagon suspended
There’s also the economic impact and clear, and Saturday ticket-buyers America. and respect and support for the nation’s from a cable below. Hovering over a va-
of all the money visitors spend for gas, were invited back at no added cost. The financial formula sometimes military services. cant area between taxiways, the copter
lodging, food and incidentals. Numbers On two other occasions the air show credited for the California International Military organizations became major
are estimated in millions of dollars ev- was hit by external crisis. The first came Airshow’s consistent record of chari- players in the success of the California released the vehicle, which opened the
ery year. in 2001 when the air show was sched- table support for its region, commonly International Airshow from the begin- show with a spectacular crash.
All of which begs the question: Why uled for the weekend after the 9/11 called “The Salinas Plan,” has been ning, starting with the Navy’s Blue An- On another air show day in the early
did all that prosperity land on Salinas, a terrorist attacks. Wardwell remembers studied and even tried with varying re- gels at a time when Salinas Municipal 1980s, film star pilot John Travolta flew
town made famous by native son John the board didn’t immediately antici- sults, but never reported to be equaled. Airport’s 5,000-foot runway was too into the show with his current love in-
Steinbeck and long advertised as the na- pate total shutdown of American civil On the surface, the idea is a model of short to accommodate most military terest, singer Olivia Newton John.
tion’s Salad Bowl? flying and suspension of military air- simplicity. Air show proposes to spon- jets. The Blue Angels, flying smaller The show went on in that creative
A blue-collar city of hard working show demonstration teams. In talking sors: Invest in our non-profit air show as Douglas A-4D Skyhawks, fit the field, style for four decades, featuring pyro-
early-risers who shared a tradition of with sponsors, the air show leadership part of your annual charitable donations which was later lengthened to 7,000 feet technics, jet cars and trucks, monster
volunteering, making their own fun quickly changed the format from paid budget. That money will pay front-end for larger high-performance jet teams, trucks, fire-breathing robots, and dare-
and taking care of their neighbors, Sali- entertainment to a free celebration of costs for an air show that will sell tickets including the Air Force Thunderbirds. devil Robbie Knievel.
nas had experience in creating a major American pride, patriotism and mourn- to tens of thousands of fans. At the end, Over the decades, the C.I.A. hosted Website airshowfan.com , a compre-
league attraction from hometown roots. many of the world’s most celebrat- hensive source of air show intelligence
Their earlier demonstrations of that ed military jet teams, including the and analysis, declares the California In-
formula included creation of the enor- graceful aerial ballet performance of ternational Airshow to be quite simply,
mously successful California Rodeo, the Canadian Forces Snowbirds, the “a very, very, very good air show.”
which expanded into a weeklong sum- United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force’s Redundancy aside, webmaster Ber-
mer event they call “Big Week.” Red Arrows in 1995, and rarely seen nardo Malfitano writes that even when
Air show Executive Director Harry performances of the Soviet MiG-29s. weather is less-than-cooperative, “they
D. Wardwell is among the few who Additional flying demonstrations came put a LOT of cool, diverse, loud, and
were both present at the creation and from NASA, the U.S. Coast Guard, the interesting planes in the air. They al-
active throughout the organization’s U.S. Marine Corps and the California
history. National Guard and units from the for- ways have three or four jet demos, plus
Wardwell recalls the dawn of the mer Army airfield at nearby Fort Ord. one or two jet teams. Very few, if any,
1980s, when two small groups of air- Civilian professional air show per- non-military airshows reliably attract so
plane enthusiasts began talking about formers included barnstormers, wing many military fighters. The show will
their ideas for starting an air show. One walkers and aerobatic pilots who left also usually feature a few excellent
group was comprised of pilots led by their mark in the minds of all who aerobats, since Sean Tucker is local and
Jerry Ross, and the other led by pilot Courtesy photograph watched them. Legends in the industry his aerobatics school is always produc-
and business owner Jim Gattis. Ross Robosaurus will make an appearance at the California International Airshow in and modern-day champions of aero- ing graduates of unparalleled skill. The
left town to return to college, but not Salinas Calif., Oct. 30 and 31. Robosaurus is the world’s largest transformer. batic competitions have added quality Showcopters are based there and will do
before combining his group’s efforts It is a 30-ton fire breathing transforming T-Rex that eats cars and planes at acrobatic maneuvers to the programs, scary and apparently impossible things
the air show.
with Gattis. along with such legendary pilots as Bob with their helicopters.”
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