2016 Evansville ShrinersFest Air Show: Part 1 - Tri-State Aero Visit

By Leo Cachat

The Aero Experience was pleased to attend the 2016 Evansville ShrinersFest & Airshow.  There were a variety of activities taking place in downtown Evansville near the riverfront while we were there on Saturday, but the main attraction for us was of course a great Midwest airshow.    

Our first stop upon arrival in Evansville was the briefing, where we met Luke Carrico, friend of The Aero Experience and a tremendous air show announcer.  Luke was to do a fabulous job announcing his hometown show.  He is a true professional, and is well on his way to what will be a long and prosperous announcing career.  Luke was instrumental in providing The Aero Experience with a great opportunity to get some tremendous coverage of this year's show both downtown and at Tri State Aero, the FBO at Evansville Regional Airport..

We got up to speed on the airshow during the briefing, and we then went out to the apron to get some photographs of the aircraft before they took off for the airshow over the Ohio River: Warbird Heritage Foundation Douglas A-4B Skyhawk, North American AT-6G Texan Spanish Lady, Vultee BT-13 Valiant Echoes, The U.S. Navy Super Hornet Demo Team from VFA-106, Lee Leet's Tucano, Northrop T-38C Talons from Columbus AFB, MS, and the Vanguard Squadron.
 

We also had a nice conversation with J.P. Mellor and Kathy Mellor near the T-6 Spanish Lady.  They allowed us to take some photos inside the cockpit, and posed for a picture with their beautiful aircraft.

While photographing inside the hangar, Bob Richards was sprucing up his Pitts S-1S for his performance.  He offered to push his plane and Billy Werth's Pitts S-2C out into the sun for a photo shoot, and we jumped at the opportunity to take some one of a kind photos. We've seen Bob a couple times the last couple years and can't tell you enough how nice of a guy he is and a great pilot as well.

The Aero Experience thanks all the employees at Tri State Aero for their hospitality and allowing us to do what we do best, cover great Midwest aviation events and bring them to our audience.  Part 2 will showcase the aerial action down at the Evansville riverfront.