Greenville, IL Airstravaganza Shares Love of Flight With Local Community, Part 5 - American Warbird T-6 Texan Flight

By Carmelo Turdo

The Greenville Airstravaganza, a favorite Midwest Aviation fall fly-in, was held October 6 at Greenville Municipal Airport in central Illinois. The event is more than a fly-in - it is a family-friendly, community gathering with fun activities, good food and, of course, aviation!  Organized by the Greenville Pilots Association and the Greenville Airport Authority, the annual Airstravaganza provides the opportunity for local residents to experience aviation first-hand by visiting with pilots, touring classic cars and display aircraft, and flying in a Cessna 172, Robinson R44 helicopter or World War II-era aircraft. Regular arrivals of general aviation aircraft, RC aerobatic aircraft shows, skydiving demonstrations by Gateway Skydiving Center and overflights by Kevin Kegin’s American Warbird AT-6D Texan kept everyone’s eyes to the skies. As is evident in the photos, the skies were sunny in the morning but a storm front moved in during the mid-afternoon after much of the aerial activity was winding down. 

In Part 5 of this series, we take a look at our flight in Kevin Kegin's American Warbird AT-6D Texan.

The Aero Experience arrived at Grenville Municipal Airport early to attend the crew briefings and get some pre-crowd photos before the planned activities began on the beautiful fall Saturday morning. We met with our friend Kevin Kegin, owner of American Warbird and pilot for the T-6 Texan and Waco biplane rides given in the area throughout the spring and summer seasons. The T-6 flew every few hours during the event, flying media and volunteers around the Greenville area to get aerial coverage and draw attention to the flying activity to come at the airport. We were privileged to ride on the first flight of the day, when light winds and smooth air helped to make the photo flight much more productive and fun. This 1942 AT-6D was used for advanced navigation and gunnery training with the U.S. Army Air Forces and with the Spanish Air Force. Scratched into the upper left wing skin is the name Richard Reimer and a squadron reference that is now unclear. The Texan is incredibly clean and contains some modern avionics and cameras to record the passenger experience during a touring flight. Thanks to Kevin's great airmanship and an open rear canopy, we were able to get some great shots. Below are some views of the flight along with photos of several other flights made during the rest of the day.

The Aero Experience thanks Kevin Kegin's American Warbird and the Greenville Airport staff for making this photo flight possible during the Airstravaganza event! Check back soon for our final edition in this series covering the TBM Avenger flights.