Planes on parade at the air show.

Fagen air show a complete success

An overflow crowd didn't seem to even notice the hot and humid weather amid the excitement of the annual Ray Fagen Memorial Air Show on Saturday in Granite Falls.
 
Approximately 50 WWII veterans were on hand at the Lenzen-Roe Memorial Airport next to the Fagen Fighters WWII Museum.
 
One of those veterans was Robert E. Thompson, who turned 95 years old on April 4. For his birthday, he asked his three daughters to take him to the Ray Fagen Memorial Air Show at the Fagen Fighters WWII Museum on Saturday in Granite Falls.
 
“He really wanted to come to this,” said his daughter Nancy Westland of Minneapolis. “He's never been here before and neither have any of us.”
 
On a hot and sultry day, Thompson and 49 other World War II veterans on hand, watched the three-hour show at the impressive World War II Museum three miles east of town.
 
“He really liked the show,” noted Westland, who brought her father to the show with siblings Patti Matejec of Minneapolis and Diane Jensen of Eden Prairie.

“He kept explaining to us the types of airplanes that would pass by and what they were used for.”
 
“I couldn't have asked for a better birthday present,” said Thompson, a Sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps.
 
Thompson fought at the invasion of Saipan on the Marianas Islands in 1944, as well as the invasion of Iwo Jima at the Volcano Island and in Okinawa in 1945.
 
The air show featured several new planes from various military branches. Rob Reider, the public address announcer, smartly described each plane and what to look for and listen to each time it passed in front of the large crowd.
 
“There were 5,200 variances of the Wildcat made by GM,” Reider told about the Navy Wildcat piloted by Evan Fagen, Ron and Diane’s son.

“They could travel 332 miles per hour with a 900-mile range. And they played a big part in the ultimate surrender by Japan.”
 
Matt Younkin of Arkansas was on hand to entertain the crowd. He is a third-generation pilot and the son of Bobby Younkin, who is considered to be one of the greatest airshow pilots of all time.
 
Flying in a 70-year-old Twin Beech 18 that was manufactured by a workforce of women during the war, Younkin started out with an impressive low-level roll on take-off. From there, he dazzled those I attendance with loops, wing-overs, steep turns and an 8-point roll.
 
The Twin Beech 18 was not designed as an aerobatic aircraft, but rather a transport aircraft with two large radial engines and 450 hp.
 
“Matt learned to fly when he was 14,” Reider announced. “Listen to the radial engines bite into the sky.”
 
Younkin capped his show with an “Elephant Waltz” choreographed to music by the same name. In that maneuver, Younkin dances the large and lumbering plane back and forth in the air with the landing gear down as if he is walking an elephant.
 
Ron Fagen, who owns the Fagen Fighters WWII Museum with his wife Diane, also flew in the air show in a P-51D Mustang plane that the Fagens purchased in 1996 and renamed “Sweet Revenge”.
 
That plane was delivered to the USAAF 8th Air Force in 1945 and was called “Platinum Plus”, then served in Swedish and Dominican Republic Air Forces before being returned to the U.S. in 1984.
 
“Because of the storm clouds we had this morning, Ron was concerned that he wouldn't be able to fly today and feel that freedom,” the announcer noted. “But the skies opened up and we have a beautiful day for flying.”
 
Fagen received a large applause when emerged from his plane following his flight at the show.
 
The Fagen Fighters WWII Museum is home to a pristine collection of fully operational aircraft and vehicles from WWII.
 
Some planes simulated strafing and the dropping of bombs, complete with the loud “Ka-booms”.
 
“I love this,” shouted five-year-old Elijah Nelson of Plymouth to his father Andy while covering both ears. “Tell them to do it again.”
 
All of the Fagen Fighters Warbirds flew in the air show, along with many visiting Warbirds. Also performing was The Greg Shelton Airshow that features his wife Ashley as a wing walker while Greg maneuvers the plane in loops and turns.
 
The Aeroshell Aerobatic team of Alabama also dazzled the crowd with various four-plane tight formation maneuvers.

Flying North American AT-6 Texan planes were: Mark Henley, Team Lead; Steve Gustafson, Left Wing; Bryan Regan, Right Wing; and Jimmy Fordham, Slot.
 
A concert by Jamey Johnson followed the afternoon air show. And a spectacular nighttime air show followed the concert.
 
From the little boy covering his ears to the WWII veterans attending the show, this was an entertaining day for all ages.

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