Blast off at the Oceana Air Show

VIRGINIA BEACH

This year's Oceana Air Show will mix a healthy dose of history with aerial acrobatics and the thundering roar of jet engines.

The Navy is celebrating the centennial of naval aviation, and air show director Rich "Corky" Erie saw that as an opportunity to showcase a rich heritage.

Among the historic planes taking wing this weekend will be a replica of the aircraft that started it all back in 1910, when a daredevil young pilot named Eugene Ely launched his plane from a cruiser anchored in Norfolk's Willoughby Bay.

Bob Coolbaugh, a retired naval aviator from New Market, built the replica, dubbed the Ely-Curtiss pusher, using drawings and photos of early biplanes.

With its spindly bamboo frame and fabric-covered wings, it looks like one good gust of wind might do it in. But Coolbaugh and friends have flown it to air shows across the country over the past year.

The show's "Victory at Sea" segment will feature combat aircraft from the past 70 years, including some from the nearby Military Aviation Museum, in a choreographed flight demonstration.

Representing World War II, "when naval aviation truly became a global force to be reckoned with," Erie said, will be an F4U Corsair, FM-2 Wildcat, TBM Avenger and SBD Dauntless. From the Korean War, there'll be an AD-4 Skyraider and, from Vietnam, an A-4 Skyhawk.

"I really am looking forward to hearing these airplanes," Erie said. "A lot of them have such a unique sound."

He expects that for some veterans in the audience, it'll be a welcome reunion.

Of course, it takes plenty of people and equipment to keep aircraft in the sky. A display on the flight line will pay tribute to the history of maintainers and offer visitors a look inside an aircraft engine, Erie said.

Finally, past and future will come together when two of the Navy's longest-serving pilots, Vice Adm. David Architzel and Vice Adm. William Gortney, preside over "winging" ceremonies for newly trained aviators.

It's a lot to pack in - so much so that the show will run for an extra 30 minutes each day.

Erie's advice: "Come early!"

Meredith Kruse, (757) 446-2164, meredith.kruse@pilotonline.com