Muskegon Summer Celebration

F-16 West Coast Demonstration Team"Viper West"

The 388th Fighter Wing at Hill Air Force Base, Utah is home to the Viper West Coast Demonstration Team, one of two single ship F-16 aerial demonstration teams in Air Combat Command. The F-16 Fighting Falcon, more commonly known to military pilots as the Viper, is a compact, extremely maneuverable multi-role fighter aircraft. The F-16 has proven itself in air-to-air combat as well as air-to-surface attack. It provides a relatively low-cost, high-performance weapon system for the air forces of the United States and other allied nations.

The F-16CJ is a single-seat, multi-mission fighter with the ability to switch from an air-to-ground to air-to-air role at the touch of a button. With its lightweight airframe and powerful General Electric engine generating 31,000 pounds of thrust, the F-16CJ can fly at speeds in excess of Mach 2

For more information visit their website at viperwest.hill.af.mil

A-10 Thunderbolt II, 47th Fighter Squadron, 917th Wing, Barksdale AFB, Louisiana

The A-10 Thunderbolt II, affectionately known as the Warthog, is an extremely maneuverable close air support aircraft specialized in anti-tank warfare. Known for it's massive GAU-8A 30mm Avenger Cannon in the nose, The A-10 carries 1,174 rounds of depleted uranium ammunition and can fire those rounds at an impressive 3,900 rounds per minute. The A-10 can also carry 16,000 lbs of munitions on 11 external hardpoints.

While the A-10 is known for it's ability to dish out punishment, it was also built to receive damage as well. The cockpit and parts of the flight control system are protected by titanium armor known as the "bathtub", the engines are mounted to reduce IR signature and minimize damage to both with one hit. The aircraft has self sealing fuel tanks and the landing gear only retracts partially into the nacelles to facilitate gear up landings. The A-10 was actually designed to still fly with one engine, one tail, one elevator and half a wing shot off. During Operation Desert Storm this capability was demonstrated as many A-10's returned safely to base with considerable combat damage.

Despite efforts to retire the A-10, their proven combat capability in Iraq and Afghanistan have guaranteed the A-10 a life in the Air Force until at least 2028. The A-10's featured in Muskegon are from the Air Force Reserve Commands, 47th Fighter Squadron, 917th Wing, Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana

Team MS760 Aerobatics

Team MS760 Aerobatics is a new two-ship civilian jet act. Although Team MS760 is new to the air show circuit, its veteran pilots are well known to fans.

Team MS760 Lead Pilot is Captain Dale “Snort” Snodgrass, a 26-year veteran of the US Navy, was one of the first two Navy flight school graduates to be awarded an F-14 Tomcat and is the highest time F-14 pilot with 4800 hours in that aircraft as well as over 1200 carrier arrested landings. He has over 22 years of air show experience, including 11 years as a USAF Heritage Flight Pilot.

Team MS760 Wingman is Lt. Colonel Jerry “Jive” Kerby is a 23-year veteran of the USAF and graduated number one in his pilot training class being awarded a training slot in the F-15C Eagle. With over 3400 hours in the F-15, Kerby transitioned to the F-4 Phantom as the Squadron Commander of the USAF’s final F-4 Squadron and was the USAF’s first F-4 Heritage Flight Pilot in 2005.

Also joining Team MS760 is Ms. LM “Lunar” Sawyer as the team’s Coordinator and Narrator. She is also a narrator for the Vintage Thunderbird T-33 and the Collings Foundation F-4D Phantom.

Team MS760’s aircraft are the Morane-Saulnier 760, a four-seat, twin-engine, pressurized personal jet aircraft. The MS760 was designed, manufactured, and certified in France in the 1960’s for the French Air Force as a Liaison and Utility turbojet aircraft with full aerobatic capability.

For more information visit the Web site at www.teamms760.com or the Team MS760 facebook page.

United States Coast Guard

Search and Rescue Demonstration

A crowd favorite, the Coast Guard search and rescue team demonstrate their skills.  The HH-65C Dolphin helicopter team is out of U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Detroit, assigned to Muskegon for the summer season.

DAV Airshow Outreach Program

B-25 Mitchell Bomber of World War II

The DAV Airshow Outreach Program featuring the B-25 Mitchell Bomber of World War II notoriety appears nationwide at over 25 airshows and reaches over 2.7 million airshow spectators annually.  The DAV Airshow Outreach Program was developed to increase public awareness of disabled veterans and to serve veterans in communities across the nation. Using B-25 medium bombers, the program reminds the public of the sacrifices veterans have made and continue to make to keep our nation free.

The B-25 Bomber enjoys the reputation of achieving the impossible during one of America’s darkest hours in World War II. The medium size bomber was made famous by the daring Doolittle Raid on Tokyo which helped rally America after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The B-25 went on to become the most versatile bomber of World War II, seeing combat in every theater of operation.  For more information on the Disabled American Veterans, visit the DAV website at www.dav.org.

Bill Stein

Bill Stein has logged over 5,000 hours of aerobatic and formation flight. Bill began flying aerobatics when he was still a student pilot and has been dedicated to perfecting his skills ever since. Since 1995 Bill has performed at air shows all across the United States and has entertained millions air show fans.

Bill’s passion for precision flying is evident in his dazzling air show routine. He trains every day so that his skills stay razor sharp, and to maintain the all-out energy and excitement he puts into his air show sequence. Bill’s experience includes competitive aerobatics and years of flying on the world famous Red Baron Stearman Squadron. Bill also gives back to the air show community by mentoring new air show pilots including coaching the “Stars of Tomorrow” team which have performed at many prestigious air shows including the EAA AirVenture Air Show.

Bill carries a Commercial Pilot Certificate with airplane multi-engine and single-engine instrument ratings. He has flown air shows in the Pitts Special, Globe Swift, Boeing Stearman, and in his current airplane: The state-of-the-art Zivko Edge 540.

For more information visit his website at www.billsteinairshows.com

Greg Shelton
Barnstorming in his Stearman Bi Plane

Greg Shelton lives in Collinsville, Oklahoma. His interest in aviation began at an early age watching Borate Bombers in Northern California and listening to his father’s adventures of flying fighters in the U.S. Navy. In 1982, Greg started flying lessons in a J-3 Cub, but before he finished his pilot’s license, he traded it for a Starduster II so he could pursue aerobatics. Greg’s next aircraft was an AT-6 project. When I say project, I do mean project, because the airplane didn’t even have an engine or a propeller. Using parts from the RCAF, US Navy, Indian AF, USAF, Spanish AF, and the Norwegian AF, Greg spent over four years restoring this historic airplane. What originally started as a 1952 Canadian Harvard MK IV that served in the RCAF from 1952 through 1965 has become one of the most beautiful Warbirds on the aerobatic air show circuit. Greg has also performed in the Yak-52 and from 1994 to 2003 in the Yak-55M.

The 1943 Super Stearman first served with the US Navy as an N2S-3 and was later converted to a 450 HP crop duster in the early 1950’s. In 1984, it was transformed into the colorful and entertaining show plane that you see today. The 450 HP Pratt & Whitney engine was built by Tulsa Aircraft Engines.

For more information visit his website at gregsheltonairshows.com

Billy Werth

Pitts S2C

Growing up in an Air Force family, Billy has been around some sort of airplane his whole life. He started flying in 1988 and graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Professional Aviation Technology from Indiana State University in 1994. In 1992 he started teaching aerobatics and has been hooked ever since. In 1997 he graduated from Undergraduate Pilot Training and started flying the KC-135R for the Air Force Reserves. He was hired by Chautauqua Airlines in 2001 and is now a Captain on the Embraer 145, based in Indianapolis. Billy has over 6000 hours of flight time in 20 different aircraft, with 600 of it teaching folks how to fly upside down. 

The performance starts off with a little bit of kid-type-fun to help bring the audience into the show a little more. A few kids from the audience help with the announcing for a few passes. We finish the show with some high-energy, hard-core, G-pullin aerobatic maneuvers to keep the crowd excited and on their feet.  For more information visit his website at www.grayout.com

Ashley Battles
Wing Walker

In 2003, Greg Shelton decided to add a wing-walking act to his growing list of air show performances. He purchased a beautiful 450 Stearman painted in the patriotic colors of red, white, and blue. And after almost 20 years of flying solo around the air show circuit, he enlisted the talents of Ashley Battles to walk and ride the wings.

Ashley Battles was raised as a Georgia peach in Augusta, Georgia. Her passion for aviation led her back to Tulsa, Oklahoma to pursue a career in flying. Ashley started flying at age 16 and wing walking at age 20. She has her grandfather to thank for her passion and dedication to the aviation industry. She hopes she will follow in his footsteps as a skilled and talented warbird pilot. Ashley has been a pilot since 2000 and has so far obtained her Commercial certificate, Multi-Engine, Instrument, and several type ratings. She has flown thousands of hours as a fire patrol pilot, an airline pilot, and a warbird pilot. In addition to flying, Ashley has an Aviation degree from Oklahoma State University. She has been the proud owner of a Russian Yak 52, a founder of the Rodger L. Modglin Memorial Engineering Scholarship, National Event Coordinator for the Red Star Pilots Association, the Vice President of the Ninety-Nines International Intercollegiate Internet Chapter, and a member of the AOPA, EAA, and Women in Aviation.