By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Have you ever seen a plane simply pause in midair, as if momentarily frozen in time?
Pilot David Windmiller somehow made his single-engine aerobatic plane hang motionless for a few seconds at the apex of a climb – hovering above the ocean as the crowds at the Ocean City Boardwalk Aerobatic Show peered into the sky in disbelief.
Windmiller and other pilots who performed at the air show Sunday afternoon also treated the thousands of spectators who lined the beaches and Boardwalk to an assortment of gravity defying rolls, loops and flips.
At one point, Windmiller made his plane tumble over end to end as though it was out of control in another thrilling exhibition of precision flying.
The show opened with members of the popular Fastrax professional skydiving team tethered to gigantic American flags while descending to the beach amid cheers and applause from spectators who enjoyed the patriotic display.
Fastrax skydiver Larry Compton, who was attached to a sprawling 5,000-square-foot flag, said the team jumped out of the plane at an altitude of 6,000 feet.
“It’s amazing. This has become one of our favorite places to perform. We get to see the Jersey Shore when we jump. It’s a spectacular view,” Compton said of Team Fastrax in an interview just minutes after he landed.
Fastrax headlined Ocean City’s air show festivities throughout the weekend, including a patriotic-themed group skydive at the airport on Saturday and a spectacular nighttime jump Saturday that lit up the sky above the Boardwalk with pyrotechnics
Dan Kelchner, the city’s director of Community Services, estimated that the air show and related events attracted about 50,000 visitors throughout the weekend. The air show is one of the centerpieces of Ocean City’s lineup of family-friendly fall events to continue attracting tourists to town after the peak summer tourism season is over.
“It’s a great event for Ocean City. It brings more people to the community in the shoulder season to the beaches and the Boardwalk and gives us an opportunity to showcase the airport,” Kelchner said.
The air show featured some of the best stunt pilots and aerobatic champions in the world, including David Windmiller, Paul Dougherty and Mark Meredith.
The Jersey Jerks team flew in close formation while executing a series of maneuvers in three vintage T-6 planes with roaring engines.
A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter staged a search-and-rescue demonstration while hovering low over the water. Later, the orange helicopter did a high-speed pass just off the beach to the delight of spectators.
The air show’s announcer, Howdy McCann, had a simple answer to describe why he believes Ocean City’s air show is so popular.
“It’s a four-letter word: free,” McCann said. “Most air shows aren’t free unless they’re held on military bases. (In Ocean City) any place on the Boardwalk has a seat to watch the airshow from – and that’s a plus.”
McCann, who has been announcing air shows across the country for nearly 45 years, is with David Schultz Airshows, organizer of Ocean City’s event.
While narrating Sunday’s action for each performer, McCann also carried on a conversation with aerobatic biplane pilot Paul Dougherty live from the cockpit. Dougherty described the thrill for him of seeing so many beachgoers watching him perform.
“Thanks for coming out,” Dougherty told the spectators over the radio while speaking with McCann.
Sunny skies provided ideal conditions for the breathtaking aerial choreography of the planes and skydivers. Spectators had a close-up view of the planes and skydivers on the beaches and Boardwalk between Fifth Street and 14th Street.
Two air show fans and friends, Linda Palmer and Gina McDaniel, watched the action overhead from the 11th Street beach.
“The patriotic display was great. Honestly, it was my favorite part,” Palmer said of the Fastrax skydivers tethered to the massive American flags. “I’m a big military fan.”
Palmer lives in Marlton, N.J. and has a summer vacation home in Ocean City. McDaniel also lives in Marlton and was visiting with Palmer for some beach time Sunday when they both discovered that the air show was being held.
“We didn’t know it was happening today. It’s a very nice surprise,” McDaniel said.
