By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
As if on cue, the crowds at the Ocean City Airport Festival gazed overhead at 12 p.m. Saturday, using their hands to shield their eyes from the intense afternoon sunlight.
Thousands of feet above the spectators, what first appeared to be tiny dots in the sky were actually the billowing parachutes of skydivers who were whirling around in circles as they descended toward earth.
“Look up there. Do you see the parachutes?” Melissa Ligato told her daughters, Olivia, 8, and Ella, 3, while pointing toward the sky.
Melissa, her husband, Matt and their two daughters visited Ocean City on Saturday from their Philadelphia home to enjoy the air festival and may stay the entire weekend to watch the Boardwalk Aerobatic Show that will unfold over the beaches on Sunday.
“We’re having a lot of fun,” Matt Ligato said.
Olivia smiled as the Fastrax professional skydivers entertained the air festival crowds with a patriotic display of red, white and blue smoke.
Two of the skydivers were tethered to gigantic American flags flapping majestically in the wind.
“It was cool,” Olivia said of the skydivers. “I saw them when they jumped out of the plane.”
The Fastrax team will also perform at Sunday’s Boardwalk Aerobatic Show, which will feature some of the best stunt pilots and aerobatic champions in the world for a spectacle over the beach and Boardwalk between Fifth Street and 14th Street beginning 1 p.m.
Fastrax skydivers Jon Forman and Everett Joiner took in stunning views of the shore and ocean Saturday after they jumped out of the plane circling over the bayside airport.
“It was so gorgeous,” Forman said in an interview after the skydivers landed in a grassy strip next to the airport runway.
Circling overhead, Forman and Joiner released red, white and blue smoke to give the air festival a patriotic atmosphere. Also joining them was fellow Fastrax skydiver Larry Compton, who floated to the ground attached to a massive, 2,000-square-foot American flag.
“This is for the crowds. To have that impart on others, that’s what we’re here for,” Forman said of the patriotic-themed skydiving display.
Taking part in the skydiving spectacle was City Council President Pete Madden, who glided down from an altitude of 10,000 feet while attached to Fastrax team member Matt Harvey.
“It was awesome. This was on my bucket list,” Madden said afterward.
Harvey described Madden as being “cool as a cucumber” during what was a flawless jump.
With Mayor Jay Gillian standing within earshot, Madden joked that the skydiving stunt was actually the mayor trying to get rid of the City Council president.
Gillian said he considered skydiving with the Fastrax team this year but “chickened out.” He noted that he may reconsider doing it at next year’s air festival.
The festival helps to showcase Ocean City’s Municipal Airport by attracting thousands of spectators to the only airport in New Jersey located on a barrier island. Its location along Bay Avenue puts it only blocks from Ocean City’s beaches. It is not uncommon in summer to see people get out of their planes holding beach chairs and umbrellas.
Gillian said his administration is putting together an extensive airport improvement project that will be part of the city’s next five-year capital plan.
“This is a great facility,” he said.
In recent years, city officials have discussed conceptual plans for a “multiuse transportation building” to replace the airport’s tiny operations building that also formerly housed a diner.
Gillian said events such as the airport festival also serve as an important tool to teach young people about the importance of aviation.
“For them to see the airplanes, the pilots, the sky jumpers and other things is an amazing way for them to learn,” he said.
Spectators were able to wander the grounds of the airport while admiring a mix of modern and historic aircraft. Activities also included kid-friendly amusements, plane rides, music and food.
Norma Spiteri and her mother, Norma Bertocchi, stopped to marvel over some of the vintage planes lining the tarmac.
“I think it’s really amazing how small the aircraft are. How are they able to get in there?” Spiteri said of the pilots.
Spiteri lives in Holland, Pa., and has a summer vacation home in Ocean City. As much as she and her mother enjoyed the planes, their biggest thrill of the air festival was watching the skydivers descend to earth attached to gigantic American flags.
“I loved the American flags coming down. It was an awesome thing to see,” Spiteri said.
