You’ve probably heard the saying “if you’re not 15 minutes early, you’re late!” Those who are in the business of planning airshows know this all too well to be true. Whether it’s following a tightly packed airshow act schedule, or planning the next great lineup for the following year, it pays to be ahead of the game. The Geneseo, New York-based National Warplane Museum is fresh off the heels of a very successful 2024 airshow, which saw the highest number of attendees in its 44 year history. There is no pause for celebrating this feat, as the planning committee is already firing on all cylinders to make 2025 even more epic. The theme for 2025’s Greatest Show on Turf? VJ Day, highlighting US Naval Aviation.
Summer 2025 will see the 80th Anniversaries of both Victory: Europe and Victory: Japan days. There will undoubtedly be countless celebrations of these monumental occasions. The National Warplane Museum will be a part in this series of commemorations, for a generation that sadly continues to fade away a little more each day. One of the benefits of the Geneseo Airshow is how close attendees can get to the aircraft, the pilots, and the veterans who also attend. It is a first-hand history experience makes the WWII generation feel not so distant.
Just this past July, at their most recent show, the NWM hosted Mr. Elmer Pankratz. A Veteran P-51 pilot, with 43 combat missions under his belt, Elmer got to sit in the Mustang’s cockpit once again. He interacted with airshow patrons as they walked up, telling them all about his time flying the P-51 over enemy territory in Europe. Not too many other places exist where one can experience this type of living history.
The Geneseo Airshow planning team has already lined up the “Tora, Tora, Tora!” demonstration team, to re-enact the December 7th, 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. This will be the act’s 53rd year on the airshow circuit, and a much welcome guest to the Western New York airfield. The last time Tora! flew at Geneseo was in the early 1990s. At the time, Dr. Bill Anderson’s P-40E AK940 was still a part of the Warplane Museum collection. He would give chase to the invaders, even going so far as to re-enact running out to the Warhawk on the flight-line while throwing on his flight gear over his jammies. Having this famous airshow demo team back for the upcoming show will be a most welcome sight.
Along with the Pearl Harbor re-enactment, Geneseo is planning on numerous other WWII Warbirds attending, as per usual. With the focus being on Naval aircraft, a TBM Avenger has already been booked for the show. Additionally, there are talks to have Geneseo mainstay Thom Richard fly the Corsair in the event. Though still early on in planning, there are plenty of aircraft being contacted and talked to. More confirmations should come through shortly, but one thing is for certain, the Greatest Show on Turf will take place on July 12th and 13th, 2025. More information will be released in the coming months, so stay tuned! Visit the Geneseo Airshow/National Warplane Museum website HERE and their Facebook page HERE.
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Commercial Pilot, CFI, and Museum Entrepreneur, with a subject focus on WWII Aviation. I am dedicated to building flight experience so I can fly WWII Fighters, such as the P-51 Mustang, for museums and airshows, and in the USAF Heritage Flight. I lead and run the Pennington Flight Memorial, to honor local MIA Tuskegee Airman F/O Leland “Sticky” Pennington.
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