By Allison Brophy Champion and Culpeper Star-Exponent
Part of ongoing America250 festivities, local warbirds will represent Culpeper in the sky at an upcoming, high-flying aviation festival in a historic coastal city overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Members of the Capital Wing of the Commemorative Air Force based at Culpeper Regional Airport will fly at “Warbirds Over Wilmington” April 11-12 at Wilmington International Airport in North Carolina. The air show is part of the famous North Carolina Azalea Festival—America 250 version. The Capital Wing’s TBM Avenger torpedo bomber, Boeing PT-17 Stearman biplane, and Japanese Fuji LM-1 will be among the featured planes, according to Pete Ballard, the local group’s event and ride manager. Rides will be for sale in the Stearman.
The planes will soar at the history-infused air show at Wilmington International Airport in America’s first “World War II Heritage City,” says Lou DiGiusto, part of Wilmington’s America 250 WWII Heritage Coalition Board. Warbirds Over Wilmington celebrates the airport’s history as an Army Air Corps Field, he said. The Bluethenthal Field was a P-47 Thunderbolt training base and served as an anti-submarine patrol aircraft, said DiGiusto. “We contacted the Commemorative Air Force in Dallas, and they referred us to the Capital Wing CAF. They were very interested in participating in this America 250 event,” he said. A replica of the most recognized Japanese flyer of the war, called the Zero, featured in the 20th Century Fox action film “Tora! Tora! Tora!,” will also fly at Warbirds Over Wilmington. One such plane recently joined the fleet at the Capital Wing CAF; it will make its public debut at a later date.
The history focus for the America 250 aviation fest is fitting for Wilmington, where enemy U-Boats attacked merchant vessels off the coast during the war, said DiGiusto. In addition to warbirds from the Commemorative Air Force, there will be flyovers and military static display aircraft by the N.C. National Guard and U.S. Coast Guard aircraft. Capital Wing’s Boeing biplane will do a flyover for the Azalea Festival Parade on Saturday morning, April 11.
The Japanese Zero replica will conduct demonstration high-speed, low-altitude flights at the Wilmington airfield, said DiGiusto. The plane was a light, highly maneuverable fighter, he said, thanks to its great design. The Allies’ main opponent in the Pacific air war, the Zero, is the most famous symbol of Japanese air power during World War II, according to the U.S. Air Force Museum. The fighter first flew in April 1939, and Mitsubishi, Nakajima, Hitachi, and the Japanese navy produced 10,815 Zeros from 1940-1945, according to the museum, more than any other aircraft: “Its distinctive design and historical impact make the Zero an important machine in air power history.”
“The Zero could out-climb and turn U.S. fighters in 1942 and ’43,” said DiGiusto. “However, the Zero was vulnerable because its designers, to save weight, did not have pilot-protecting armor or self-sealing fuel tanks that U.S. fighters such as the Grumman F-4 Wildcat had.” This year’s Azalea Festival is special because it’s an America 250 event celebrating Wilmington’s role in the war, he said. Wilmington was also the location for the N.C Shipbuilding Company, a major shipyard that built more than 240 Liberty ships. The cargo ships that comprised the Atlantic convoys to Europe were vital to victory. There are three original Zeros flying in the U.S., according to Ballard. The local hangar plans to feature its replica in the coming months. Its specifications are nearly identical to a real Japanese Zero, Ballard said. “You cannot tell them apart. And its performance is nearly the same as the real warbird,” he said.
It was the fastest fighter in the Pacific Theatre until the US Grumman 6F6 Hellcat appeared in September 1943, Ballard said. “The Zero and TBM Avenger make for a good pairing together as both flew against each other in almost every conflict in the Pacific Theatre during WWII,” he said. Visitors to the Azalea Festival and Warbirds of Wilmington can also visit the USS North Carolina, a storied historic site on the Cape Fear River at the end of the airport’s main runway.
