World War II Weekend 2025
Story and Photos by Shawn Byers
The Mid Atlantic Air Museum held their 34th annual World War II Weekend at Reading Regional Airport in Pennsylvania on June 6, 7 and 8.
Weather was…a factor. Temperatures were warm and the air muggy. Thunderstorms were a daily threat and often there were clouds. Nothing was outright canceled however, aircraft did not fly during the weather events.
World War II Weekend is one of three annual events on my airshow calendar making it one of my favorites. It isn’t just an airshow, even though that is my focus. The encampments, vehicles, equipment and reenactors transform the grounds into the 1940s. There is also a flea market in the back where you can find artifacts or clothing from the era. You can also fire WWII guns with blanks into a field. On Saturday night, there is a lively dance in the hangar that severely overflows onto the ramp. Fortunately, there was no rain that night.
Among all that, and as established, I am truly and unapologetically here for the aircraft. New and old favorites joined together at RDG. For the first time, a Messerschmitt 262 Replica visited from the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach along with a Focke Wulf 190.
“Thunderbird,” Jimmy Stewart’s famous blue P-51C racer was here from the Dakota Territory Air Museum.
An old favorite and what used to be the only flying example in the world, the SB2C Helldiver returned after a multi-year absence. B-29 “FIFI” could not attend but “Doc” filled in very quickly after the announcement. B-25 “Panchito” and P-51 “Red Nose” were giving rides every day.
I attended the Friday and Saturday airshows and the morning activities of Sunday. The Friday flying schedule was canceled as Thunderstorms moved in. I only saw the C-47s, “Wild Kat” and “Placid Lassie” doing the paratrooper drops.
On Saturday, there was a lot of early day rain. I didn’t even go onto the grounds. The afternoon cleared up nicely and we got a fairly complete airshow. From Friday to Sunday, I missed only a few performers.
The first group that I was present for was the Pacific Theatre consisting of an FM-2 Wildcat, FG-1 Corsair, SB2C Helldiver, AD-5 Skyraider and the A6M replica Zero. The air was still moist so the Corsair and Skyraider had wingtip vortices as they pulled away.
The Corsair performed a solo routine producing more wingtip vortices.
Somewhere in the mix, Jerry Wells performed solo in his yellow Bu133 Jungmeister biplane.
The next group to fly was the European Theatre. “Thunderbird”, “Red Nose”, the FW190 and the Me262 took off for a few laps. The first lap was a three-ship of the piston powered aircraft, followed closely by the jet powered Me262. All of them are fast but I had to roll my shutter speed on every pass for these dissimilar aircraft.
The German aircraft landed, and the Corsair and Wildcat took off again to fly the missing man formation which is the typical end of the airshow.
B-25 “Panchito” and C-53 “Beach City Baby” flew a few laps but I do not know the theme they were depicting. “Panchito” was the only pure bomber other than “Doc” on the airfield. “Doc” flew plenty but was not really a part of the airshow. There was a revenue ride or two during the airshow but not a traditional solo slot as “Fifi” is known to do.
On Saturday night, for an additional fee, a night run photo shoot was held. The three aircraft represented were “Thunderbird”, the Helldiver, and the Cessna UC-78 Bobcat, “Bamboo Betty”. Pete Lerro and his crew lighted the aircraft and the Muhlenberg Fire Department provided the water on the ramp.
All things considered, it was another successful World War II Weekend and a lot of fun to attend. I wish to thank David and Christina Brown for all of the media coordination, the photo pit and the night runs, as well as Pete Lerro and the Muhlenberg Fire Department for their efforts on the night run. I also thank our Greatest Generation, of which there are few left, for surviving and thriving so that we can celebrate them today at an event such as this.
