Cable Airport Air Show 2012
Woo Hoo! Airshow season is back, albeit to a slow start. Cable airshow is the first airshow in the southern California area after the long and cold break since Nellis in November.
Cable airport is a relatively small general aviation airport in Upland, California. Like many general aviation airports in suburban areas there is quite the assortment of Cessnas, Pipers, and Cirruses, among others. For one weekend, the lineup at Cable is quite different and much more diverse, and it draws quite the crowd.
As appears to be airshow standard, the show started off with the National Anthem and skydivers. Shortly following the landing of all the skydivers, Rob Harrison – the Tumbling Bear – started his Zlin 50LS and took the runway putting on his usual top notch acrobatic performance. The dynamic between Rob and his wife in the pilot and announcer roles is nearly unmatched and a welcomed something extra to the performance. After the high speeds and g’s of Rob’s performance, the schedule swung back the other way into the low speed regime of flight. Clay Lacy took the runway in his Pilatus Turbo Porter, and in usual fashion dazzled the crowd with a near zero length takeoff, low speed turns at a high bank angle, and low speed performance one generally does not expect out of an airplane; a real treat for the aviation enthusiast. Sammy Mason started his third airshow season by taking off to perform aerobatics in a Stearman, keeping in line with low-speed performance. Normally, that doesn’t sound terribly exciting until the audience learned Sammy is only 17. Sammy is quite the accomplished pilot upon a quick review of his flying resume at such a young age.
Keeping the crowd on their toes with the pendulum-like swinging from high performance to slow speed flight, Doug Jardine took off in the Sbach 342 “Thunderbolt”. Being a modern composite airframe with a powerful engine, the performance was nothing short of spectacular. These performances were repeated in the afternoon show along with Dr. D’s Old Time Aerobatics in the Taylorcraft after a car show parade and RC airplane demonstration through the lunch hour. After the Sbach 342 performance, there was an extensive demonstration of warbirds, antique, vintage, and homebuilt aircraft.
The lineup of warbirds, antique, vintage, and homebuilt aircraft included, among others: a FM-2 Wildcat from the Commemorative Air Force, three Ryan PT-22s in formation with a Stearman, an AN-2 “Big Panda” with low speed flight in the largest biplane mass produced, a Yak-18 painted in Aeroflot livery, and a formation of Van’s RVs.
The afternoon show kicked off with a C-53, Victory Girl, dropping the Just In Time Parachute Team. The delightful morning performances were then repeated to dazzle late comers to the airshow.
While all these demonstrations were performed throughout the day, the public was able to purchase rides in Robinson R22’s, Cessna 172’s, a North American T-6, and a de Havilland Tiger Moth.
This is the first year I have attended the Cable airshow, despite it being the closest airshow to me. I had my doubts: small airport, small airshow, entry fee, no jets, etc… After attending this year, it became quite apparent all those years of missing the show have been a big mistake on my part. I know I will be attending next year for sure.
Written by Matt Shinavar