The Geneseo Airshow 2025

Story and photos by Shawn Byers

The National Warplane Museum in Geneseo, New York held their annual airshow on July 12th and 13th. Also known as the Greatest Show on Turf, my previous working title of this article was “Genny outdid herself this year”.

The theme of the show was the 80th Anniversary of Victory in the Pacific. Tora! Tora! Tora! depicted the opening attack on Pearl Harbor. B-25s commemorated the General Doolittle response on Tokyo. C-47s commemorated “Flying the Hump” supply missions and a mass launch of fighters and bombers commemorated the victory flyovers of Tokyo Bay. In addition to a large gathering of Warbirds and civilian acts, the U.S Navy’s F/A-18F Rhino Demonstration Team and the U.S. Air Force’s F-35A Demonstration Team rocked downtown Geneseo.

A friend of mine stated this was the best show he had seen so far this season. That made me happy because even if I am not biased about my hometown area show, it is the most unique and special one I attend annually. I tent camp (it was quite warm this year), I eat the $10 breakfasts and dine at the $20 dinners with performers, volunteers and friends, never leaving the grounds except for ice runs. I am a resident of the National Warplane Museum for 4 days. I know when planes fly, I catch them being towed in and out of the hangar and I can take a quiet, late-night stroll there in warbird heaven when the sun goes down around 9pm this time of year.

After making camp on Thursday, my wife brought a homemade wooden plaque donation to the museum commemorating the career of Rob Holland. No matter how big Rob got, he always returned to the turf at Genny. It became part of a greater memorial corner in the hangar where Rob’s MXS-RH was always parked.

The Friday practice Day was open to members of the Museum to watch. Saturday was the most attended, as is typical and because thunderstorms were forecasted on Sunday. A lot of people showed up Sunday too and most of the show went off in sunny skies. A stronger than expected thunderstorm did overtake the field in the afternoon and the F-35 Demo had to cancel.

On Saturday and Sunday, the gates opened to the public at 0830. Light aircraft such as Stearmans, L-Birds and Moths took off around 0930 and flew some circuits.
The first official performance of the day was Scott “Scooter” Yoak in his P-51, “Quicksilver”. One of 6 Mustangs that were on the ground at one time or another throughout the weekend. Scooter is the highest time P-51 pilot in the world and a regular at Genny.

On Saturday (later slot on Sunday) Thom Richard launched next and is flying a different warbird this season, putting the Grumman F4F Wildcat through its paces with his typical low passes over the turf. With these two, cue the dueling banjo music on who can fly lower better. You scare us a little bit, but we love it!

I always say that Genny is not a Warbirds show, although we always have a bunch, it is a variety show. Another Genny regular is Dr. Rick Volker, now flying a Marchetti SF260 in an aerobatic profile.

Canadian aerobatic pilot, Trevor Rafferty again brought his red and white Pitts Model 12 but on takeoff, he hit a soft spot on the turf runway and landed precautionarily. I asked him if the plane was ok, and he said it was, but he did not fly the rest of the weekend.

Next up was a solo Corsair demonstration from the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) out of Texas. One pass I liked was the rare dirty gear and hook down pass.

A trainer flight followed featuring a blue T-6 and the resident Vultee BT-13 owned and flown by Rob Gillman.

Just around 1200, The Jack Aces P-51 Demonstration Team launched to a hold along with Scooter in Quicksilver for the opening ceremonies. The Museum’s C-47, “W7” launched with some parachutists aboard.

Area veterans of both the United States and Canada gather near the show line for a front row seat and to be honored by all in attendance during the opening ceremonies. Two parachutists dropped in with the flags for the respective country National Anthems, while the four airborne P-51s flew the missing man formation. Scooter flew the high profile and broke off to land.
After a brief pause, Jack Aces took over the airspace with their three-ship routine, new for 2025. Lou Horschel, Ariel Luedi and Marco Rusconi put on a great show of Merlin Music.

Next up was the Fleet Model 2, an old orange biplane that was based on Oahu during the December 7th attack. Flown by Craig Wadsworth, it now resides here at Genny.

For the first time that I can remember, Tora! Tora! Tora! participated. Always an impressive display of flying and pyrotechnics, they blew up those poor soybean fields across the turf strip.

Next up was the Curtiss Helldiver from the CAF out of Texas in a solo routine. It was supposed to fly with the Grumman Avenger, but it must have had a mechanical problem causing it to leave the show early on Sunday morning.

The Doolittle Raid flight lifted off. Three B-25s taxied out in addition to a P-51. I thought we were about to see some serious North American might in the sky, but B-25 “Takeoff Time” and P-51 “Kwitcherbitchen” were merely going home to New Jersey. Nonetheless, it was nice to see them here and capture the takeoff. “Panchito” and “Champaign Girl” remained for the flight.
“Skipper” Hyle is another Genny regular, and he brought his T-6 in the colors of the Royal Air Force for a solo routine of basic training maneuvers of World War II.

Two C-47s and a C-53 launched into a hold to simulate flying the hump. Home based “W7”, “Placid Lassie” and “Beach City Baby” took part.

In the meantime, the Navy’s Rhino Demo Team swooped in for the first fast jet routine of the day. The jets base out of Rochester, and I was wondering how they were going to simulate the “Bolter” routine since they couldn’t actually touch down. They did alright with it at the higher altitude. On Sunday, they did a t-shirt slingshot with announcer Herk Strumpf and the kids.

The C-47s came back for some circuit flying.

Somewhere in the mix, Jim Beasley snuck in with his P-51 “Bald Eagle” making it the 6th such airframe on the grounds. He took off to a hold for the Heritage Flight.

The second fast jet of the day was the US Air Force F-35A Demo Team. In past years, only one fast jet would be featured. It was incredible to have two separate teams at our little turf strip.
Although this seemed to be the end of the show, there was still more. Lou Horschel traded his P-51 for his Corsair, joined by the CAF Corsair, Scooter, the other two Jack Aces P-51s and the two B-25s. They took to the air for a high-altitude simulation of the victory flyover. It looked good but not easy to photograph. I got one or two keepers and it is an interesting view of the size difference between the Mustangs and Corsairs.

For most of the attendees, the show is over, but not for us residents. There was still a dinner to go to and although I was not invited on to the air-to-air flight, there was one featuring the Jack Aces from “Beach City Baby”. In the western sun, I caught the takeoff and formation return.

Some time slots changed for Sunday but until the thunderstorm, it was another nice sunny day for a show.

Most of the time, I am just a photographer, but I try to do my part in helping where I can, and I also get a lot of help from others throughout the weekend. Genny is family. Pilots fly more than once, and things change on the fly and adjustments are made.

To my Genny Family, thank you for another great year in the books because of your hard work throughout the year. Thank you to Executive Airshow Directors, Tina Gillmeister and Zach Waters, the Wadsworth Family, Media Coordinator, Mike Killian, Donna, TT, Steve, Paul, Rob, Phil, Dakota, Terry, AJ, all our regular aviators and the ones I am forgetting on this list. See y’All when we reunite again in 2026!