The Rochester International Airshow 2024
Story by Shawn Byers, photos by Shawn Byers, Scott Zeno and Alice Leong
Typically, the Rochester Airshow is a bi-annual event. I attended my first show there in 2023, finally fulfilling the invite from my friend and show organizer, Dave Cooper. Early in the year, it was announced that another show would occur in 2024 and the headliner would be the visiting Frecce Tricolori from Italy on their North American Tour. That was an awesome surprise and I committed early on to attend the show even though I would have just returned from a trip to Europe.
Sunday was the best weather day, but the performances were mostly the same each day. I teamed up with Photorecon Photographers, Scott Zeno and Alice Leong for this article.
The showgrounds are on the south side of the airport and along a closed runway. The airport remains open to commercial traffic. Sometimes the airlines wait in a holding pattern and sometimes the airshow performance goes to a hold. It is a challenging scenario for Air Boss, Todd Cameron and ROC Air Traffic Controllers.
That said, the sun angle is good for most of the day but there is no runway directly in front of you. For performers who need the reference of the runway, the line flown is about 45 degrees diagonal.
The first performers were the World War II trainers and Warbirds. Rob Gillman flew his BT-13 and was joined by a blue T-6 SNJ, TBM Avenger “Ida Red” and C-45 “Canadian Queen”
“Canadian Queen” stayed aloft and performed a solo routine.
The P-51C “By Request” had an individual display.
The Geronimo Jump Team from Canada jumped with the American and Italian flags while both National Anthems played. Just prior to that, the Patriot Riders arrived and started their lineup of flags to honor the veterans at Noon. Members of the Frecce Tricolori enjoyed this display and were seen taking photos and videos. The Italian Flag was then presented to the Frecce Tricolori and signed, culminating a touching series of events of international appreciation.
The Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association performed a missing man flyover and then returned for their full 3 ship demonstration.
Rick Volker, typically performing in a purple Sukhoi 26, brought a different aircraft to this show. Rick demonstrated the maneuverability of the Italian made, Marchetti SF260. It is operated in 28 countries for military training and rarely seen performing at airshows.
A C-17 from Altus AFB and a KC-135 made individual passes and then performed a “pre-contact” refueling demonstration.
Scott “Scooter” Yoak performed solo in his P-51D “Quicksilver”. Originally scheduled, this was supposed to be a “Class of ’45” performance with Jim Tobul in the Corsair but he did not make the show.
This was also my second chance to see the F-16 Viper Demo Team in their 50th Anniversary red, white and blue scheme. On Saturday, Captain Taylor “FEMA” Hiester announced that his mother was in the crowd and that this was likened to a hometown airshow for him. We got a couple of extra fast passes. There was a Heritage Flight with P-51 “Bald Eagle” flown by Jim Beasley from his home airport near Philadelphia on Saturday only.
This was also my second chance to see the Frecce Tricolori on their North American tour. I believe this was the smallest market of their tour but I bet they will remember this show for the warm reception they received from Rochester, New York.
Static displays included a KC-135 from my hometown area Niagara Falls Air Reserve Base. There was also a C-5 from Dover, a CH-47 from New York’s Fort Hood, an MQ-9 Reaper from Syracuse, a private Fouga Magister from Batavia Warbirds and some other private helicopters and aircraft.
I wish to thank Dave Cooper for his assistance and all the volunteers in the crew tent and around the grounds. Some of them are from the “Genny Family”. Speaking of family, I thank my cousin, Erin for letting me stay in her home, locally for the weekend.