Wings Over South Texas 2010 Air Show

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Record crowds, perfect weather highlight Wings Over South Texas Air Show at NAS Kingsville

More than 100,000 spectators witnessed an awesome performance of military and civilian aircraft March 27-28 at the NAS Kingsville "Wings Over South Texas" air show, sponsored by the Law Offices of Thomas J. Henry and Nueces Electric Cooperative. Record attendance, excellent weather and non-stop action helped make the event the best-ever at the South Texas installation.

"Our 2010 air show was, without a doubt, a huge success for the air station," said NAS Kingsville Commanding Officer Capt. Phil Waddingham. "Our attendance numbers were staggering and our performers literally went above-and-beyond to give spectators a top-notch show. We also received national news coverage of the show through Fox News Bureau West out of Dallas, and international coverage through a number of Web sites, including the country music band Emerson Drive who performed a free concert following our Saturday show. I couldn't be happier with the way that everything fell together."

With the U.S. Navy Blue Angels headlining the show and the U.S. Air Force Viper East Demonstration Team on the card, the buzz of jet noise echoed throughout the South Texas skies over the weekend. Smoke and fire were also on display, thanks to the Commemorative Air Force's Tora, Tora, Tora re-enactment of the WWII Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

"I had never seen Tora, Tora, Tora perform before," said KING-TV (Kingsville) videographer Benny Guerra. "But I was blown away by their performance. I couldn't believe what I was actually recording, and the narration and music that accompanied the performance really added a sense of realism. The Tora team was just incredible."

The U.S. Army Golden Knights also participated in the show, along with world aerobatic champion Rob Holland, veteran performers Jan Collmer, Paul Fiala, and Jack Knutson, and award-winning air show announcer Rob Reider.

"It was an honor and a privlege for me to participate in the NAS Kingsville air show," Holland said after he moved his Window World MX-2 aircraft into the hangar following the Sunday show. "The entire NAS Kingsville team was just fantastic, and so were the people of Kingsville who really gave us the red carpet treatment everywhere we went. I had a great time, and I hope everyone enjoyed the show."

The NAS Kingsville air show committee went outside-the-box in planning this year's show, tying the local community into several pre-show events to help spread the word about the show and make the event a base and community affair. The show actually kicked off Friday morning on the campus of Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK) as nearly 7,000 students from schools throughout South Texas turned out of an air show "Pep Rally" sponsored by the college.

"NAS Kingsville did a remarkable job of including the city, county and the University in their 2010 air show," said Joe Beidron, TAMUK associate athletics director-external advancement. "This was a wonderful, first class event and a source of great pride for all of us in Kingsville and here at the College. We are so appreciative for being included in the event. We're already looking forward to the 2010 show!"

Aside from the event at the college on Friday, the Kleberg County Parks & Recreation Department and the City of Kingsville put on a free, 'Meet the Performers' event at J.K. Northway coliseum Friday night.  More than 1,500 people turned out to meet the performers up-close, take photos and sign autographs.

"We are so overwhelmed at the success of this event," said Parks & Recreation director Susan Ivy. "Hosting the 'Meet the Performers' event at the coliseum really gave us a feeling that [local residents] were actually part of the air show. We've never had that connection before, and, we were excited to offer this event for both our residents and the performers."

A few hours after the show on Sunday, NAS Kingsville civilian and military personnel - and concessionaires - were already hard at work taking down the displays, tents, and snow fences while aier show performers and static display aircraft crews were taking their turn on the runway to head back home.  By early Monday, March 29, the NAS Kingsville air field was once again full of T-45 Goshawks in anticipation of Training Air Wing TWO returning to training student Naval Aviatos. The final detail was an all-hands FOD walkdown to clear the airfield of any debris prior to resuming regular training flights.

"The 2010 air show was a great weekend for NAS Kingsville," Waddingham added. "But today, we're putting everything back to where it should be so we can resume our mission of training student pilots. That's why we're here, and that's what we do best. But, we're pretty good at putting on an air show, too."