Photo by Howard Owens.
There’s a rule in the air show business that you’ll know how good the event will be by how well you’re treated and taken care of in the first 15 minutes of arrival, Doreen Hillard-Zeliff says.
As one of the lead organizers of the resurrected Wings Over Batavia Air Show, she intends to provide nothing but an A-plus experience for those performers and pilots coming into town for the weekend’s event.
They’ll get a hearty welcome, no doubt, a rental car, their hotel packet with a map, a bottle of water, local information, a swag bag, necessary credentials, and — an especially important local commerce element — a community event and some wining and dining.
“So Thursday night, we’re having a community event at Eli Fish, in back at Jackson Square. It should be a lot of fun, and everybody can come. And there's music. Matty Gray hired a band that is going to play. So there'll be appetizers and drinks, and we're going to introduce the performers,” she said during an interview with The Batavian. “They all like to give back. The only thing we wish is that the kids were in school right now because they make school visits. And it's real special for them to do that; they love giving back to the communities that they get to fly and perform for.”
There might even be a few pilots flying over Jackson Square during this Thursday’s event. It’s all part of a bigger picture that draws revenue beyond the airport into the community at large, she said.
Gates open at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday for Wings Over Batavia at Genesee County Airport on Saile Drive, and events run from 5 p.m. into the evening, finishing with fireworks.
That revenue is being spread throughout Genesee County, as organizers have been taking air show participants out for meals while they’re also staying at local hotels. Harrington’s has been booked to provide breakfast throughout the weekend.
Formerly Hillard, Doreen, one of the two air show co-chairs, just got married to Pete Zeliff, a fellow airplane and air show enthusiast who owns a hangar at the Genesee County Airport. They’ve been working on the show with a committee and a handful of hired professional, seasoned veteran air show staff to ensure a smooth first-time event, including an air show director, a parking specialist, and a ticket agent.
Committee member, county Highway Superintendent Tim Hens, has also brought his expertise into the mix with responsibility for the county’s safety.
“I’ve been focused on creating safe access for parking, safe pedestrian access to the site, safe movement of planes, limiting impact on our airport tenants, managing traffic around the airport, coordinating lighting during and after the show. I feel like everything is in a very good place. The Air Show has an excellent parking plan, and it’s great that they are including the price of parking in the admission tickets to get people off the roads and into the airport to avoid traffic,” Hens said. “We have a good plan in place for pedestrian safety, and the county has made several on-site improvements to move folks through the venue. We will be doing final inspections all (this) week to make sure things are safe. We will be putting out some PR this week … highlighting parking and access to the airport as well as some community notification on the fireworks, pyrotechnics and explosions that will occur on 9/2 and 9/3 as part of the show.”
While talking, Hillard-Zeliff had to pause momentarily to move off a ramp while a man cleared off some “foreign debris” in preparation for more planes to arrive. There was plenty of commotion, as could be heard in the air all afternoon and into the evening.
While preparing for the show was exciting, it was certainly old hat to Hillard-Zeliff, who grew up in air shows, she said, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, home to the AirVenture Museum, which is dedicated to the preservation and display of historic and experimental aircraft and antiques, classics and warbirds. She’s also involved in the Air National Council of Air Shows and wants to bring back air shows as a more common staple to communities.
“It celebrates what we’re all about: the human spirit,” she said. “I call it aerial ballet because some of the acts are just so beautiful, with the smoke and the music. And it just does something of your soul I think. You can tell I love it.”
So even though she rattled off names of performers and pilots and planes that may not be familiar to everyone, they’re the real deal, she said. Trainer fighters, beautiful Mustangs from World War II in a beach team doing a day and night show, the F-22 Raptor, Rob Holland Aerosports, Kevin Coleman Extra 300 SHP, a choreographed pyromusical fireworks show and many other acts that are mostly described as to leave the audience in awe.
Some of these aircraft have such precision aerobatic skills, with super light maneuverability, yet there are also regular Cessna family planes that can also manage similar feats despite their much more sensitive carriages, she said. There’s a pilot that “pours a glass of water in the cockpit and doesn’t spill it,” she said. The audience can see this because there’s a live video for those below to watch.
And there are many other plane acts that take place at twilight and at night, and all are choreographed to “beautiful music,” she said. Or with the 1,000-foot wall of fire. The U.S. Air Force A-10 is one of her favorite demonstrations.
“It’s just different,” she said. “If I was in the desert, I’d be scared. It’s got big gatling guns.”
Don’t let her gender fool you; air shows and the industry are drawing more women, she said.
“It’s slowly become half and half,” she said. “Our premiere team is A-10 demo; it’s female. My niece is an F-16 pilot. A lot of my family fly and they are all girls. A lot of women are coming around.”
Hens credits her and Zeliff for bringing the air show back and thinks the community has been very supportive of its return. Hens alternates between excitement and nervousness every day as he approaches the actual event, he said. But he’s definitely looking forward to it.
“The acts I am most excited to see are the P-51s. I’ve been in love with those planes ever since I was a kid, and they are one of the reasons I went to the Air Force Academy. It will also be great to see the P-51 fly with the A-10 and the F-22 in a Heritage Flight,” he said. “Everyone always enjoyed the air shows in the 90s, and there is excitement for it to be back. There’s also a desire by many to see community events return. We’ve lost so many over the years. I think the hardest part is getting volunteers to run these things. They don’t happen by themselves, and much to everyone’s surprise, there is usually little to no government involvement outside of Police and EMS.”
Perhaps that’s why organizers have been calling the air show so family-friendly. It’s a grassroots type of deal, and more volunteers are always needed, organizers said. Nonprofits can make 10 percent of the proceeds if they work in concession stands.
Ticket sales have been going well, and The Mustang Club category was sold out as of Tuesday. For Hillard-Zeliff, she also sees the show as very affordable and patriotic to offer something for the community and the soul. The Ghostwriter will be leaving messages in the sky throughout this week, so you may want to be glancing upward until the show begins, she said.
Or, as Hens said, “it will be life-changing.”
“Aviation has so much to offer, and most kids just aren’t exposed to it. The air show provides a great opportunity for kids in Genesee County,” he said.
Photo by Howard Owens.
Photo by Howard Owens.
Photo by Howard Owens.
Photo by Howard Owens.
