Wings Over Batavia Air Show

Anyone living in Batavia, and certainly those in the vicinity of Genesee County Airport, would have heard the unmistakable engine sounds of airplanes and jets zooming overhead Friday afternoon and evening as performers rehearsed and pivoted for media in preparation for the Wings Over Batavia Air Show this weekend.

Organizers and county leaders were at the airport excitedly anticipating the two-day event. While much of the focus, understandably, zeroes in on the performers and acts, county Legislative Chair Shelley Stein says there are other aspects to be considered.

"This air show is about pride in our community and what we can put together as a group of individuals,” Stein said Friday evening at the airport on Saile Drive. “You don't really have to be an airplane aficionado to appreciate the artistry in the sky and the fact that it's a family event, right? So, the kiddos get in for free when you have a parent buying a ticket. It's affordable. It is imaginative here, and it encourages kids to think about flying as a career. You can't help but catch a little bit of a bug here for the kids. So it's just engaging on all levels for our community.”

Although the event has done well in drawing locals and encouraging them to sign up as “Bataviators” for an online newsletter to get updates about the show, it also benefits the community by driving others here to Batavia, Stein said.

“To see our communities, our community center here, and as they come through, they're looking at our downtowns, they're looking at our small villages, they're checking us out from every angle,” she said. “And, of course, there's always that spending that happens in the community. So we're appreciative of the gas tax, not just the gas tax, but the sales tax throughout the community that gets paid from all of our visitors. 

"We know that our hoteliers have said that they've got blocks of rooms that have been blocked out for months getting ready for this air show. We've got visitors from all over Canada, California, Pennsylvania," she said. "It's exciting for us to have somebody else bringing dollars into our communities. You know, I just can't say enough thanks and appreciation to the leadership team here that put on the Wings of Batavia, and the hospitality of Pete and Doreen Zeliff is absolutely incredible. What a gift they are to our community.”

Father-son duo Ken and Austin Rieder, with their show, Red Line Air Shows, based out of Cincinnati, Ohio, were ready with their Vans RV-8 aircraft, specially built by Ken, with four so far with a fifth one in the works. 

“We have modified them in a few ways, but they are subtle modifications, and it's just for increased performance for us, for what we're doing, obviously inverted oil and inverted fuel systems so we can fly upside down,” Austin said. “But beyond that, it's just kind of, we have it specially set up for us, and then also for a night show, fireworks show that we do. So we're a tight, precision formation team, and what we try to do is we're looking for more of like a ballet or a very specialized, smooth performance. Both of our airplanes are there as they are aerobatic, but they're not as aerobatic as maybe another airplane extra or a Pitts or, you know, an MXS.”

No matter what they’re not, these aircraft promise an adrenaline-rushing demonstration that will keep everyone on their toes. Ken said it takes skill and maneuvering, for sure, and good communication back and forth. 

“I do all the talking. Since I'm flying the lead position, I'm responsible for setting up the position, the timing, what maneuver we're gonna do, where we're located within the box, and our aerobatic area. And he makes me look good,” he said. “All I have to be is very predictable for him to be able to match what I'm doing. And that's the whole deal. So we've done this same routine for the last three years, and quite honestly, I've done that for the ten or more before that the exact same routine. So he expects me to snake certain calls at certain times, and the only times he'll speak up is if I got a little too much power in or if I'm creeping away. Or, you know, we're trying to match timing. Tally, Tally, meaning, I see you, you see me, those kind of things.”

Austin described it personally as a lot of fun for him.

“It's a different element than just flying solo by yourself, especially flying with your dad. That's another added bonus. But it's just super enjoyable to be sitting on somebody else's wing while they're flying a maneuver, and you're just trying to mirror it to the best you can,” he said. “What I like is that a difference from a solo performance is we take up the whole view from somebody from corner of the box to corner of the box, old runway position. 

"So we want to kind of fill the whole space for a spectator to see what's going on. You know, you can be at one end of the box or the other and still get the same performance throughout the whole thing," he said. "A lot of the maneuvers we’re doing opposing or opposite from each other. And then, obviously, we're doing a whole lot of things together too.”

Ken was the first in his family to learn to fly and has been doing aerobatics for 38 years now. When he first started out, he said a 21-year-old Ken started aerobatics after buying a book to learn about the maneuvers and did rolls and loops before he knew it. This was way before YouTube "tutorials" were available. 

He recalled how Austin “was probably three years old climbing up onto my lap watching ‘Wings’ on the Discovery Channel, and my wife said he’s going to be a pilot.”

Ken described the night show they will also be including this weekend.

“So the night show, we're shooting off about 2,500 individual shots of fireworks. So there's a whole lot. It takes us about six hours to load up for a six-minute fireworks show. So it is a lot, but it is about the neatest thing I think you can do. There's only a few of us in the nation who do it, and three that really do it to the level that we're doing it,” he said. “You'll see this weekend from (Nathan Hammond) and I, but yeah, next year, he'll (Austin) be doing it with me, so we're looking forward to actually doing this as a two shift.”

Both nights explode in fireworks shows, and this year, 500 drones will be added to the twilight display. Limited tickets are still available. For more information or tickets, go to Wings Over Batavia.

Photos by Jim Burns

Ghostwriter is at it again -- leaving his special designs in the sky as he and other performers prepare for the second annual Wings Over Batavia Air Show Saturday and Sunday. 

This smiley face with a clear blue backdrop was captured by photographer Jim Burns on a sunny Friday afternoon. 

Press Release:

Genesee County officials, in coordination with local and state agencies, are prioritizing the safety and security of all attendees at the forthcoming Wings Over Batavia Air Show. This event is scheduled to occur at the Genesee County Airport on Saturday, August 31, and Sunday, September 1, from 5 - 9 p.m.

Comprehensive Safety Measures

The Genesee County Sheriff’s Office, Genesee County Office of Emergency Management, New York State Police, City of Batavia Police Department, Town of Batavia Fire Department and Mercy Flight EMS are collaborating to implement a comprehensive safety plan. Emergency service providers will be stationed on-site to ensure public safety and to provide immediate response to any medical emergencies that may arise.

Special Effects and Aerial Maneuvers

As part of the air show, planes will perform various flying, diving, and maneuvering displays. Additionally, there will be planned explosions, pyrotechnic displays, and fireworks, all managed exclusively by the event organizers. Attendees and nearby residents are reminded that these activities are planned and should not cause alarm. Please refrain from dialing 911 unless it’s an actual emergency. 

Traffic Control

In preparation for and during the event State Street Road will be closed from West Saile Drive north to Batavia Elba Townline Road, and West Saile Drive will be closed from the Milton Cat building to the storage barns on the east side of the Airport. Motorists are urged to follow signage and flaggers, exercise caution, and remain alert to changing conditions. Pedestrians should adhere to marked paths and signage.

Satellite Parking at GCC

This year, a satellite parking option will be available at Genesee Community College (GCC). Buses will shuttle attendees between GCC and the airport, with drop-off at the main entrance and pick-up at the airport’s main terminal for return to GCC.

For more information about the show, parking details and other additional details, please visit: https://wingsoverbatavia.com/.

Most people have seen a drone flying above a field or taking photos at an event, but just imagine 500 of them all orchestrated in perfect aerial harmony to tease the audience about what formation they're making before magically turning into a dazzling design.

That's just one of the treats that await visitors to this year's Wings Over Batavia Air Show, Herb Gillen says. The drones are an addition to the second annual event happening during Labor Day weekend at Genesee County Airport. 

“There will be 500 individual drones flying along with our on the ground pyro, and fireworks and our performers. It’s really one of those things that you have to experience. Nathan Hammond does an amazing job, and it looks like he’s flying right through the middle of the fireworks. It’s a bit of an optical illusion, but he’s got fireworks shooting off of his aircraft while there’s fireworks going on just behind him. It’s pretty amazing,” Gillen said during an interview with The Batavian. “Some people may have seen drone shows before, but they’re one dimensional. These are, because of the amount and type of drones, three-dimensional objects that can replicate things. And you’re going to see aircraft recreations. You are going to see different things that relate to patriotism and country. I don’t want to give it all away, it will be very moving.

“If you’ve seen these things before, they sort of slowly come together, and you’re sort of guessing what’s this going to be, and then it forms, and then they kind of disappear, and then all of a sudden there’s something else before your eyes,” he said. “So, I think it’s going to be a big highlight and a really nice addition to the night show.”

Gillen is no ordinary air show organizer. He manages 12 to 15 air shows a year, so he is quite familiar with what makes these events a ticket-seller and big entertainment. Batavia’s show — which happens on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1 — is no exception.

“It's been very, very popular, and ticket sales have been very strong. They've really picked up since the beginning of August, especially, and in fact, Saturday we are pretty close to selling out of the Mustang Club, it's about 85% sold out, and the Pilots Club is more than half sold out. So we fully expect both those areas on Saturday to sell out before the show Sunday,” he said. “This is a very family friendly event, so all kids 12 and under are free when they’re accompanied by an adult ticket holder. That’s how we try to encourage families to make it affordable. Mustang Club and Pilots Lounge give you a little higher amenities and general admission you bring your chair or blanket to sit on and watch the show.”

So onto the show. Another new element is the Jack Aces P51 demo team, an iconic World War II fighter aircraft with two P51s, he said. They come together as a “very majestic, very aggressive” display, appealing especially to fans of vintage military aircraft.

“It’s the hottest demo out there right now,” he said. “And then there’s the Red Bull helicopter that Aaron Fitzgerald flies, people are going to freak out when they see a helicopter do stuff they’ve never seen a helicopter do. It’s specially built that allows it to fly upside down, do flips, loops and hover upside down, and do things that don’t look natural.”

While you’re there, wish the U.S. Air Force F16 Viper — the show’s headline performer — happy anniversary, because it’s celebrating 50 years of existence. The original YF16 that was created half a century ago was gray, and this Viper has been given a special gift of red, white and blue paint in a “very brilliant design,” Gillen said.

While people may have seen the more drab version, they’re going to be awed by this new anniversary coat that has “proven to be very popular across the country this summer from air show to air show,” he said.

Overall, Gillen believes that organizers have finessed this particular show, compared to others that take place mostly in the heat of the day.

“What this show has done is really redefined how guests experience an air show. The typical air show, you get out there at nine or 10 a.m. and, you know, sit out in the blazing sun and watch shows, and it's done by four o'clock. Well, at four o'clock, we're really just getting started. The gates open for the show at two o'clock. Flying starts at five. And so, we're into the cooler part of the day, which is nice, and it's just, the whole vibe of the show is, I think, a little more relaxed than what people experience at other events like this,” he said. ”And then the twilight and the night flying is something completely different that you don't see at a lot of shows.”

Airythmia Paramotors is one of those late day acts. They strap fans to their backs and parachute overhead.

"They’re part of our twilight show. They’ve become very popular,” Gillen said. “They fly in formation, and they’re silhouetted in the setting sun, it’s pretty brilliant.”

For more information or to buy tickets, go to wingsoverbatavia.com 

Positives about last year’s Wings Over Batavia certainly outweighed any negative comments, according to Genesee County legislators, but lead organizer Pete Zeliff still addressed the couple of concerns expressed about the resurrected air show before getting a strong showing of support for this year’s event during Tuesday’s county meeting.

Legislator Gary Maha had received a message from someone who owns a hangar at the county airport, and he shared that he was unable to access his hangar for six days during the time before, during and/or after the Labor Day air show, Maha said. Zeliff countered that it was three days, and that the situation was being rectified for this year. 

“It must have been a communication issue,” Maha said.

The other issue was handicapped parking, Maha said, as he and his wife Susan had attended the show and saw a woman struggling to push her husband in a wheelchair over a grassy area. Zeliff said that that, too, was being addressed for this second annual event. 

Further, Zeliff said there were issues with having all of the sponsored and VIP tents on the west end of the event venue, and some of them will be moved to the east end, along with some local bands, to spread out the foot traffic and layout on the ground. 

“We will split it up this time,” Zeliff said. “And we will also have a Kids Zone on the east end. As far as traffic, I don’t think it could have gone any better.”

Some gates were apparently not open, which didn’t allow for some handicapped parking that will be available this year, he said. 

“Can you have a wheelchair zone, for wheelchair access?" Legislator Marianne Clattenburg said.

“Yes,” Zeliff said. 

Legislators wanted to know how performers responded to the show hosted in Genesee County. 

“They said it was the best show they’ve ever done in the United States,” Zeliff said.

Organizers booked 73 rooms for them at Batavia Downs, and 50 rooms elsewhere, some of them that would accommodate guests with pets, he said. They have already booked many performers for this year, including the same pyrotechnics show, and they have sold 1,200 tickets already, he said, a testimony that “the community is very much behind” the air show. 

Legislator John Deleo, who works at Batavia Downs, shared some of what he heard during that weekend.

"They were really appreciative, and they were really nice people. And they said you've got some top entertainment here. And you've got some top entertainment from all over," Deleo said. "So I was very excited to hear that."

Legislators agreed that the air show committee, volunteers, and sponsors for the first-year made it “a tremendous success” and that the event brought in a lot of people from out of town, which spurred additional economic activity.

With all of that in mind, the committee members voted to push the resolution for vote by the full Legislature “to grant permission to the Wings over Batavia Foundation LLC to use the Genesee County Airport to host the Wings over Batavia Air Show from Aug. 30 to Sept. 2, 2024, in accordance with the Rules and Regulations adopted for the Genesee County Airport.” The county support costs total are estimated at $19,500, which are covered by the Air Show through Memorandum of Understanding with the Sheriff and local EMS operations.

There is no added cost for the current airport liability policy. There will be increased revenues for the airport during the event for additional fuel sales, tie downs and rentals, the resolution states. The county will also see increased sales tax because of the air show. The 2023 show generated over $6,000 in profit from fuel sales. The estimated increase in sales tax and bed tax related to the event is to be approximately $40,000.

As for Wing Ding, the downtown city street festival that many people seemed to be looking forward to for decades past, that will not be turning after all. City officials had formed a committee last year to resurrect Wing Ding along with the air show, as it once happened some 25 years ago. However, that was put on hold in lieu of needing more planning to fully prepare and gather volunteers for the effort, Assistant City Manager Erik Fix had said at the time.

The Batavian confirmed with City Manager Rachael Tabelski that Wing Ding will not be happening this year either, due to not having enough staff to organize or execute the event. 

With no fanfare or formal announcements, Wings Over Batavia Air Show launched its 2024 event online at its official website recently, with another two-day Labor Day line-up.

The event, which has not appeared before the Genesee County Legislature for official approval, has been scheduled for Aug. 31 and Sept. 1, 2024.

The event is to feature modern military aircraft, warbirds and world champion aerobatic performers, plus the same high-energy night show choreography fireworks that were promised and delivered in the debut 2023 shows at Genesee County Airport.

Gates are to open at 2 p.m. each day, with flying to go from 5 to 9 p.m., organizers say. Performers are being “added regularly,” and USAF F-16 Viper is already on board.

New this year is The Bataviators Air Show Insights Club, which invites people to register by email to “be the first to know about updates for Wings Over Batavia” and get early ticket access before the general public. 

For more infomration, go to Wings Over Batavia.  

With numbers tallied, it looks like a fair amount of overtime for Genesee County highway and airport employees due to the Wings Over Batavia Air Show: approximately $6,308.

But county Highway Superintendent Tim Hens had another number to counter that during his annual department report Monday: the 5,513.50 gallons of aviation fuel sold at the airport during the two-day show more than made up for the overtime cost, he said. Fuel sales totaled $6,599. 

Despite that boon in sales, fuel sales remained flat overall this past year, he said, trying to recover from an operating loss of $23,000 after Mercy Flight suffered the loss of a helicopter in 2022, coupled with rising fuel prices. 

Quiet was an interesting word for Hens to use about the airport, given this year’s two-day air show extravaganza. He was referring to construction at the Saile Drive facility, and for that, “it has been a quiet year at the airport,” he said. 

“It’s one of the first seasons in many years where there hasn’t been major construction in progress on the airfield,” he said during a report rundown to legislators on the Public Service Committee.

“It was one of the first years that I can remember in a long time where we haven't had a project going out there that's disrupted the runway or the fencing or the lighting or an apron. It was kind of nice to have that,” Hens said.

That won’t be for long, as a future project for 2024 includes the replacement of many incandescent runway and taxiway lights to LED versions that will generate future savings on electrical use, he said.

In other ways, the airport has been quite busy in planning for and implementing Wings Over Batavia Air Show, he said. Drawing nearly 9,000 people during Labor Day weekend, the event seems destined to be a repeater, as organizers have said they’re discussing plans for bringing it back again next year.

“We had our air show … I think the feedback that I'm seeing in the community is overwhelmingly positive. A lot of great comments. People enjoyed it. They're all asking if it's going to happen again next year,” Hens said. “I can tell you from internal, of the things that I was worried about, traffic was not an issue. Parking was not an issue. Safety-wise, we only had two very minor medical issues all weekend; it was both scraped knees where kids were running around chasing each other and fell on the asphalt with scuffed knees; that was the biggest thing we had.

“We sold 5,500 gallons of aviation fuel over the weekend to the show that covered our overtime, more than covered the overtime, tied to the weekend relative to the sweeping of the runway and the overtime for the airport guys and the facility guys to open up the fence and things like that,” he said. “So I think from a county perspective, I'm happy with how it went down and went smoothly. Again, great community feedback and a great community event.

"And there's obviously things I think we can do better in the future and have even less county involvement than we had this year. But being a first-year show, there were some things we had to get squared away," he said. "So I know there's already a move afoot to have another event next year. And again, hopefully, it goes smoother than we had this year.”