Wings over Wasilla entertains thousands over the weekend

WASILLA — Thousands of spectators young and old watched the magicians in small aircraft strut their stuff over the Wasilla Airport last weekend.

Aviation enthusiasts young and old came out to the Wings Over Wasilla Airshow to marvel at, and even ride in, unique aircraft. While the airshow had something for everyone in the air and on the ground, some of the most talented pilots who took home the most hardware were the local aviators. Rod Hanson of Wasilla took home second place in the STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) competition and third the STOL squared competition. Hanson’s roots in Wasilla go back decades, helping Mayor Bert Cottle start the internationally known Valdez Fly-In decades ago. Hanson was impressed with not only the experimental and historic aircraft on display, but the food as well.

“I’ve got a long list of fly ins to try to get to every year, and this is one of them now,” Hanson said. “Mainly I think it’s the support of the community and the support of the committee that put this together, that’s the motivation.”

Steve Spence took home first place in both the Bush Certified STOL class and the Stol squared competition. ‘Team Google,’ which featured a five-year-old bomber to drop the bag of flour won the outhouse drop competition with a distance of two feet. Dave Cruz won best static display.

“It’s nice when you can bring a lot of people in the local community, get them involved, let them enjoy aviation as well. We’ve got a lot of kids here which is really cool to see. They’re kind of the future of aviation and you know, obviously the future of everything. It’s nice to have them involved. It’s nice to see that they’re excited about the candy drops and everything else and I think the word will get out and probably have a bigger turnout next year,” said Justin Jones, who competed over the weekend.

The Wings Over Wasilla brought in over 250 aircraft to the Wasilla Airport over the weekend, some to compete, and some just to show off. Some came for the party and camped on the airport grounds, dancing to Justin Gile’s playlists form G&G Sound and Light on Saturday night. Giles was particularly proud of how many people came together to put on a successful event that was packed full of people on both days. Sunday included a specific Father’s Day first for Giles.

“I got to send my son up in a World War II fighter trainer and he’s still got perma-grin going. I’ve got to say the commemorative Air Force just being here and offering rides to people at an affordable price, that was awesome,” Giles said. “I really liked the big sleeper, the big heavy green cessna that was putting the whuppin on everybody else.”

The airshow was made possible by the organization of an Airshow Advisory Committee in early January who helped to put the Airshow on. The AAC got a small grant from the Wasilla City Council, but Cottle has said that he hopes the airshow to be successful enough to support itself and bring an economic impact to the city.

“I think just the location and the layout and the people involved from top to bottom is just outstanding and it’s going to be better and bigger every year,” Giles said.