STCU Over the River Air Show

STCU is our 2024 Official Over the River Air Show Sponsor!

This thrilling over-the-river air show takes place between 11:00am – 1:00pm Friday, Saturday and Sunday. l

United States Air Force F-35A Lightning II

Major Kristen “BEO” Wolfe - Pilot

Based out of Hill AFB in Utah, the F-35A Lightning II Demonstration features the United States premier 5th Generation stealthy, multirole, all-weather air-to-air and surface attack fighter. The F-35A gives the U.S. Air Force and it’s allies an advanced high performance 9g capable fighter that combines stealth, sensor fusion and unprecedented situational awareness allowing it to dominate the skies anytime, anywhere.

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Heritage Flight P-51 Mustang Valhalla

Lt. Col. Greg Anders - Pilot

Greg is Vice President and Executive Director of the Heritage Flight Museum, piloting both the P-51 and AD-4W Skyraider as part of the Heritage Flight in tandem with the USAF Demo Team Jet (F-35A Lightning II this year). Greg graduated from the US Air Force Academy in 1985 and spent nearly 15 years on active duty, followed by 6 years in the Idaho National Guard flying A-10s for the 190th Fighter Squadron at Boise. He has over 4500 flight hours. In the spring of 2003, he was activated for a four month deployment to Kuwait and Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He flew 27 sorties in the A-10 during major combat operations and numerous combat sorties during the build-up. Greg has been mission qualified and an instructor pilot in the F-15E and the B-52. He has also flown the F-16 B&D, F-15 B&D, F-18, T-38, AT-38 & T-37 aircraft. On the civilian side, he is currently flying the P-51 and most of the HFM’s aircraft as-well-as his AT-6D “Hog Wild Gunner.”

P-51 Mustang Valhalla

The P-51 Mustang served in the sky’s above during WWII serving as both an attack aircraft as well as bomber escort as flown by the 332 Fighter Group ( The Tuskegee Airmen in their “Red Tail” Mustangs) which allowed allied bombers to have air support further distances into enemy territory. That support allowed the tide to be turned in favor of the Allied Forces contributing to max speed of 437 mph, Six .50-caliber machine guns and either 5-inch rockets or 2,000 pounds of bombs and a range of 1,000 miles, the P-51 Mustang was a lethal aircraft capable of its multiple rolls.

CHRISTEN EAGLE Bi-Plane

Steven Bennett - Pilot

Steve has been a professional pilot for over 35 years and has logged over 23,000 total flight hours. Although Steve has spent the majority of his career as an airline pilot, in 2006 he had a chance to become involved in aerobatic flying and quickly developed a passion for it. Soon thereafter, Steve began competing in International Aerobatic Club competitions. Winning the very first competition he was in propelled Steve to immediately move up to more difficult divisions in future competitions. Years ago, Steve set his sights on performing in airshows, and hasn’t looked back.

Steve flies the well-respected Christen Eagle, designed by Frank Christensen. The Eagle is well known for its beautiful lines, eagle-feathered paint scheme, and lively response for the aerobatic pilot. This airplane is guaranteed to thrill both audience and pilot.

Along with Steve’s passion for airplanes and aerobatics, he also has a great desire to give back to his community. In 2009, Steve joined the Shriners, and proudly supports the Shriners Hospitals for Children, an organization that provides orthopedic and burn care to children regardless of a family’s ability to pay. There are 22 Shriners Hospitals for Children throughout the United States. It has become Steve’s mission to bring about awareness of this wonderful organization.

Mustang High Flight - Dornier Alpha Jet

Mark Peterson - Pilot

Mark started flying at the age of six in a Piper Cherokee Arrow with his father Ed who was a B-24 Liberator pilot during World War II. After returning to civilian life, Ed found ways to keep aviation in his business and personal life. As a result, Mark grew up surrounded by aviation. ​

Mark soloed at age 16 and received his private pilot’s license at 17. Since then, he has flown over 40 different types of aircraft and accumulated over 6000 hours of flight time and an ATP Certificate. ​

Owning and flying classic warbirds like the P-51 Mustang, A-37 Dragonfly and Dornier Alpha Jet has been a dream of Mark’s since he was a child. Like many children with the aviation bug, Mark built models and dreamed of flying warbirds one day. In November of 2005, Mark was able to acquire a P-51 Mustang and since then, Mark has accumulated over 1700 hours in warbirds and strengthened his love and admiration for the aircraft.

Erickson Aircraft Collection

The Erickson Aircraft Collection is located in Madras, Oregon, and it is the third largest museum in the United States dedicated to flying aircraft. Started by Jack Erikson in 1983, the collection now houses more than 20 rare and vintage aircrafts. Nowadays, ownership has been passed down to Erikson’s grandson who has continued collecting warbirds. This museum is dedicated to preserving the history of their aircraft and they aren’t afraid to take these vintage planes out for a spin! This years Erickson Aircraft Collection includes a pair of WWII Vintage Navy attack aircraft.

Grumman F6F-5N Hellcat

David Reed - Pilot

The Grumman F6F Hellcat is an American carrier-based fighter aircraft from World War II. Designed to replace the earlier F4F Wildcat and to counter the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero, it was the United States Navy’s dominant fighter in the second half of the Pacific War. The Hellcat competed with the faster Vought F4U Corsair for that role and prevailed, as the Corsair had significant issues with carrier landings. This Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat B/N 94294 (N4998V) was acquired by the Erickson Aircraft Collection in October 2017. This aircraft is an F6F-5N night fighter version that was initially delivered to the US navy in July 1945. It never saw combat in WWII and remained in service until the 1950’s, when it was declared surplus. The aircraft was acquired by Lone Star Flight Museum in 1986 and restored to airworthy condition by Steve Picatti, arriving in 1989.

Though designed as a successor to the F4F Wildcat, the F6F Hellcat sported significant differences:

  • The Hellcat was simply bigger, with more armor, firepower, and fuel. Armor included a bulletproof windscreen and 231.2 lbs. (96 kg) of cockpit armor, as well as armor around the oil cooler and oil tank under the engine.
  • The Hellcat had a low-mounted wing, instead of the Wildcat’s mid-mounted wing.
  • The Wildcat’s main gear retracted into the fuselage, using a hand crank, and had a notoriously narrow track. The Hellcat’s gear were hydraulically actuated, main gear set wide and mounded in the wings, and retracted backwards, rotating 90 degrees to lie flat. The Hellcat also had a retractable solid rubber tailwheel.
  • Armament consisted of six .50 caliber (12.7 mm) Browning machine guns, three mounted in each outboard section of the wing with 400 rounds per gun, compared to early Wildcat’s four. 50 caliber guns.
  • The Hellcat was fitted with three self-sealing fuel tanks: one with a capacity of 60 US gallons (227 liters) under the pilot’s seat, and one in each wing with the capacity of 87.5 US gallons (331 liters), for a total of 235 gallons (889 liters) – over twice the capacity of the Wildcat. The F6F-3 could also carry a 150 gallon (568 liter) centerline drop tank, though most F6F-3 production Hellcats ad no provisions for carrying any other external stores.

F8F BEARCAT

Jim Martinelli, Warbird Mechanic and pilot is the Director of Operations at the Erickson Aircraft Collection. Jim has over 30 years of experience Restoring, flying and maintaining WWII aircraft. Jim's interest in flying began at a young age while watching firefighting aircraft fly from the airport near his home in Northern California. Watching these vintage bombers fly sparked a passion for WWII aircraft, that passion would soon become his career. Jim earned his pilots license at age 17 and soon moved to Chino California to continue honing his skills as a mechanic and restorer. Jim is a licensed “Airframe and Powerplant” mechanic and “Authorized Inspector”. Along the way of becoming a professional mechanic Jim continued to fly. He has amassed over 5000 flight hours and is type rated in several WWII Aircraft including the P- 51 Mustang, illyshuin IL-2, Grumman FM2 Wildcat, Grumman F6F Hellcat, AD4 Skyraider, Bellanca Aircruiser, F4U Corsair, P- 47 Thunderbolt, Focke Wulf 190 and P-40 Kittyhawk to name a few. Jim’s Favorite aircraft to fly is the P-51 Mustang, in which he has over 500 hours in the type. Jim joined the Erickson Aircraft Collection in February 2015 and it is there he is able continue his passion for WWII aviation. As Director of Operations and Warbird Pilot, Jim is able to do what he does best, play with Airplanes. Jim is one of the pilots for the Erickson’s Flight program “Soaring with the Warbirds”, and enjoys flying Warbirds for flight programs and airshows.

The museum’s Bearcat served with the Navy from 1948 to 1957. It became a photo recon aircraft in 1959. As a civilian plane it had a successful race career. In 1964 it won fourth place in Gold Unlimited in Reno. After its race career, it performed in airshows in Europe. In 1997 it came to the Heritage Flight Museum in Spokane, Washington and was restored to Navy combat specs. In September 2021, the Bearcat was acquired by the Erickson Aircraft

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