Entertainment / Family Fun

Sky-high fuel prices won't faze Air Show

By David Burke | Friday, July 04, 2008 | () comments

The U.S. Navy Blue Angels will perform at the 2008 Quad-City Air Show. (File photo) Buy this Photo

Think you grimace when it comes time to fill up the gas tank?

It could be worse.

“It is worse,” said Ken Hopper, the president and founder of the Quad-City Air Show. “Aviation fuel’s over $6 a gallon. Last year at this time it was $3.80. It’s now about $6.05, so it’s gone up $2.25 almost in a year.”

So, in its 21st year, the Quad-City Air Show is making some changes that Hopper hopes won’t be evident to the estimated 85,000 fans expected to head to the Davenport Municipal Airport this weekend.

“We really don’t budget for that,” Hopper said of the fuel spike, most of which has happened in the past three months. “What you have to do is really watch it. If something doesn’t have to go up, then you don’t send it up. Or you shorten some guy’s trip up a little bit or you get someone a little bit closer to come in rather than someone farther away.”

Hopper said he wants to keep spectators’ eyes on the ground as much as in the air this year.

More airplanes will be on the ground — with some available to be seen, touched and inspected — than ever, he said.

Hopper estimates that hundreds of planes, ranging from World War II-era to contemporary aircraft, will be part of the 200-plus exhibits on the field.

“We really tried to make the grounds more attractive so it’s not just a show in the air,” he said. “It’s a show on the ground as well.”

Other attractions include a Johnsonville Brats truck that will flash-cook lunch for visitors and a Sony PlayStation semi with previews of new video games that will be available later in the year.

In the air, attractions this year include the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels, the U.S. Air Force’s Heritage flight team, the U.S. Army’s Golden Knights parachute team and the Shockwave triple-jet semi.

The Quad-City event is considered one of the top two civilian air shows in the country by those in the industry, Hopper said, which helps attract the military flight teams.

The Blue Angels, for instance, appear in only 35 shows a year while receiving as many as 900 requests to perform.

Rising fuel prices, he promised, will not have an impact on the show’s quality.

“Those performers have a contract and we have to fulfill that contract,” he said.

If you go

What: Quad-City Air Show

When: Noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, June 21-22; gates open at 8 a.m. each day, with Dawn Patrol flights beginning at 9 a.m.

Where: Davenport Municipal Airport

How much: $25 for an adult (11 years and older) weekend pass; $15 in advance and $20 at the gate for a one-day adult pass; $5 in advance and $7 at the gate for youth 6-10 years. Parking is $3 in advance and $5 at the gate. Advance tickets are available at Hy-Vee, Fareway, Slagle’s and Northwest Bank locations.

Information: Call (563) 285-7469 or QuadCityAirShow.com on the Web

David Burke can be contacted at (563) 383-2400 or dburke@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.