You might want to look up on May 13 — the skies above Temple’s airport will be teeming with skydivers, stunt flyers, vintage military aircraft and choppers.
According to airport director Sean Parker, the Draughon-Miller 75th Anniversary Air Show is going to be a memorable family day with aerial demonstrations, military displays, helicopter rides, shopping, food and beer.
The air show — a city of Temple event that is being organized by Parker — will be held at the Temple airport and gates will open at 8 a.m. The action begins at 9 a.m. and will end about 5 p.m.
“This is something the whole family can enjoy,” Parker said. “We will have static displays from Fort Hood and the Texas National Guard, displays of World War II to Vietnam-era aircraft, special aerobatic aircraft and one-of-a-kind kit airplanes.
“There also will be a kid’s play area, a beer garden, food vendors and 12 aviation performers,” he said.
For years, air shows were an annual Temple event. The last air show was held in 2019. The event was canceled in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
This is the first Temple air show since May 2019, according to Temple city spokeswoman Nohely Mackowiak.
Parker said that putting on an air show is no easy task.
“There are a lot of moving parts to consider,” he said. “First, we reach out to aviation performers, aviation groups and clubs, the Department of Defense and the FAA, to name a few. We send out requests to different acts and hope they are not busy the weekend of the air show.
“Once we have a better idea of what activities and performers we have secured, we submit the air show schedule, emergency plans, contact lists and a list of performers to the FFA Flight Standards District Office in San Antonio for review and approval,” Parker said.
“While that goes on, we reach out to community businesses to see if they want to be a vendor in our show or even a sponsor to assist the city with the financial aspect,” he said. “Finally, we have to secure tents, equipment, vehicles, hotels, catering, bands, fuel, oil, smoke oil and other items the performers need.
“Then we bring it all together with volunteers from the community who will help us make it a smooth-running event that will be fun for our community.”
Parker said guests can expect to see many native Texas performers at the air show, including Beth Jenkins and her B-25 Devil Dog, the RE/Max skydivers, the Liberty jump team, Stephen Covington’s Raptor, Karen Brinkley’s O-2A and Sam Bulgar’s SB2C Helldiver, just to name a few.
“Fort Hood and the Texas National Guard will have some really cool aircraft on static display,” Parker said.
“This special air show is celebrating 75 years of aviation under the Draughon-Miller name,” Parker said. “We want to show our appreciation to those who have fought for our country and gave the ultimate sacrifice. The airport is named after two Temple men who made that sacrifice during World War II.
“We want the whole community to come out and share this commemorative celebration for these men and their brothers and sisters in arms. It’s truly going to be a fun-filled event for the entire family.”
