Air show to be part of Runway 18/36 celebration

On September 25, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., the public is invited to an airshow and dedication of the new Runway 18/36 at Blosser Municipal Airport, hosted by the city of Concordia and the Airport Advisory Board.
"The vision for a new longer and wider runway began nearly a decade ago with the persistent work by the Airport Advisory Board, city staff, and our airport planning consultant," said city manager Amy Lange. "Their diligence allowed us to seize a grant opportunity and bring Runway 18/36 to fruition."
The improvements to the airport include the construction of Runway 18/36 and conversion of Runway 17/35 into a parallel taxiway. The projects are part of a $6,850,000 grant awarded through the supplemental appropriation to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Airport Improvement Program, as authorized by Congress through the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018.
"In 2008 we started work on a 10-year plan to improve the airport," said Steve Richard, chairman of the Airport Advisory Board. "We spent about five years building the plan. The FAA approved the plan in 2013, and we have now achieved most of the things on our to-do list."
The runway improvement was part of an overall $1 billion federal package earmarked for improvements to small rural airports around the country. "It was a competitive application process for all the dollars," said Richard, "and we were awarded a $6.9 million grant, and that really was a home run for us."
Richard believes the improvements to the airport are vital to the future of Concordia. "In my personal opinion, being able to land a plane like the Children's Mercy Hospital air ambulance at the airport was the number one priority for us. Even for something like a natural disaster, having an all-weather runway for that kind of medical care can be critical."
At the show, the public can view static displays of an Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, a LifeSave helicopter, a Kansas Highway Patrol helicopter, and the Children's Mercy Medevac King Air aircraft.
The air show begins at 1 p.m. with the Kansas State Skydiving team jumping with the American flag. Brian Correll, flying his Pitts S2S, will perform acrobatic maneuvers and then cut the ribbon to the new runway while flying upside down.
Correll has logged over 9400 hours of flight time, and over 3000 hours as a flight instructor. On top of that, Correll has made 750 skydives. The first 60 times he went up in an airplane he jumped out of it. He never actually landed in a plane until a year after he started skydiving.
Correll, who grew up on a small farm in southwest Kansas, works for Textron Aviation as a production flight test pilot. He has a degree in mechanical engineering from Kansas State University and serves with the USAF Reserves as an instructor pilot for the KC-46, the next generation of the vaunted KC-135, with refueling, cargo, and aeromedical evacuation capabilities.
Thousands of hours of acrobatic flying; 750 skydives - is Correll an adrenaline junkie, or just a little crazy? "Well, I guess you could say a little of both," he admits. "My wife has known all along. We met when we were both at K-State and I was skydiving."
Correll flies a modified Pitts S2S, a light aerobatic biplane designed by Curtis Pitts, with a 540 cubic inch, 6-cylinder engine. Correll is an FAA-certified A&P mechanic and has modified the aircraft to make it capable of extreme aerobatic routines.
During a typical show, Correll will experience upwards of eight positive G's and five negative G's.
"Positive G's push your body down into the seat," Correll said. "Blood pressure flows from the head to the legs. Everybody is affected differently. I don't sustain the high G's for very long, maybe a second or two. I do a lot of 'G-strain,' where you tense your muscles: first your legs, then your abdomen. If you don't G-strain you get tunnel vision, then gray-out where you lose color in your vision, and then you black out."
When pulling negative G's, the human body feels the exact opposite effect. "Blood rushes into your head," Correll said. "If you've ever hung upside down, you somewhat know what it feels like. It takes a long time to acclimate to it. If you pull too many negative G's you'll start to break blood vessels in your eyes."
Correll will perform 11 shows this year in places as far away as Maryland and Montana, and says he's never really had a close call, let alone any type of accident. "We always try to give ourselves an out, a margin for error."
As part of the show, Correll will fly his Pitts S2S upside down - just 20 feet off the ground! - and cut the ribbon to commemorate the new Runway 18/36.
"Something like that takes a lot of practice," Correll said. "It took me about two years to get comfortable. You start at 1,000 feet, and then just work your way down."
The main challenges of flying upside down? "You have to get used to having your body suspended in the seatbelts; you have to tuck your feet under the rudder pedals. And then of course the sight picture - what your eyes are seeing upside down."
The plane itself must be modified to fly upside down. "Planes aren't designed to fly upside down, so you have to have inverted fuel and oil systems. The wings are critical. The wings of most planes are not built to fly upside down. I have symmetrical wings (the best kind of wing for acrobatic aircraft), so the plane doesn't care if it's right side up or not."
Other performers at the air show include Lee Crouch in his T-6 Texan, a single-engined advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots for the American military, Bob Richards in his Pitts Special, and Justin Lewis flying the FLSMicrojet, the world's smallest jet aircraft.
Justin "Shmed" Lewis of Lewis & Clark Performance, LLC, is the owner, builder, and pilot of the FLSMicrojet.
Raised in Ashburn, Virginia, Lewis started flying at age 14, soloed at 16, and earned his private pilot's license at 17. He graduated from North Dakota University with a B.S. in aeronautics in 1999, and served 20 years in the military, with 11 of those years as a naval aviator in the F-14 Tomcat, the E-6B Mercury Nuclear Platform, and as an instructor pilot in the T-45. Lewis then served five years as an A-10C Warthog pilot with the Arkansas National Guard, and now serves with the Oklahoma National Guard on the MC-12, an intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance airplane. He is currently a pilot for a major airline.
First off, the nickname: "Shmed."
"I wish I had a great story to go with that," Lewis said with a laugh. "The other branches of the military give their pilots cool call signs, like "Maverick" or "Gunner." In the Navy they give you a name that makes fun of you. I have a long, narrow head so they called me "Shmed," which stands for smushed head."
Lewis has been flying the FLSMicrojet for ten years. At only 13 feet long and less than six feet tall, it is the smallest jet airplane in the world. Empty, it weighs only 416 pounds but can fly at speeds up to 320 mph.
"It's a plane that makes the impossible possible," Lewis said. "First off, it's kind of hard to believe that someone can actually fit inside it."
Mastering a mini-jet is no easy task, but Lewis said he's never had an accident. "It's safe to fly in disciplined hands. It handles like a fighter jet." Lewis will pull upwards of four G's when performing. "It feels like flying with a jet strapped to your back."
The Microjet that Lewis will be flying at the Concordia airshow was hand-painted by an award-winning artist, and the color scheme represents farming.
The air show is free to the public, and gates at the Blosser Municipal Airport will open at 11 a.m. There will be food vendors on site. The public is encouraged to arrive early because parts of the airport are still undergoing construction, which may slow the flow of traffic. Visitors may bring lawn chairs, but no coolers or outside food will be allowed.