CLEVELAND — Six World War II-era aircraft will take to the sky during the Cleveland National Air Show Labor Day weekend at Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland.
The GEICO Skytypers Air Show Team will fly SNJs powered by 600-horsepower Pratt and Whitney engines. As a training aircraft, the SNJ can perform all maneuvers of a fighter plane, but at slower speeds. The historic sound of the vintage engines fills the air as the team will demonstrate more than 20 different tactical maneuvers during its 18-minute, low-level flying demonstration.
"Following a year where most cities were unable to host events of any sort involving large groups of people, we’re especially excited to return to the Cleveland National Air Show," said team flight lead Larry Arken. "We consider it an honor to demonstrate the amazing abilities of these vintage warbirds on behalf of our sponsor, GEICO, while sharing a bit of aviation history. Despite being nearly 80 years old, the SNJ-2 is a testament to the engineering genius of the Greatest Generation. These aircraft are a dream to fly."
The team also creates giant sky typed messages. Flying five aircraft in a tight line formation, the planes coordinate in typing messages with environmentally friendly puffs of white smoke. A computer located in the lead aircraft utilizes a custom programmed tablet to send commands to other plans via radio signals.
The messages made in the air can be seen from 15 miles away in any direction. Individual letters can be as tall as the Empire State Building.
The Cleveland Airshow will take place Sept. 4-6.
RELATED:Cleared for takeoff: The Cleveland Air Show returns to the sky Labor Day weekend
Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.
You can also catch News 5 Cleveland on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV NOW, Hulu Live and more. We're also on Amazon Alexa devices. Learn more about our streaming options here.
