The 63rd Cactus Fly-In was held March 5-6, 2020, at Casa Grande Municipal Airport (KCGZ) with a twist: Because of COVID-19 restrictions, the event was restricted to only pilots who flew in and their passengers.
Still, the event was a success, according to event coordinator Fred Borns.
“We had a terrific late afternoon picnic on Saturday, followed by awards, and then J.K. Wight from the Mesa, Arizona, unit of the Commemorative Air Force gave a riveting presentation behind the circumstances of the first World War II bomber to actually complete 25 combat missions — a B-24 named ‘Hot Stuff.'”
After his presentation, it was “back out to the flight line” at sunset “to watch diamond-formation fly-bys performed by Lee Maxson, Danny Don, Arlo Watkins, and a ‘mystery couple’ in a Stearman, PT-22, Cessna 150, and PA-12,” he says.
The 64th annual Cactus Fly-In will be held March 4-5, 2022, according to Borns.
“The airport manager and I are hoping to throw open the gates to the general public and get back to normal,” he added.
Meanwhile, frequent contributor Glenn Brasch, who is also the founder of AirportCourtesyCars.com, was at this year’s fly-in and sent in these photos from the show. Enjoy!
A 1967 Wickham B owned by Curtis Clark of Scottsdale Arizona, was the winner of the Pilot Choice Award. 
This 1952 Cessna 170 B is owned by Chuck McCurry 
A Fairchild PT-19. 
This Waco UPF-7 is owned by Mike Braegger of Mesa, Arizona. 
This RV-4 was flown in by Jerry Furnas of San Diego. 
This 1942 Boeing PT-17 is owned by Lee Maxson of Mesa, Arizona. 
This B-24 Liberator flew in for the weekend fly-in. 
Allen Hartman flew his 1946 Piper PA-12 from Queen Creek, Arizona. 
This 1948 Ryan Navion is owned by Chuck Swanberg of Sandia Park, N.M. 
Jason Resop of Chandler, Arizona, arrived in his Piper PA-12. 
The snack table stands ready next this 1950 Cessna 170B owned by Ron Pate of Hilltop, Texas.
Wickham B Photo by Michael Friedrich. All other photos by Glenn Brasch
Please educate your staff on aircraft types. NOT a PT-19. NOT a B-24. Hold yourself up to higher journalism standards, please.
Looked up a Wickham B and would love to know more about it! Any additional information?
Photo of the Wickham B was taken by Michael Friedrich, not myself. Glenn Brasch
Thanks for the story and photos. One correction…the aircraft photo captioned as a B-24 is actually a PB4Y “Super Privateer,” which was a Navy variant of the B-24. Here’s a link to the aircraft during restoration: https://gosshawkunlimited.com/projects/current-projects/consolidated-pb4y-2-privateer/
Never understood the inspiration for the single tail.
From what I can glean online the large single vertical stabilizer increased yaw stability. The original B-24 was notoriously unstable, particularly in pitch, and was described as a real physical workout to fly, especially in formation.
Maybe the inspiration was the very successful rival Boeing B-17?
Thanks for the photo of the Wickham B. Never saw one of those before. What a cool airplane!