Take a sunny weekend in Idaho’s Treasure Valley, add about 20 warbirds, and mix with the friendly ambience of the Warhawk Air Museum in Nampa. This recipe created the largest crowd on record for the museum’s Warbird Roundup.
This year’s attendance numbered 5,000 for the weekend, which is up more than 10% from last year, according to Sue Paul, museum director.
Chalk it up to the Warhawk Air Museum’s growing reputation, and maybe to the big population influx into the Boise area, with newcomers looking for one-of-a-kind events with classic laid-back Idaho style.
“We were so appreciative of the attendance,” Sue added.
The museum sets a clear tone for Warbird Roundup, as historical displays extol the virtues and sacrifices of America’s veterans of many wars.
This year’s featured speaker during the noon break in flying activity was Jonna Doolittle Hoppes. She gave a lifelong biography of her grandfather, James Doolittle, covering aspects of his remarkable life leading up to the historic Doolittle Raid on Tokyo in 1942.
Warbird Roundup has a format of flying that groups aircraft in sets of typically three or four in a series of passes over the Nampa Municipal Airport (KMAN). The flights in the morning are repeated after lunch, and the sights and sounds of World War II propeller-driven aircraft have become an annual feature of August here.
The Saturday flight schedule listed 20 warbirds, from liaison to fighters to a B-25J bomber.
Several P-51 Mustangs, always crowd favorites, were joined by three Curtiss P-40 Warhawks, plus rare single aircraft like a combat-veteran F4U-1A Corsair, a P-47D Thunderbolt, “Dottie Mae,” raised from a lake in Austria where it sank in 1945, and too-late-for-combat speedsters in the form of an F8F Bearcat and rare P-51H Mustang.
Warbird Roundup is a collaborative affair. The hosting Warhawk Air Museum had its two P-40s, a P-51C, and a newly-acquired T-6G Texan in the air.
From southern California, the Planes of Fame Air Museum sent warbirds including the B-25, F8F, and Corsair, plus pilots to fly many of the aircraft.
The Heritage Flight Museum in Burlington, Washington, was represented by director Greg Anders, who flew the museum’s Mustang, “Val-Halla,” in the daily heritage formation with a P-38 flown by Kevin Eldridge and an Air Force F-35 jet.
And it wasn’t just museums representing. Steve Coutches brought his P-51H from California. Gary Peters brought his P-40N “Suzy” and an award-winning deHavilland Beaver on floats from northern Idaho. Mark Peterson’s P-51D “Hell ‘er Bust” flew with dummy underwing bombs.
The extensive roster of pilots who made Warbird Roundup 2022 possible also included Zeb Baney, Eric Danfelt, Seth Denton, Joe Dory, Ray Fowler, John Hinton, Steve Hinton, Steve Hinton Jr., Chris Lefave, John Maloney, Mark Moodie, Robbie Patterson, Brant Seghetti, Jim Thomas, and Jack Walborn.
Last year, Warbird Roundup inaugurated a heritage flight featuring two warbirds paired with an Air Force F-35 flown by Maj. Kristin “Beo” Wolfe. Wolfe returned overhead this year, commuting daily from Hill Air Force Base in Utah.
A last-minute surprise was the appearance by two Idaho Air National Guard A-10s that made a series of passes and approaches.
Warbird Roundup coincided with Warhawk Air Museum’s capital campaign to raise funds to create a special post 9-11 gallery honoring military members whose service has come since that pivotal event.
