A community celebration of aviation

An RV-7A of the West Coast Ravens touches down after their flight demonstration during the 2025 Watsonville Airport Open House. (All Photos by Hayman Tam)

Watsonville Municipal Airport (KWVI) in California has a rich aviation history that has evolved over several decades.

The original Watsonville Fly-In & Air Show endured for more than 50 years and then went through some name and format changes, remaining steadfast to being a community celebration of aviation.

Having last visited in 2013, I was curious to see the current incarnation of this event, renamed Fire in the Sky: Watsonville Airport Open House.

This free event, held Aug. 30, 2025, had many food and community booths on hand for the attendees but, unsurprisingly, I was here to see airplanes.

There was an interesting variety among the 20-plus static display aircraft arrayed on the tarmac.

Claiming attention in the center ring was a pristine Grumman F8F Bearcat wearing U.S. Navy blue, an out-of-state warbird I had not encountered before.

This Grumman F8F-1 Bearcat was retired from the Navy in 1959 and found a new life competing in the Reno Air Races from 1967-1971 before spending 30 years at the Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum.

Another popular exhibit was a Van’s RV-12iS with the cockpit opened up, a magnet for moms and their young ones.

This Van’s RV-12iS was quite popular, being one of the few display aircraft that was opened up for visitors. The RV-12iS is a Light Sport Aircraft that is geared for both training and personal use.

Rounding out the top three static displays was a beautifully restored Huey operated by the Vietnam veterans group Huey Vets.

This EMU 309 is a fully restored Vietnam veteran Bell UH-1H Huey, a tribute honoring an original one that served with the 135th Assault Helicopter Company (“Experimental Military Unit”).

The early evening entertainment started with skydivers delivering Old Glory to show center, followed by the sound of the West Coast Ravens warming up their quintet of RV aircraft. After their formation takeoffs, the Ravens delivered a nice performance of flight maneuvers accented by smoke trails in the deepening blue sky.

A formation takeoff by three West Coast Raven RV Formation Team aircraft lifts off.

Members of the West Coast Ravens RV Formation Team were on hand to provide a flight demonstration with their RV aircraft.

Next up was a planned demonstration of large-scale remote control model planes.

An R/C pilot starts up the engine on this 42% scale model of an Extra 300. Powered by a 20-hp engine, this model has a 10 foot wingspan.

After a flawless performance by the first pilot and plane, the whine of a powerful subscale jet engine signaled the start of the second demonstration. Unfortunately, within a minute of the model jet’s takeoff, the plane inexplicably lost control and hit a nearby house, injuring two people.

This pretty jet model taxies for takeoff. Sadly, a minute later this model jet would be involved in an off-field crash.

With the flying portion of the show prematurely ended, all that was left was to wait for darkness to descend and for the fireworks to take place. Apparently, it had been a while since fireworks were a part of this show and the announcers were keen on emphasizing the return.

A brilliant fireworks display illuminates the area around the restored Bell UH-1H known as EMU 309, named after a Vietnam War Experimental Military Unit composed of both U.S. Army and Royal Australian Navy personnel. (All Photos by Hayman Tam)

Overall, this was a pleasant event that I was happy to have attended and hope to revisit again.

Watsonville Airport was officially established in 1931, built on land that was formerly a lettuce field. During World War II, the airport was commissioned as Naval Auxiliary Air Station Watsonville and returned to the city in 1947.

For more information: Watsonville.gov