Small Town Flair for a Growing Air Show

Yuichi Takagi performs in his custom Pitts Special S-2S at the Truckee Tahoe Air Show. (All Photos by Hayman Tam)

The Truckee Tahoe Air Show & Family Festival is an event I always look forward to attending, especially since there wasn’t a show in 2025 because of construction at the Truckee-Tahoe Airport (KTRK) in California.

The organizers used that time to evolve the event to a more structured model, bringing on professional air show production company, David Schultz Airshows.

Held on June 20, 2026, the show remains a smaller air show with the same enjoyable small-town community atmosphere and a picturesque backdrop of forested mountains.

Air show attendees were greeted by floatplane gate guards, including this CubCrafters Top Cub.

This year’s show featured several aerobatic performances, including California-based Yuichi Takagi in his custom Pitts, Arizona’s Dan Kirkland with his robust T-28 Trojan, and the Undaunted Airshows duo of Stephen Christopher and Todd Rudberg flying their Van’s RVs way too close to each other.

Dan Kirkland goes inverted in his North American T-28C Trojan warbird. The T-28C was the Navy’s carrier-capable version of the Trojan, distinguished by its tailhook.

The Van’s RV-7 and RV-8 aircraft of Undaunted Airshows fly in close formation at show center. Neither of the pilots has a military flying background, instead building their skills through dedicated general aviation training.

Yuichi Takagi and his custom Pitts Special S-2S. Yuichi has been performing at air shows since 2015.

The Planes of Fame Museum sent a trio of warbirds to participate.

The Planes of Fame Museum provided these three warbirds for the show: A Curtiss-built P-47G Thunderbolt, a Vought F4U Corsair, and a P-51D Mustang.

Experiencing a P-47 Thunderbolt roar overhead is a rare sight indeed, balanced with a P-51 Mustang and F4U Corsair.

A first, for me at least, was seeing a Cirrus SR22 performing fly-bys in an air show, representing local flight schools.

Something else not often seen at air shows were glider demonstrations, utilizing a Piper Pawnee tow plane.

One performer I was anxious to finally see was David Costa and his Cold War-era PZL-Mielec TS-11 Iskra jet trainer. This slender jet trained pilots for the Polish and Indian military and was also utilized by the Polish Air Force White-and-Red Sparks aerobatic demonstration team.

David Costa pilots his ex-Polish Navy TS-11 Iskra Jet, the only example on the U.S. air show circuit. These trainers were manufactured in Poland between 1963 and 1987, serving as the primary trainer for Poland and India.

Walking along the static display line, fans clustered around a few active military aircraft that flew in for the show. Fast mover fans appreciated a Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet from the Naval Aviation Warfighting Development Center (home of TOPGUN) based at Naval Air Station Fallon in Nevada.

Also parked on the ramp was a de Havilland C-147A, the jump plane for the U.S. Army Golden Knights Parachute Team.

A member of the U.S. Army Parachute Team Golden Knights skydiving team is seen after departing the team’s new de Havilland C-147A jump plane.

A wave at the crowd from the C-147A, the military designation for the de Havilland DHC-8 jump plane used by the Golden Knights. In 2019 the C-147A replaced the Fokker C-31A that had been used by the team since 1985.

Some T-6 Texan II trainers formed another threesome, one from Texas and the others from Oklahoma.

A classic warbird, this North American AT-6C Texan warms up before a flight demonstration. This airframe served with the Royal Canadian Air Force from 1941 to 1960 as a Harvard II.

This Texas-based T-6A Texan II is one of the “Heritage Tail” aircraft operated by the units at Laughlin AFB. This aircraft is painted to resemble the P-38 Lightning aircraft the unit operated when they were known as the 96th Fighter Interceptor Squadron.

There were more than two dozen aircraft on static display, aside from the active-duty military aircraft.

A fully restored Vietnam-era OV-10 Bronco warbird attracted a bit of attention.

This vintage 1968 Rockwell OV-10D Bronco caught the eye of many while on static display. This Vietnam warbird was fully restored in 2023.

Folks could also peek inside aircraft ranging from a Life Flight Pilatus PC-12, the powerful new Piper M700 Fury, to a 70% scale P-51 Mustang.

The Tuskegee Airmen Heritage Chapter of Sacramento featured this Austrian-built ScaleWings P-51 Mustang 70% scale replica wearing the trademark Tuskegee Red Tail livery.

A Super Petrel seaplane and a gleaming Grumman Ag Cat added to the diverse variety.

A Brazilian-produced Super Petrel LS amphibious biplane, introduced in 2002. The Super Petrel LS is no longer in production, replaced by the updated Super Petrel XP.

The Grumman G-164 Ag Cat holds the distinction of being the first purpose-built agricultural aircraft by a major manufacturer. First flown in 1957, it has become one of the most successful agricultural aircraft ever produced. The name Ag Cat followed Grumman’s naming tradition of including “cat” in its aircraft.

First responder aircraft on display included helicopters from the California Highway Patrol and contract operators Billings Flying Service and Brothers Air Support.

The California Highway Patrol (CHP) Air Operations unit operates a fleet of 15 helicopters, a mix of new Airbus H125 (like this one) and older Eurocopter AS350 B3 AStars.

Billings Flying Service is a Montana-based firm operating the world’s largest civilian-owned fleet of these CH-47D Chinook heavy-lift helicopters. This one is contracted to Cal Fire for the 2026 wildfire season.

Brothers Air Support is an aviation company with a specific focus on aerial firefighting utilizing military-surplus Blackhawks. This UH-60A has a belly-mounted 1,100-gallon retractable water tank.

Cal Fire only brought one of everything this year: An S-2 Turbo Tracker fire bomber, OV-10 Bronco spotter aircraft, S-70 Firehawk, and a HC-130 Hercules.

This Cal Fire OV-10 Bronco trails white smoke, not an air show feature but an operational one as they intentionally lay down smoke trails to guide larger air tankers to the drop point.

A few bits of mountain snow provide the backdrop for this Cal Fire Sikorsky S-70i Firehawk, hovering for the appreciative crowd before heading back to its Hollister Air Attack Base. The Firehawk can carry up to 1,000 gallons of water in its belly tank.

With the moon to guide it, Tanker 117, a modified C-130H Hercules, makes a fly-by after departing the show for home. A new Cal Fire asset, Tanker 117 completed its first operational mission on June 5, 2026.

The Coast Guard was on hand with an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter and an HC-27 Spartan. The massive Billings CH-47 Chinook also drew its fair share of visitors

A Coast Guard rescue demo underway with one of its San Francisco-based MH-65E Dolphin helicopters.

A USCG HC-27J Spartan medium-range surveillance aircraft dwarfs a Piper M700 Fury on the static display apron. The Coast Guard plans to fully retire its Spartan fleet by the end of 2028, due to maintenance and airframe issues.

Admission to the show continues to be free, courtesy of the Truckee Tahoe Airport District.

With the wave from the passenger, the P-51 Mustang “Wee Willy II” says goodbye to the 2026 Truckee Tahoe Air Show. This Mustang is a franken-plane, built up from the remains of several Mustangs, most notably the Reno racer “Red Baron,” which crashed in 1979.

One nice touch this year was the complimentary souvenir aluminum bottles of water handed out at the entrance.

A nice functional air show souvenir and it was free!

For more information: TruckeeTahoeAirport.com

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