Air base event draws 25,000, ties up traffic

By D.A. Wilkinson

Air base event draws 25,000, ties up traffic

VIENNA — An air show may be coming to the Youngstown Air Reserve Station in two years.

That would be a follow-up to Saturday’s open house that gave area residents their first look at the base in 22 years.

Bob Barko Jr. — the popular local artist — is now a tech sergeant and superintendent of public affairs at the air base.

He and Capt. Brent J. Davis, director of base public affairs, said that when Col. Karl McGregor became commander of the 910th Airlift Wing, he wanted an open house.

The base also includes the Navy Reserve’s Operational Support Center and the Marine Corps Reserve’s Landing Support Equipment Company.

Despite light rain most of the day, the two men estimated that about 25,000 people visited the base.

Traffic was backed up on state Route 11 and near the air base itself. Some people reported being tied up in traffic for two hours.

Barko said that traffic coordination had been handled through Trumbull County authorities.

“The problem may have been there were too many people,” he said.

Saturday’s event was sort of a dry run for a potential air show, he added.

But people of all ages were happily looking at airplanes on the ground, or, in case of the large cargo planes that are a staple of the airlift wing, walking through them.

“This is a thanks to the Valley for its support over the years,” Barko said. Today will be a private day at the base for family members of those assigned to the station.

But it also acknowledged the station’s impact on the local economy of about $115 million a year. Almost 2,000 people are assigned to the base.

Barko said he had an advertising budget of $50,000 for the open house.

A number of volunteers and other groups took part. A trailer housed items from the Taylorcraft Army Airfield near Alliance, which is also the home of the Marlboro Volunteers military history group. It included an antique helmet used long before flight.

But Moriah Propst of Howland was waiting in line to see the items.

“A lot of my friends are in the military,” she said. “I respect them to the fullest.”

Sean Miller, his wife, Stacey, of Canfield and their three young children were waiting to see a plane.

“It’s an opportunity to see a lot of planes and aircraft, especially for the kids,” he said.

In a hangar, Allan Phillip, a tech sergeant from Mercer, Pa., was describing the purpose of a two-seat, propeller-driven trainer for would-be pilots to a little boy with wide eyes.

The plane that dates to the 1940s, Phillip said, was made out of wood and fabric. But it was a good plane that, if landing at an angle, would touch down and straighten out on its own. “It was a user-friendly plane,” he said.

The feeling was, he added, that if you couldn’t fly it, you couldn’t fly anything else.

Late in the day, Cheri Ponikvar was waiting in line to look at a plane.

“I’m from Vienna,” she said. “The planes fly over my house all the time.”

That occasionally includes blocking out conversation for a moment, but she wasn’t complaining.

She said of the event, “I think it’s a great idea for the community.”

wilkinson@vindy.com