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Viper East prepares for Florence air show

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Holly Brown
  • 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
FLORENCE, S.C, --  The Viper East Demonstration Team is getting ready to perform another air show full of high speed, low altitudes and intense maneuvers at the May Fly Air Show Festival in Florence, S.C., this weekend. 

May Fly will be held at the Florence Regional Airport May 24-25. The gates open at 8:30 a.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. Sunday and will close at 5 p.m. both days. 

In preparation for the event, the demo team spent a day in Florence visiting the community. 

Bright and early, six members of the team left Shaw Air Force Base to make the Kinard 'n Koffee morning show with radio host Tom Kinard from Star 93.7. Members of the team talked about where they were from, what their team position is and what spectators can expect at the air show. 

"We're showing them a combat capable aircraft," said Capt. George Clifford, Viper East F-16 Demonstration Team pilot. "We are giving them a combat perspective without the threat of a combat environment, and of course there are no munitions on the jet." 

Captain Clifford said the demonstration consists of maneuvers, altitudes and speeds the F-16 would perform during close air support, reconnaissance and surveillance missions in a combat environment. 

The team then paid a visit to several children at the McLeod Regional Medical Center. 

"All of the children are here for a variety of reasons," Allana Zeigler, MRMC child life specialist. "Some are here for orthopedic reasons, asthma, dehydration, diabetes... they could be here anywhere from one to five days." 

"We visit the children's hospitals mainly to lift their spirits," Captain Clifford said and Ms. Zeigler said they really do. 

"To (the children) it's exciting because they're stuck in a hospital," she said. "It cheers them up. You will see the smiles on their faces when (the team) walks in." 

Octavia Byrd, a seventh-grade patient at the hospital agrees. "I feel great that they're here," she said. Octavia said she hopes she can end her so-far, three-day stay at the hospital and see the team at the air show this weekend. 

After visiting the children, the team headed to Wilson Senior High School to talk to the students about the Air Force. 

"Whenever we visit the schools, we are trying to put a face to the Air Force," Captain Clifford said. "We explain all the different jobs in the Air Force, not just pilots or crew chiefs. We let them know that most of us are from small towns, just like they are and tell them how we got to where we are." 

All of the day's events are also to help promote the Air Force and the air show. 

"We're promoting the Air Force message, what we are doing in the fight in Afghanistan and Iraq, in the global war on terror and we also talk about Operation Noble Eagle," the pilot said. 

"Of course the flying part is great," said Captain Clifford. "But the biggest highlight is traveling, meeting new people and seeing their reaction to the show." 

The demo team averages 30 show sites during their show season from March through November. 

For more information about Viper East, visit www.shaw.af.mil and click the Viper East Shaw link. 

For more information about May Fly, visit www.mayflyairshow.com.