ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
The Liberal AirFair is right around the corner, and the Trojan Phlyers will be part of this year’s high-flying entertainment.
As current member Chip Lamb tells it, the Phlyers are no stranger to air shows.
“The Trojan Phlyers group was formed in 1996, and I've been with the group for the past 25 years of that, and we've been flying air shows since about 1999. Originally, the group raced at Reno in 1996, 1997 and 1998 and ultimate took gold and bronze medals from those events,” Lamb said. “But the Reno air races decided they didn't want to have a T-28 racing class, so they did away with that. When I joined the group in 2000, that's what I was hoping to do, I had been looking forward to racing at Reno, but it didn't happen. We ended up deciding to participate in various air shows, so we started doing those locally in Texas and over time, we've done shows in New Jersey, California, Mexico and South Dakota, among other places. But the truth is, we really like performing closer to home in Texas and Oklahoma and Kansas and our more immediate area because it's much easier for us in terms of travel, and the majority of the shows we do are in our more immediate area.”
And while the group has seen members come and go throughout the years, Lamb said it is neat to know it has been around for nearly 30 years.
“The group has changed throughout the years. Out of the original group that formed back in 1996, only one of those guys is still with the group, but he is dealing with some medical issues that might prevent him from flying with us again,” Lamb said. “Over time, people have come and gone from the group, so we've had a pretty frequent stream of pilots. The gentleman I'm flying with now is part of the aerobatic routine and joined the group in 2010, and I've been flying with him as part of the aerobatic team for about the past 10 years. We've gotten to know each other really well and have such a good rapport that we could hop in our respective planes and just fly and know what to do. We'll be practicing our routine until we get to Liberal, and that rehearsal definitely keeps us busy.”
The AirFair will be the Phlyers’ first trip to Liberal, and Lamb said he and his crew are extremely excited.
“I've never actually been to Liberal, and neither has my wingman, so part of our excitement is the excitement we'll feel from the crowd there that afternoon,” Lamb said. “We like going to places like that, and I think it'll be a good show. We signed our contract back in February, and apparently the AirFair coordinators liked what they saw, so we're glad to have been invited. Every year, the air show community has a trade show in Las Vegas that allows coordinators of different air shows to see the different teams/acts, and somehow, your AirFair people saw or heard about us. We got an email from them almost out of the blue asking if we'd want to participate, and we were more than happy to.”
Like the other acts, Lamb said the audience can expect some high-flying stunts from their part of the show.
“Our act is a formation warbird act and formation aerobatics, so the crowd will get to see a couple four-ton airplanes flying in formation really closely. I'm the flight leader for the team, and my wingman and I work really well together and know what to do when we're in the air,” Lamb said. “We do make some changes to our routine from year to year because we don't want things to get stale for the crowds, but the people will see some very vintage airplanes perform and do some of the same things as some other jet teams. We'll do formation flying and some solo aerobatics, and it'll all be fun to watch. I've been flying aerobatics ever since I was in the military, and I served from 1977 to 2007, so I've been flying that for a long time.”
Lamb added he hopes to see a big turnout at the AirFair.
“As cool as our show will be, we really hope everyone will stay and watch all of the acts at the show, because everyone's going to be great. I understand 2018 was the last time Liberal hosted the AirFair, and this will be the first time for a lot of people – especially young people – to see these types of aircraft do these aerobatics and other stunts,” Lamb said. “In addition to an air show in Cleveland, we'll be appearing at a show in Clinton, Iowa, which will be another first for us. We were specifically asked to join that show because the coordinator's father served in the Navy, so she happens to be a fan of the aircraft we fly, so that should be great. We'll also be flying at a show in El Paso, Texas a couple weeks after we visit Liberal, and we'll also be visiting Corsicana, Texas for a show. All of those should be fun, and we'll definitely be kept busy. One of the things I love about doing shows in smaller cities is we get to get more up close and personal with the community and meet the people, whereas when we do air shows in bigger cities, there's more separation between us and the audience, so there's not as much opportunity for those types of interactions. We've flown in multiple other air shows in places like Fort Scott and Claremont, Okla., among others, and those shows are more fun for us because we get to have more of that one-on-one interaction with people and they get to meet us and see the airplanes up close, and we love being able to do that.”
Overall, Lamb said, he and his crew are ready to fly over Liberal.
“We're excited to make our way to Liberal, we're excited for the chance to meet everyone there and we hope everyone enjoys the entire AirFair,” Lamb said. “We're also hoping for good weather that day, because that would help make everything even better. We definitely appreciate the invitation, and we can't wait to see everyone out there!”
