Aug 10, 2016 4 min read

WAYNESBURG – The large cargo plane parked at Greene County Airport this past week has attracted plenty of attention and served as a constant reminder to flying enthusiasts of the upcoming Aviation Days celebration.

The popularity of the Spirit of Freedom “candy bomber” during last year’s air show has prompted the organizers of Aviation Days to expand it into a two-day event this weekend to give more people a chance to see the historic plane that participated in the Berlin Airlift nearly 70 years ago.

“We had a great time last year,” Spirit of Freedom pilot Tim Chopp said. “Of course, our second visit is always better because people know what to expect. They can pick up a little bit more about the history of the Berlin Airlift.”

Chopp, an Amwell Township native now living in New Jersey, returned to the area with his C-54E Skymaster last Thursday so it once again could be featured during the Aviation Days event organized by the local “Support Our Aviation Resources” group.

“It’s like a billboard there for us,” SOAR member Dan Connor said of the cargo plane’s presence at the county airport. “Everybody knows when we have something going on.”

For the first time in many years, the show is now Saturday and Sunday with events running each day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Young Eagles flying club will offer free airplane rides all day Saturday, weather permitting, while there will also be “donation rides” available on other aircraft both days, Connor said. There will be food, vendors and live music both days.

But the highlight of the weekend will be 4 p.m. Saturday when Chopp and his crew drop candy bars attached to miniature parachutes to children as the Spirit of Freedom soars above the airport runway. The demonstration mimics what Air Force pilot Gail Halvorsen did during the Berlin Airlift in the late 1940s to connect with children living in West Berlin, which was surrounded by Soviet Union troops.

Before the flight, Chopp plans to toss candy bars to children standing below his cockpit window as another goodwill gesture.

During the celebration, people can also tour the inside of the plane, which Chopp calls a “flying museum” with artifacts and history about the Berlin Airlift in 1948 and 1949. Tours are $3 for adults, $2 for children or $10 per family.

The two-day event will give more people a chance to see the plane, Connor said.

“Everyone likes to go through it and not everyone can see it in one day or they just run out of time. It gives them a better opportunity,” Connor said. “We were so busy at last year’s event, we felt we could attempt two days so we didn’t run out of time and so we could cater to more people.”

For Chopp, 72, it’s an enjoyable homecoming to the airport where he learned how to fly. He still has family in the Washington area and it’s a reunion of sorts for him when he comes back.

“I still have a ton of relatives there,” Chopp said. “For me, personally, it’s a godsend gift to have this plane back here where I learned how to fly. It’s really special to me.”

After Aviation Days, Chopp will fly his plane to Washington County Airport, where it will be parked for a three-week layover. He will then depart on Labor Day to Great Falls, Mont., which was once used as a training base for the Berlin Airlift, to meet some of the pilots who flew the missions and join others who own C-54E airplanes used in the operation.

“It’s very important that we make it for the reunion,” Chopp said. “Their history is our history.”

For more information about Aviation Days at the Greene County Airport, go to SOAR’s website at www.soarofgreenecounty.org.