Three-year-old Nathan Whitaker, the son of Chasity and Charles Whitaker of Tallulah, is mesmerized by show planes in Mound Saturday. (Jon GiffinThe Vicksburg Post)

[10/24/04]MOUND Flying airplanes is definitely not just for boys. Just ask Madison Wade.

“I want to be a pilot,” the 5-year-old Vicksburg girl said Saturday. “It looks like a lot of fun.”

But her best friend, 6-year-old Sabrina Ragsdale, would much rather just be a passenger. Her father, Danny Ragsdale, is captain of the G2 Gulf Stream, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plane on display at the Southern Heritage Air Show Saturday at Vicksburg-Tallulah Regional Airport.

“I don’t know why she doesn’t want to learn to fly,” Madison said. “My daddy’s not a pilot, but I want to anyway.”

They were among the 2,500 to 3,000 people at the Mound show that raised money for a proposed Southern Heritage Air Museum and the “Timeless Voices of Aviation” oral history program, but the girls were in the minority.

The majority was men and boys, like four youngsters from Vicksburg.

“My favorite is that big plane,” 7-year-old Cory Garner, said as he pointed to the Gulf Stream.

“I went inside, and all I can say is it’s big,” he said.

Cory was with his father, Ike Garner, and three friends, Stacey Naylor, 5, Tyrell Harris, 7, and his 6-year-old brother, Kaliel Harris, all who say they now want to be pilots.

“We got here about 10:30. We’ve never been to anything like this. All four of them are amazed,” said Ike Garner, who, along with the boys, watched the show, toured the planes and visited with pilots.

Overall, their favorite was the Yak 50, a Russian primary plane, decorated in John Deere green and yellow with a red Soviet star on the tail. A commentator who described each of the craft as they flew above said the Yak 50 had been “rescued” from behind the Iron Curtain.

“It’s got every color. That’s why I like it,” said Stacey.

The Harris brothers were both ready to fly Saturday, but Tyrell was cautious: “I want to fly someday, but right now I want someone to fly me.”

Robert Hauston Jarvis Jr., 8, and his friends Austin Garrett Hurley, 10, and John Ingram, 13, were busy flying toy boomerang planes.

“I like the yellow biplane because it has machine guns on it,” Robert Hauston said.

The gates opened for tours and visits with pilots at 10 Saturday, but at exactly the appointed time of 1 p.m., the eight-act flying show began.

Jody Grice was the first in the air, maneuvering his 450 Steerman through what he called basic air show stunts rolls, loops and hammerhead dives.

The crowd oohed and ahhed.

After his flight, Grice said being in the air is always a thrill a minute.

“I’ve been flying since I was 12 or 13,” the 41-year-old said. “My two brothers and I grew up right next to a community airport, and my dad was a pilot. So we pretty much started flying as soon as we could reach the controls.”

His younger brother, Phillip, and older brother, Robby, hit the skies next in their Christin Eagle II and Alley Cat, a crop-duster turned into a performance plane.

The pilots’ father, Hilery Grice, 77, watched proudly from the ground as his sons flipped and rolled. Grice and his wife flew in from their home in Irvington, Ala.

“I don’t get nervous watching them,” said Grice, a pilot of more than 50 years. “I’ve done some stunts in my day, but nothing compared to what they do. They were raised in airplanes. They were flying in the womb.

“The neat thing here is that most dads take their sons fishing or hunting, and a lot of the times the boys don’t want to follow in their dad’s footsteps. But I have three sons, and they all fly. It’s a pretty neat bond,” he said.

As other stunt pilots ripped and roared through the air, a sprinkle of a rain shower didn’t stir the crowd as they eagerly awaited the final act the Aeroshell Aerobatic Team.

The four-member team of twin brothers Alan Henley and Mark Henley and Steve Gustafson and Gene McNeely, is based in Birmingham, Ala., and performs at air shows from El Salvador to Canada.

Gustafson, a Tallulah native, said flying aerobatics is a dream come true.

“It never gets boring, that’s for sure,” he said.

Gustafson and Alan Henley started stunt flying together 20 years ago, and McNeely and Mark Henley joined up nearly 10 years ago.

“Aeroshell picked us up as a sponsor three years ago, and it’s been busy since then. This show is one of 25 we have scheduled this year,” he said.

The team members fly identical T-6 Texans, each a World War II fighter plane painted in red and white with a black-checkered nose. They fly wing to wing at about 4,000 feet in various formations, dipping and flipping and spinning and rolling at nearly 200 mph.

As the four planes soared in complete unison, the crowd watched in amazement and came to its feet for the grand finale a dedication to former Gov. Kirk Fordice, the father of one of the show’s organizers, Dan Fordice of Vicksburg.

They honored the former Mississippi governor, who died in September, with the famous missing-man formation, leaving a blank spot where the fallen pilot would have flown.

Another little girl, 9-year-old Ashleigh Anderson of Shreveport, watched the finale and listened as patriotic songs rang out on the public-address system.

With hand on heart, she summed it up: “Wow. That’s really cool.”