CONTACT: Andrew Cougill, Director, Grissom Air Museum (765) 689-8011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

5th Festival of Flight at Grissom Air Museum October 14, 2006

From WWII heroes to hands-on fun, virtually anything to do with flying can be found at the Grissom Air Museum Festival of Flight. This unique family festival is packed with aviation related exhibits, hands-on activities, flying demonstrations, tours, veteran presentations, reenactors, music and food. This year, there will also be tours, activities and displays on the Grissom Air Reserve Base by the 434th Air Refueling Wing, plus Army, Navy, and Marine Reserve units. A shuttle will run to the base where people can: see military aircraft on static display, tour inside KC-135 Stratotanker, meet veteran flight crews, check out base fire equipment, and inspect aircraft metal under a video microscope.

The Festival runs 10am-5pm, and admission is $4 adults; $3 veterans, seniors, students; kids 6 and under are free. No admission charged at Grissom Air Reserve Base.

Celebrating America’s victory in WWII will be a special theme of this year’s festival. Heroic WWII veterans such as;

• Tuskeegee Airman - LTCOL Julius Jackson, Ret. USAF
• Pioneering Female Aviator - Veronica Harvey
• Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient - Melvin E. Biddle
• A "Rosie the Riviter" - Dorothy Kawaguchi
• Pilots & crewmen of historic aircraft

Flying activities at the Festival will range from classic warbirds to high-tech radio control helicopters. Bergen R/C will put on exciting radio control demos. There will be model rocket launches, plus giant kites flown by the Hoosier Kite Flyers Society.

The Festival features a host of fun-filled activities for kids of all ages. They can build and fly their own kites and gliders. They can “shoot the sun” through a navigator’s sextant, and drop “bombs” on target from a remote control plane. They can also sit in cockpits, ride vintage pedal planes, tackle an inflatable obstacle course, explore a giant inflatable spaceship, and even fire a corn cannon.

Visitors can take special tours among the museum’s 24 historic aircraft, where they can speak with numerous veterans who flew those planes. There will be a host of other displays and activities including tours inside the YS-11, powered parachutes, statewide student aviation art contest, ham radio operators, and aviation souvenirs.

There will be toe-tapping music provided by the Peru Circus Festival Band, and other groups. And of course there will be great food.

For more information on the Festival, contact the museum at (765) 689-8011 or visit GrissomAirMuseum.com. The museum is located 60 miles north of Indianapolis on Highway 31 between Kokomo and Peru, and is regularly open 10am-4pm, Tuesday-Sunday.