2004 Celebration of Flight Airshow, Andrews, NC
23 October 2004

Building on an extremely successful 2003 airshow, the 2004 Celebration of Flight Airshow was held on 23 October 2004 under cloudy skies but with a great crowd and wonderful selection of aircraft on display.     

While the poor weather conditions around the Smoky Mountain Region of North Carolina prevented some of the aircraft from attending the event, including the US Coast Guard HH-65B Dauphin and the P-51 and P-47 warbirds, many of the other aircraft were able to fight the conditions to make it to the event.     The over 8,000 attendees of this event got to get close up with the North Carolina Army National Guard's OH-58 Kiowa, UH-1H Iroquois, and AH-64A Apache as well as Georgia Army National Guard helicopters, a PBY-5A Catalina, several USAF T-6A Texan IIs, a US Navy TH-57C SeaRanger, a USAF UH-1N Plush Huey from Andrews AFB, and aircraft from the North Carolina Forestry Service. 

Flying activities at the event were filled with some of the best performers in the business today.    The United States Army Special Operations Command Parachute Team, the Black Daggers, opened the show with the Flag Jump and Mass Exit followed by Gary Rower in the PT-17 Stearman, the American Firebirds 2-ship aerobatics flying twice, Skip Stewart in the Pitts, the North Carolina Forestry Service's CL215 Water Drop demonstration, departure flights by the North Carolina Army National Guard in all of their aircraft on display, and the United States Air Force T-6A Texan II East Coast Demonstration Team from Moody AFB, GA.   Interspersed between the performances were numerous aircraft selling rides for airshow patrons in a variety of aircraft.   

Look for the Cherokee County Airport Commission and David Schultz Airshows LLC to team up once again in the near future for another exciting airshow in southwestern North Carolina.