10/15/08 — Date set for 2009 air show at SJAFB

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Date set for 2009 air show at SJAFB

By Kenneth Fine
Published in News on October 15, 2008 1:46 PM

Air Force officials have set a date for the latest installment of Wings Over Wayne, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base's typically annual air show.

But they would still not confirm the lineup for the event, scheduled for the weekend of April 25, 2009.

The show will come just less than two years after the last one, which featured the Navy's Blue Angels, a Pearl Harbor reenactment and the 4th Fighter Wing's own F-15E Strike Eagle demonstration team, and drew a crowd of 100,000-plus.

But Wings Over Wayne does not simply benefit fans of flight.

Started as an "open house," it gives the Air Force and other branches of the military a chance to show the general public what service is all about.

And the community outside the base gate benefits, too.

County officials estimated local businesses made millions of dollars off the May 2007 show, as some put gas in their car at a local station and others had a meal or stayed in area hotels.

For more information on Wings Over Wayne, including the lineup as it is announced, follow the News-Argus.