AIR SHOW CONTINUES TODAY

Charles Boyer took a trip back in time Saturday at the 1998 Cape Girardeau Regional Air Festival.

Boyer, 75, of Poplar Bluff waxed nostalgic as he watched youngsters and adults touring a 1944 PBJ, the U.S. Navy's version of a B-25.

The "Devil Dog" PBJ was one of several vintage warbirds that roared over Cape Girardeau Saturday.

The warbirds are scheduled for a second dawn patrol and fly-by today. The air festival will be open from 9 to 7 today at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport.

The doors of the plane's bomb bay feature the signatures of the crew members who served aboard it, said Joe Beatty of Houston, Texas, one of the volunteers who helps maintain the plane.

Boyer spent World War II keeping bombers and other aircraft in good repair for the U.s. Army Air Corps as they flew "the Hump" to ferry munitions, supplies, food and troops from India over the Himalayas and into Burma.

"At the peak of the war, there was an airplane taking off every minute," he said.

Boyer said he loves to watch old airplanes like the B-25 still in use at air shows and exhibits.

"I even love to smell them," he said.

The plane carried a Marine Corps crew around the Pacific, flew more than 20 bombing missions, sank four Japanese ships and ferried the first liaison groups into Japan when the war ended, Beatty said.

The bomber is a surprisingly light aircraft. "It lifts off very quickly," he said.

The "Devil Dog" was used for night-time bombing runs, Beatty said, adding the plane doesn't have the sophisticated radar and navigation now standard in modern aircraft.

"These guys had to fly these things at night, 500 feet above the ground," he said.

Janet McCullough and Glen Schley couldn't fly their BT-13, a trainer aircraft, in Saturday morning's rain, but they did set it up for a static display.

The single-engine BT-13 was used for the second phase of pilot training for all of the pilots who served in World War II.

The student pilot sat in the front and the instructor sat in the back, McCullough said.

"This airplane was used to teach aerobatics, night flying and instrument flight training," she said.

The BT-13 McCullough owns was built in Nashville in 1941. More than 13,000 BT-13s were built during the war, but only about 26 are still flying.

After the war, many of the planes were sold for scrap metal or parts or converted into crop dusters, McCullough said.

The air show has also featured several modern military and civilian aircraft.

Today's acts include Kathy Ekl and the American Decathlon, Jack Ekl and the French Fouga jet; Wayne Handley and The Raven; a Navy F-18 demonstration; Bob Davis and the Russian SU-29; Don Johnson and Toyota Airsports; and an Air Force F-117 Stealth fighter demonstration.

The Dodge Ram Jet will also perform.

Helicopter and plane rides will be available through the day. Balloon launches are scheduled for morning and evening.