'Heroes and Legends'

The thrills of the Cape Girardeau Regional Air Festival return today and Saturday.

The show called "Heroes & Legends" begins at 6:30 tonight and at 3:30 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. Saturday at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport. Gates open at 5 tonight and at 11 a.m. Saturday.

The Red Baron Pizza Squadron will perform aerobatic maneuvers, the East Coast Rhino Demonstration Team will operate an F/A-18F Super Hornet strike jet, a weapon that has been used in the war in Iraq. A pilot wearing a jet pack will summon up memories of James Bond in "Thunderball" or the movie "The Rocketeer," zooming up to 300 feet in the air, and the U.S. Army Golden Knights Gold Team will present state-of-the-art skydiving.

Those are just a few of the thrills in a show airport manager Bruce Loy promises will emphasize the extreme, including a stuntman who will transfer from an airplane's wing to a helicopter.

One of the most spectacular night displays will be provided by Dan Buchanan Airshows' hang gliders and sailplanes, which flash and glow with pyrotechnics.

In addition, many historic aircraft will be on display at the airport and will be taking off and landing early both days. They include an Ozark Airlines passenger plane from the 1940s, a C-130 military cargo plane and military planes used in the Korean and Vietnam wars, and a Corsair, a U.S. Navy fighter used extensively in the Pacific Theater during World War II.

Heroes and legends will abound.