Click to enlarge GARY SEWELL / HERALD DEMOCRAT A parachutist with the American Flag in tow fell from the sky on Saturday at the North Texas Regional Airport in Denison while the National Anthem was playing.

BY KATHY WILLIAMS

HERALD DEMOCRAT

Out of the wild blue yonder came a military flyover. Tiny spots separated from the plane high over head and grew into winged divers who released Old Glory and the Lone Star flag. Assuming human proportions as they neared the ground, they were met by an honor guard of sea cadets, who posted the colors.

Thus began the first Grace Flight Air Show, an event its organizers said they hope becomes and annual one.

The day actually began with an open course air race. This event was geared toward participants, not spectators, as the only action visible over the airport was the start and the finish. Planes reached speeds more than 200 mph to complete the course, said Pat Purcell, organizer of the air race.

"They have a course they have to follow and we have spotters out there to make sure they stay on the course," Purcell said. "I call this the NASCAR of air racing. You can pull your plane out of your hangar and race."

Unlike the air show, the air race has been a tradition at what is now called North Texas Regional Airport -- Perrin Field since 1976. The winners didn't get cash, but they still had big smiles on their faces, sitting around in the hangar at the airport fire station. Winners got big wooden propellers with trophies in the center. All the participants got etched glass mugs. Many of the racing pilots had left before the air show, hoping to avoid bad weather in other parts of the country.

Phil Eggers of Frisco was the chief organizer of the Grace Flight Air Show. Asked what was the goal of their first event, Eggers replied, "Being the first year, we don't really know, we're hoping to get 5,000 people."

They might not have completely met that mark, but there was a steady stream of people coming in the gates. Throughout the day, people walked among the planes parked on the taxiway and tarmac. Vintage aircraft, some painted and even sculpted in artistic ways sat amid newer models. Military aircraft were guarded by honor guards from the Air Force or the Navy. Children asked dozens of questions of those in uniform. Some elders stood in the shadows of the planes reminiscing about their adventures overseas and at Perrin Field when it was an active military base.

Eggers said those who attended the show would see, "Some war bird performers, some Corsair and some other L-19s, some aerobatics guys who do the national championships and sky divers. A celebrity performer, Corkey Fornof, is flying the LoPresti Fury."

The event announcer called the Fury, the Ferrari of sportster airplanes. Fornof performed the famous stunt in the James Bond film "Octopussy" in which Bond flies an airplane through a hangar. Fornof also has appeared in John Travolta's film "Face Off," Harrison Ford's "6 Days/7 Nights," with Tom Cruise in "Mission Impossible II," Stephen Spielberg's "Jurassic Park." and with Robert Redford and Demi Moore in "Indecent Proposal."

The Fury, yellow with fiery red accents, zipped through the sky faster than most of the aerobatics planes. But the smoke "burn out" pilot Phillip Butcher performed seemed equally impressive to the younger audience. Eyes young, old and in between watched the beautiful skies as aerobatics artists performed barrel rolls, stalls and dives, loops and inverted maneuvers to music selected for the performer.

"Roll Out the Barrel," "Octopussy," "Boogey Woogey Bugle Boy" composed the sound track for the acts.

Eggers said that notices of the show went out to a wide range of people, those involved with the medical community and pilot associations.

"This is a regional event, not just a Sherman and Denison event," Eggers said. "This is the only one we do. Most air shows are put on by the airport, some clubs put on shows, but nothing that's run by a non-profit charitable organization like this one."

Eggers explained that Grace Flight has existed about 19 years. About 2,000 pilots are on the roster to make flights. "We fly about a dozen flights per day, taking people for medical appointments, many of them to M.D. Anderson (cancer center) down in Houston. We are growing nationally. We have gone into the Denver market and we are looking at the Midwest right now, which includes Chicago."

Those who would like to donate to the organization or who are in need of the service can gain more information on the Web site listed below.

"People have to be referred by a third party, doctor, social worker, clergy," Eggers said. We don't do emergency care. The patient must be ambulatory. We take them for out-of-area treatment, regional centers and we transport veterans affairs patients. We like to have a few days notice, usually have a couple of weeks. We help those who are fragile, don't have the money, have been on chemo for a week and can't get on a commercial flight."

Fundraisers like the air show help defray the $800,000 annual operating expense of Grace Flight. Pilots donate their time, their plane and fuel.

Of those watching the show, Howard Tisdell, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force in Vietnam and Korea, said he was enjoying the day. He said that he didn't fly the airplanes, "But I loaded a lot of things on them, bombs mostly." He added that he was impressed with the aerobatics.

Deon, 7 of Howe, said he thought the show was "Awesome, I liked the jets and the tricks best." He stuck by his favorites, even after saying he had taken one of the helicopter rides, which he said was "cool, not scary but loud, loud." Deon watched with his cousins, 2-year-old Garrett, who mainly pointed to the planes and Emry who said his favorite was the yellow plane.

And then a plane soared straight up and headed straight back down and they all pointed.