Knoxville is known as the Sprint Car Capitol of the World, but this Saturday the action with be in the skies for their airshow. Airport manager Katherine Shawver says they have a good lineup. “We have performers that have performed and in some of the largest air shows in the world that are coming right here to Knoxville,” she says. “And then we have our skydivers, our mayor, the mayor of Knoxville is actually going to kick it off. He’s gonna be skydiving into the show, which is really neat.”
The show is free and she says they will have a lot to look at. “You can expect to see on the ramp a variety of aircraft from war birds to experimentals, to turbine aircraft. The air shows are designed to create that enthusiasm of aviation within our youth, so that one kid looks up and thinks ‘I want to do that’.”
The airshow itself is at 4:30, but there are a lot of events leading up to it. The day begins with the Young Eagles Youth Rally at 8 a.m. “They’re kind of a ground school which teaches them the basics behind flights. We have planning aeronautics, all the stuff that the kids will have to learn then they get to go on their free, usually their first airplane ride,” Shawver says.
There are other events designed to get everyone involved. “We have the family festival and that’s from one to 4:30, and then along with that we have Knoxville is hosting Fly Iowa this year which is very unique because it’s an opportunity for an airport to showcase their airport and their city,” she says. She says pilots from around the state, and some from out of state will participate.
“Fly Iowa is a statewide fly in. So if you don’t go to any other fly in this year, everybody goes to Fly Iowa, she says, “It brings the coolest airplanes the most amount of airplanes.” Shawver says they will have sprint cars on the grounds and also feature a drag racer going against an airplane in a race down the runway.
The event wraps up with a free concern after the airshow.