Friday, September 20, 2002
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Friday, September 20, 2002 |
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Bad weather hurts airshow, but it'll be back next year By JOHN
MUNFORD Despite the rains that hampered last weekend's Great Georgia Airshow at Falcon Field in Peachtree City, officials were pleased with the crowd turnout ... and they're already beginning to plan next year's show. "Our gates were down," said airshow chairman Greg Hall. "But we feel considering the weather that we had a pretty decent crowd." A storm creeped in on Falcon Field Saturday with little warning, bringing in 50 mph winds that uprooted many tents and slightly damaged two planes, Hall said. An evacuation plan was enacted, but no one was seriously hurt, Hall added. "There was no warning whatsoever," Hall said, adding that weather personnel were on hand and also caught by surprise by the storm. The storm shortened Saturday's airborne displays, and cloudy weather Sunday forced officials to wait another hour for the ceiling to clear, Hall said. The weather's affect on the gate tally won't be known for several weeks since data is not available yet on the advance ticket sales, Hall said. But airshow officials are already looking forward to next year's show, set for Sept. 6-7, 2003. Hall said the airshow committee is seeking a return engagement from a previous popular airshow act, but the final word wouldn't be available until December. "We're already planning next year," Hall said. "We're going to go ahead and get this thing together and get it ready to roll."
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