A-10 Thunderbolt pilot coming back to Tullahoma for air show

  • Published
  • By Patrick Ary
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. --  When an A-10 Thunderbolt II takes to the skies over Tullahoma July 1, it will be a familiar sight from the cockpit for Air Force Capt. Joe Shetterly.

When Captain Shetterly got his first active-duty assignment eight years ago, it was at Arnold AFB. He arrived on the weekend of the Centennial of Flight Celebration air show in 2003.

"We drove into town with all of our household goods and everything and actually went to the airport before going to housing," he said. "And that's where we met one of the guys who has become one of my very close friends."

Shetterly spent about a year at Arnold AFB before going into undergraduate pilot training. During that time, he spent time at the airport dropping skydivers out of a Beech 18 - a plane his father used to fly night freight on, and one he always wanted to fly.

Today, Captain Shetterly is Officer in Charge of the Air Combat Command's A-10 Demonstration Team. He's responsible for showcasing the A-10 at air shows around the world.

"It's just something I've always been around and passionate about doing, so to get to fly for the Air Force and also fly in air shows for the Air Force is kind of a dream come true," Captain Shetterly said.

His demonstration will be one of the many sights to see July 1 at the 2011 Kiwanis Fireworks and Air Show at his old stomping grounds: the Tullahoma Municipal Airport. The A-10 demonstration is part of AEDC's celebration of the Independence Day holiday as well as the center's 60th birthday.

"The theme is to show how AEDC has been involved and linked in with the A-10, but also for support to the warfighter and support to the community," said Maj. Scott Dubsky, who is helping coordinate the air show. "Our partnership with the community links us."

During the 1970s, AEDC workers tested two potential power sources for the A-10. Store separation tests were also run on two A-10 prototypes, and tests helped determine the munitions that would be incorporated into the program. Even though Captain Shetterly was only at AEDC a year, he is well aware of the work that was done for the program and spent time in the wind tunnels as a construction project manager.

"It's exciting to come back to Arnold, where I worked before and contributed so much to the ongoing and safe operation of the facilities there and realizing how much over the years has been developed there - not just in the A-10, but every military flying machine and mainstream flying machines as well," he said. "So it's kind of a full-circle opportunity to have worked there before and get to fly there years later in the air show."

The Kiwanis club has been putting on an Independence Day fireworks show for 42 years, according to Independence Day Celebration committee chairman Mike Rutherford. Two years ago, it was canceled because the location at Tullahoma High School's football field was condemned.

The club approached the airport about hosting the event, but the only way it could be done was if there was an air show component. From there it grew into an event that was attended by an estimated 7,000 people last year, Rutherford said.

"It's a case of where the tail is now wagging the dog," he said. "I think maybe people know us better for the air show now than they do the fireworks, which is fine. It's all to celebrate Independence Day."

Arnold AFB's involvement the last couple of years has been limited to loaning fencing and other equipment for the show, but for the base's 60th anniversary Kiwanis club members asked AEDC commander Col. Michael Panarisi if the base would like to contribute to the show.

"When he gave a stamp of approval, that greased the skids for us to start finding acts to perform in the show," Rutherford said.

Murray King, AEDC's flight systems plant asset manager, is also helping with the air show coordination and has helped the Kiwanis with past shows. He said everything came together to make what will be a memorable base contribution to the air show.

"This year it was just a perfect match that our 60th anniversary came up, and the A-10 had accepted the invitation to come to the show," he said.

Captain Shetterly said he had been looking for a reason to come back and fly in Tullahoma. When he found out through friends that organizers were looking for an Air Force demonstration, he jumped at the chance to make it happen.

"I've been asking them and saying 'Hey, I've got two years as a demo pilot and if you guys are going to have an air show, it would be a lot of fun,'" He said. "So I basically facilitated the opportunity to come there and fly for the show and worked the angles through the schedulers on our end and told them it would be an event that would be special, with my history at Arnold and getting to come back and fly for the show."

Another special outcome is that Captain Shetterly will get to fly in an air show with his father, who will be giving a demonstration of a DR-107 One Design experimental aircraft that father and son worked on for more than a decade.

Also, during the show Captain Shetterly's A-10 will fly in formation with a P-51 in a heritage flight that commemorates the history of aviation.

"It's choreographed to music with a narration provided by Air Combat Command," King said. "It's very nice. It'll wet your eyes."

Gates at the airport open at 3 p.m. July 1. The event is free and open to the public, but Kiwanis will take donations after the event. Concessions will be for sale, but attendees may bring their own coolers. People also may bring lawn chairs, tents and umbrellas. No glass bottles or alcohol are allowed, and no pets will be allowed in with the exception of service animals.

There will be live music and several aircraft on display. AEDC will have two tents set up with information about the center and the A-10's history.

Festivities kick off at 6 p.m. with the pledge of allegiance. Fireworks are expected to take place around 9 p.m.

King said while it's not on the same scale as some of the air shows he organized in the last decade, he believes it will be a memorable experience.

"I was standing out in front of the crowd on June 23, 2001, when the Thunderbirds overflew and performed at Tullahoma for the AEDC 50th Birthday Celebration Air Show," King said. "I heard a 12-year-old boy look up and say 'That's what I'm going to do when I grow up.' And hopefully, with this show we can recreate that excitement when they see the A-10 demonstrating its performance and air-to-ground superiority. Hopefully we can hear that again."

More information is available at www.kiwanisfireworks.com.