Central Texas Air Show
Temple, Texas

When: early May [check for this year's dates]

Where: Draughon-Miller Central Texas Airport at 7720-F Airport Road in Temple, Texas.

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return." This anonymous quote sums up the feelings of the crowd that looks to the clouds longingly each year as a phalanx of flying machines streak through the sky over Temple during the Central Texas Air Show. Combining entertainment with education, the history of aviation hover overhead, from the biplanes that captured the imagination of adventurers during the first years of flight to the choppers that scanned the skies above the battlefields in Vietnam.

Cast your eyes to the skies to see the following demonstrations:

* Over the roar of engines you can almost hear the echo of President Franklin D. Roosevelt as he addressed Congress with the now famous words "December 7, 1941- a date which will live in infamy" as the members of Tora, Tora, Tora navigate through rounds of explosions in fighter planes that still bear the saucy images of 1940's pin-ups.

* The Pilots of the aptly-named Falcon Flight perform precision maneuvers that will wow the crowd.

* Commonly referred to as the Viper, the F-16 Fighting Falcon takes flight for a demonstration.

* "Come Josephine in my flying machine, Going up she goes, up she goes; Balance yourself like a bird on a beam, in the air she goes! There she goes!" Stunt pilot Paul Faila climbs into the cockpit of his Yellow Great Lakes biplane for a tribute to the barnstorms of days gone by.

Entertainment: Airplane aficionados may have to stay on the ground as they watch the air show, but the music that floats through the air during this three-day event is guaranteed to make their spirits soar. A mix of pyrotechnics and powerhouse performances, a chart-topping headliner takes the stage each year.

Video Resources:

Following is a YouTube clip of a Pearl Harbor Reenactment by Tora! Tora! Tora! at the Central Texas Air Show, posted by emeraldead:

A YouTube clip of a performance by the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 at the Central Texas Air Show in 2003, as posted by zeoul001:

For more information:

• visit www.centraltexasairshow.com