MCAS looking to top previous air shows

Topping last year's Yuma Air Show won't be easy, but Marine Corps Air Station Yuma marketing director Roger Lopez says it can be done.

"We want this year's show to be as entertaining as last year and be a bit better," Lopez said. "The goal is to make it entertaining for everyone in the family."

As always, those who go to the Yuma Air Show will get to see military pilots at their finest, as well as stunning aerobatic performances of numerous civilian aviators.

The March 27 air show, Lopez said, is once again featuring some attractions that have never been seen here before. One of those attractions will be the Aerobatic Racing Challenge (ARC).

"They just confirmed they are coming," Lopez said. "Not only are they racing each other, they are also performing aerobatic maneuvers."

Lopez explained that the ARC Series is a new and innovative racing style featuring pilots with high-performance aerobatic aircraft competing against each other on a vertical race course.

As a featured air show event, Lopez said the pilots will race through an aerobatic sequence in a side-by-side dual that challenges each pilot to fly the maneuvers as quickly as possible. The winner, he added, is determined by successfully completing all the assigned maneuvers in the least amount of time without acquiring penalties.

The event, which features race pilot Spencer Suderman flying his “Meteor” Pitts S-2B and 2009 champion Bill Cornick flying the Pitts S-2C “Big Bad Green” will be the second race of the 2010 Western Region Cup Challenge.

It will also be Arizona’s first Aerobatic Racing Challenge.

Another attraction making its first appearance at the Yuma Air Show will be Paul Stender's jet-powered school bus, which is known as the world's fastest school bus.

"It has a jet engine," Lopez said. "And is the only one of it's kind in the world."

At nearly 10 feet high and 35 feet long, it is the largest jet vehicle on Earth. The bus is equipped with a 42,000 horsepower General Electric J-79 jet engine straight out of a F4 Phantom fighter jet and can reach speeds of 300 mph.

In what makes for a spectacular fire show, the bus shoots smoke and flames 75 feet from its exhaust.

Stender is also bringing his jet-powered outhouse, which has made headlines around the globe. The outhouse is a standard size and model port-a-john with one minor modification - a 1,000 horsepower jet engine.

Stender's jet-powered vehicles have been featured on hit television shows, including Dangerous Curves (Spike TV), Monster Garage (Discovery Channel), and Horsepower TV.

Lopez said he is also trying to bring in the Patriot Jet Demonstration Team, but it isn't a done deal yet because he is still in the process of securing the necessary sponsorship.

"We still have the Yuma Air Show on our schedule," said Lead Pilot Dean Wright. "I'm quite excited about it. I love the southwest and looking forward to flying in the desert again."

Wright, who was an Air Force pilot, also received Harrier training at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma in 1993.

He said the Patriot Jets, which are based in Discovery Bay, Calif., will be performing at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base for the Tucson Air Show the week before.

"We are going to be breaking new ground by coming to Arizona," Wright said. "It will be a shame to be so close to Yuma and not be able to come."

The Patriots' air show routine lasts 20 minutes and consists of choreographed maneuvers such as the diamond formation loops and rolls followed by a faster paced solo part of the show where each Patriot aircraft performs individual maneuvers such as opposing loops, the Cuban eight, vertical rolls, as well as the group's signature maneuver “The Tail Slide” and much more.

Lopez said those are just some of the attractions he has been working on the past year and hopes to have more to announce in the coming weeks.

James Gilbert can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 539-6854.