Culpeper Regional Airport’s annual Air Fest received the Silver Pinnacle award at the International Council of Air Shows (ICAS) convention on December 10th in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The Pinnacle Awards were established to honor the innovative advances in all areas of air show operations and management and are broken down into seven various categories for judging. The award for small civilian show had bronze, silver, gold and platinum winners with Culpeper Air Fest earning the prestigious Silver Award.
The award was given for the pioneering Potomac Flight over Washington, D.C. that took place on Sunday, October 12th where 24 T-6 Texans departed Culpeper Regional Airport and flew across the Potomac River in formation. The Potomac Flight was in honor of the Disabled American Veterans and flew over landmarks such as the Pentagon and the Arlington National Cemetery. This ceremonial formation flight was visible from Alexandria, Arlington, and Rosslyn, Virginia.
The Virginia Department of Aviation has had the pleasure to support Air Fest by sending some staff on the Cessna 206 with a bag of promotional and educational items for the public. With support from the Department’s Aviation Promotion Program, local businesses, and great volunteers, the event is free to the public and Tanya Woodward, the on-site Manager says she wouldn’t have it any other way,
“The Culpeper Air Fest Foundation is a non-profit charitable organization that promotes aviation education and awareness in Culpeper and this is what keeps the event free to the public. We are very lucky to have the volunteers that we do. We wouldn’t have the event if the public had to pay an admittance fee.”
Tanya hopes that the Potomac Flight will become an annual occurrence, but that will likely depend on the weather. Despite the rain in the previous years, the event has had a great turnout. Culpeper Air Fest 2015 is scheduled for Saturday, October 10th.
