Above and Below: Wheeee! Pilot Cory “Zippy” Lovell in a 400hp Sukhoi SU-26 aerobatic aircraft over Humboldt Friday afternoon. | Photos: Andrew Goff
If you see parachuters and World War II-era aircraft flying inverted straight toward the ground over the airport this weekend, don’t be alarmed.
The aerial stunts are part of Rumble Over the Redwoods, the first air show to grace the foggy Humboldt skies since the 1980s, and they’re performed by professionals. Featuring pieces of military aviation history, a bomb squad, cars racing aircraft down the runway at “unrestricted speeds” and a mock Coast Guard search and rescue operation, the show seemingly caters to aviation history buffs while offering thrills for the whole family.
“There’s a little bit of everything,” said Lindy Linebaugh, marketing director for the Rumble, explaining that the show will not only feature aerial stunts and demonstrations – “aerobatics” – but also static displays, meaning the audience can get a more intimate look at the planes (and cars and other craft) while the assortment is parked on the ground. Rides will also be available to spectators in the Precision Exotics vehicles (those cars that drive at “unrestricted speeds”).
A sampling of the Rumble Over the Redwoods fleet.
Air shows have been turning eyes to the skies worldwide since 1909 – just a few years after the Wright brothers first took flight – when the concept of humans taking flight in machines was still mind blowing to many.
Linebaugh said that the Rumble was brought to the redwoods in large part due to a benefactor who sold cotton candy as a youngin’ at the last Humboldt County air show in the 1980s (and currently possesses an airport hanger), adding that the donor wants to remain “as anonymous as possible.”
“It’s been his dream ever since to bring it back to Humboldt County,” she said.
ACV’s Cody Roggatz is happy.
In an email to the Outpost, Humboldt County Director of Aviation Cody Roggatz said the benefactor, a local business owner, approached him with interest in putting on an air show “because of his love for the Humboldt community and historical aircraft” almost two years ago, and they have since worked together since to build an event that meets three goals: bringing the community together, introducing young people to aviation (as well as educating and inspiring on the topic) and honoring veterans.
“Most people think of aviation as only airline travel,” wrote Roggatz, who said his interest in aviation started at 10 when he spent hours watching planes taking off and landing from the Minneapolis airport prior to his first airline flight. He said he hopes the Rumble will similarly galvanize young audience members to the industry.
“Someday when they become a pilot, an airshow performer, an air traffic controller, an aircraft mechanic, or (if they’re really crazy) an airport manager/director … they can say ‘my love of aviation started when I attended Rumble Over the Redwoods,’” Roggatz wrote.
Spurred by the mysterious patron’s enthusiasm and made possible by the support of 25 local sponsors and over 100 volunteers, the event will showcase 16 performers, including aerobatic teams (meaning multiple pilots performing synchronized stunts).
Lost Coast Warbirds’ B-25 “Sweet Dreams” prepares for takeoff.
“We bring in some of the best pilots and performers from all over the world,” said Linebaugh, adding that most of this weekend’s performers are West Coast-based, with some Midwesterners and one local performer – the Lost Coast Warbirds with their fleet of vintage WWII-era aircraft (featuring one particularly of-the-era paint job).
(For readers new to the air show circuit, as we were just yesterday, “warbirds” are vintage military planes that have been repurposed for civilian activities – often air shows.)
Above: Eric Tucker performs his “How do I fly this thing?” routine in his J-3 Cub.
LoCO was lucky enough to get a press preview of the show’s dress rehearsal this afternoon, and the spectacle was enough to get LoCO photographer Andrew Goff nervous-giggling like the young lad he is.
“Think rodeo clown takes to the skies,” the Rumble’s website states, describing performer Eric Tucker. One of Tucker’s (two) routines centers around an Eric-to-air-traffic-control “how do I fly this thing?” lark broadcast over loudspeakers, which – after some dramatic wobbling to and fro mere meters from the ground – concludes with a dramatic “emergency” landing on top of an in-motion ambulance.
Eric Tucker, pilot/rodeo clown.
In between acts, Tucker was nice enough to climb off the roof of his ambulance (where he was hanging out with his kid) to chat.
Turns out, flying runs in the family. Growing up with a pilot pops, Tucker said he started young – first solo-ing a glider at 14 and achieving his pilot’s license at 17 (not to mention getting a degree in aerospace engineering from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo soon after).
While today, he’s mostly a corporate pilot, Tucker said he still does two to four air shows per year. He also uses his experience as an aerobatics performer to give aviation safety talks to professional pilots in various forums, explaining that the process behind safely performing aerobatics feats offers a useful study of “brain and body stress in the cockpit.”
“In order to do them [aerobatics stunts] responsibly at low altitudes, you gotta get beyond the death-defying aspect,” Tucker said. “It becomes almost like a meditation.”
“If you’re still getting an adrenaline rush, you’re doing it wrong,” he added, smiling.
Tucker said his favorite part of air shows is what the displays offer kids in the audience, who – looking up with “wide-eyed wonder” – see excellence in action. He said that even if children aren’t inclined toward aviation, he hopes the performances inspire them to “go out and be excellent at anything.”
For some kids, the spectacle does lead to a life in aviation. Nick Coutches, who will be piloting one of the Lost Coast Warbirds fleet this weekend, said he grew up going to air shows with his grandfather, father and uncles – all of whom were pilots
“I didn’t really have a choice [to fly],” he said, adding that his grandfather owned 50 Mustang warbirds. Coutches said he believes air shows keep history alive by providing spectators the opportunity to hear, see and smell the planes of days (and wars) past.
Pilot Vicky Benzing in her 1940’s Boeing Stearman.
Another performer, NorCal gal Vicky Benzing, who Roggatz called “one of the most talented aviators in the entire world, if not the most talented” is also a racer – and a fast one at that. In 2015, she was the “fastest women at Reno” (meaning at the Reno Air Races), clocking in at 469.831 mph.
In her cherry red 1940s Boeing Stearman, Benzing’s twists and turns during Friday’s practice seemed to take her straight for a fiery impact before she gracefully pulled back up each time.
Similarly, Cory Lovell – callsign “Zippy” – who has been flying since the age of 12, according to the announcer, performed aerobatics maneuvers including the “Cuban eight” and slow rolls.
“We are going to have some of the rarest aircraft in the world, flown by some of the greatest pilots in the world, all coming together in Humboldt to deliver a show that will be first class through and through,” Roggatz wrote via email.
While performing death-defying aerial stunts for crowds includes its fair share of risk, Roggatz said that a “specialized air show firefighting and emergency response group” made up of Arcata Fire, Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, Samoa Fire, Cal-Ore Life Flight/REACH and Coast Guard personnel will be in attendance this weekend to supplement the airport’s usual aircraft rescue and firefighting professionals.
Commercial travel in and out of the airport this weekend is not expected to be disrupted by the show (although the northern section of Central Avenue behind the airport will be), according to Rogatz, but the Rumble’s website does make clear that audience members planning to fly in for the show should land at Murray Field Airport and drive over as air show activity will mean limited ramp space at ACV.
Linebaugh said that 8,000 spectators from all over the country are expected over the course of the weekend. You may be asking “where will all of those aviation-lovin’ folks park?” (especially considering that the airport parking lot is largely under construction). We did ask, and Roggatz answered that audience parking will not be “anywhere near the terminal” and that spectators should follow signage and parking lot volunteer direction from the airport.
Both Saturday the 10th and Sunday the 11th, gates will open at 9 a.m. and aerobatics are scheduled to start at noon both days (weather permitting).
So if you’re craving some aerobatics and scoping of vintage aircraft in your weekend, head on over to Boeing Ave. Ticketing info here.
While Linebaugh said that an “executive decision” is yet to be made, there are intents to to make a Humboldt County air show an annual event, according to the Rumble team.
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Below, find pictures of some more of the aircraft you have the potential to encounter in Humboldt this weekend.
Seven people have qualified to appear on the ballot for Arcata City Council’s three open seats this November.
Everyone who pulled papers during the nomination period had turned them in and qualified as of 4:25 today, Arcata City Clerk Rhea Varley told the Outpost – although the filing period officially closed at 5 p.m.
All three incumbents – Stacy Atkins-Salazar, Sarah Schaefer and Alexandra Stillman – are running for reelection.
Four others have also qualified. Their names are Gregory Daggett, Shea Freedomhowler, Dana Quillman and Genevieve Serna.
Genevieve Serna, a member of Arcata’s Transportation Safety Committee, announced her candidacy back in March. The three campaign issues listed on her website are addressing housing solutions, enhancing transportation safety and unifying Cal Poly Humboldt and Arcata’s resident communities.
It’ll be Dana Quillman’s third go for Arcata City Council. Quillman first ran in 2006, then gave it another go 15 years later in Arcata’s June 2022 special election and the November 2022 general election. From the looks of Quillman’s website – originally created to advertise her astrological service, it says – she is a COVID denier and believes that “the Gateway Area Plan is the worst thing that could happen to Arcata.”
Gregory Daggett, meanwhile, doesn’t appear to have a campaign website. That said, the Mad River Unionpoints out that he is a frequent public commenter at Arcata City Council meetings who has closely scrutinized the Gateway Area Plan.
Shea Freedomhowler doesn’t seem to have a campaign website up and running either, so we’ll just have to wait and see what it is Freedomhowler cares about.
We wanted to ask how the collapse of the deal will impact the measure given the fact that its Security National-funded backers, the Citizens for a Better Eureka, have consistently held up the now-vacant 8.3-acre Jacobs Middle School parcel as an ideal site for affordable housing development — far superior, they say, to the City of Eureka’s plans to convert a subset of downtown parking lots into apartment buildings.
Development of the Jacobs site has been a key plank of their pitch to voters. “Just imagine what is possible for Eureka,” the Citizens for a Better Eureka website says. “Envision a future where the economic vitality of Downtown is preserved, the availability of affordable homes in [sic] tripled, and the vacant Jacobs site is revitalized for family-friendly homes.”
Glossy, full-color mailers sent to Eureka residents have even included conceptual drawings of a suburban-style neighborhood development on the Jacobs site. This despite the fact that, according to both the Citizens for a Better Eureka and their deep-pocketed financier, Security National, they have absolutely no connection with AMG Communities.
Now that the AMG Communities deal has fallen through, Eureka City Schools officials say they will go back to the drawing board and bring other options for the Jacobs parcel to the district’s Board of Trustees. The last, best offer the district had received, prior to AMG’s $6 million bid, was a $4 million offer from the California Highway Patrol. The state agency hopes to build its new regional headquarters there.
So we emailed both Gail Rymer, a hired spokesperson for Security National, and Mike Munson, co-sponsor of the “Yes on Measure F” campaign to ask: Isn’t the premise of Measure F contingent the development of affordable housing on the Jacobs site?
Here are their emailed replies.
Rymer:
The Housing for All measure is not “contingent” on a private developer acquiring the Jacobs property. The Initiative would allow housing development on that property regardless of its ownership. The measure would create optionality for the property even if another public entity ultimately purchases it.
As the Initiative campaign has made clear, the City of Eureka’s plan for downtown development is flawed—the ballot measure enhances the City’s plan by providing a better alternative for affordable and market-rate housing.
Munson:
The Housing for All Initiative rezones the Jacobs site for hundreds of badly needed housing units. Nearly 3,000 Eureka voters signed petitions to put Housing for All on the ballot because of the acute housing shortage in Eureka.
Once the initiative passes, the Jacobs site will be available to become a planned, family-friendly community. Eurekas voters want this change instead of the School District’s plan to give the site to the state.
It’s unfortunate that AMG was forced to abandon its purchase. We understand this was due to the uncertainty generated by the unfounded opposition of certain City officials to our Initiative. Once the voters approve Housing for All, we expect AMG and other developers to eagerly line up to build the housing Eureka’s voters so badly want.
Best regards, Mike Munson Yes on Measure F, co-sponsor
It’s official! Eureka City Clerk Pam Powell confirmed at 4 p.m. today that four Eureka City Council nominees have officially qualified for the November ballot. These folks will be vying for two open seats in the November general election. The nomination period is now closed for all council positions.
Here’s a list of the candidates who have qualified for the race:
Ward 2 - Kati Moulton – A current Eureka City Council member and Old Town business owner. Moulton secured a seat on the council in November 2020.
Ward 2 - Kenny Carswell – A Eureka resident and project manager for Security National. Carswell has served as a Rotarian and as a member of the Humboldt County Workforce Development Board.
Ward 4 - Scott Bauer – A current Eureka City Council member and senior environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish & Wildlife. Bauer was elected to his seat on the council in November 2020.
Ward 4 - Thavisak “Lucky” Syphanthong – A Eureka resident and commercial real estate broker. Syphanthong is also the founder and owner of Eureka Skate Shop in Henderson Center and president of the Rotary Club of Eureka.
Check out the stories below to learn more about the new candidates. Check back next week for the highly anticipated launch of LoCOElections, the subsite we made for you, dear reader, to put your questions directly to the candidates in all the major races in Humboldt County.
Apparently the implosion of the Jacobs Middle School property deal between Eureka City Schools and the anonymous AMG Communities - Jacobs, LLC, won’t dissuade Security National from positively dumping money into the passage of Measure F, the “Eureka Housing for All and Downtown Vitality Initiative.”
Quite the opposite, it seems! Sometime yesterday, Security National Properties Holding Company, the real estate servicing firm founded by periodic Eureka resident Robin P. Arkley, cut a check to the “Yes on F” campaign for a whopping $285,710.98, according to a campaign finance form just uploaded to the City of Eureka’s elections website.
Add that to the $710,644.65 that the company already spent on the campaign and SN’s grand total comes to just shy of a cool mil: $996,355.63. And there are still nearly three months to go before Election Day.
On August 9, 2024, at approximately 8:36 a.m., Eureka Police Department
Officers along with personnel from Humboldt Bay Fire, were dispatched to
the report of an injury traffic collision at the intersection of Henderson and
K Streets in Eureka.
The investigation revealed a Ford Bronco was traveling on Henderson
Street when a Toyota Tacoma failed to stop at the posted stop sign on K
Street and collided with the Bronco. The Bronco then left the roadway and
came to rest in the yard of a residence adjacent to the intersection. The
driver of the Tacoma suffered minor injuries and the driver of the Bronco
suffered moderate injuries and was transported to the hospital by City
Ambulance. The residence and landscaping suffered some damage but no
injuries were sustained inside the residence.
As a result of the investigation, the driver of the Tacoma, Henry Zaragoza
(20 years old from Eureka), was arrested for Felony Driving Under of the
Influence and Driving on a Suspended License. Zaragoza was transported
and booked at the Humboldt County Jail.
The inaugural Rumble Over the Redwoods Air Show will be taking place this weekend, Saturday, August 10th and Sunday, August 11th. Times are weather dependent however as of now, the aerobatics and pyrotechnic shows are scheduled from 11am - 5:30pm.
The Tora Bomb Squad will be providing large-scale pyrotechnics at this year’s airshow. These walls of fire and explosions may appear dangerous, but rest assured that emergency personnel (ourselves included) will be present at the airshow in case of emergency.
*Central Ave. behind the airport will be CLOSED to through traffic while the airshow is happening.*
pyrotechnics
at this year’s airshow. These walls of fire and explosions may appear dangerous, but rest assured that emergency personnel (ourselves included) will be present at the airshow in case of emergency.
