Keeping the Moses Lake airshow alive

MOSES LAKE — She’s been described as “the best female stunt pilot in the industry.”

But Vicki Benzing hasn’t been doing much stunt flying lately. Like most other big public events in the age of COVID-19, airshows have been canceled too, leaving Benzing with time on her hands.

Because even in California, where Benzing lives, flying was allowed when Gov. Gavin Newsom issued his “shelter in place” order.

“Every airshow has been canceled, except for two,” she told the Columbia Basin Herald. “I’ve done a lot more recreational flying, and I continue to practice.”

Benzing said she and her husband moved to Monterey this spring, she is doing some improvements to her hangar space, and she bought an old P-51 Mustang that she is restoring and hoping to get approved for airshow flying next year.

She flew her vintage 1940 Boeing Stearman biplane, used by the U.S. Army as a training plane, at last year’s Moses Lake Airshow, and was scheduled to return this year. But the airshow, which was supposed to have been last weekend, was canceled. And that left organizers and performers in a bit of a quandary. How do you keep the excitement and enthusiasm for an airshow going when there can’t actually be an airshow?

Shannon DeSouza, a sales and marketing strategist in charge of promoting the Moses Lake Airshow, decided to create a series of half-hour, behind-the-scenes interviews aired live on the airshow’s Facebook page every Wednesday at 1 p.m.

“We’re keeping the spirit of aviation alive,” DeSouza said. “We’re keeping the conversation going.”

DeSouza said event organizers have planned six episodes of “Aviation Unfiltered” as well as contests including a T-shirt giveaway.

“The reception from the community is outstanding, and we’ve gotten a lot of notice from around the world for Moses Lake,” DeSouza said. “We’re hoping to get on the map, and make Moses Lake a destination.”

In addition, DeSouza said the airshow has launched its own TikTok site to post short videos promoting aviation.

Interviewees on “Aviation Unfiltered” so far have included scheduled performers Benzing, mini-jet pilot Tom Larkin and Sgt. First Class Shelly Bixler, a parachutist with the U.S. Army’s Black Daggers parachute team. In addition, DeSouza and her co-host Derek Allen have also interviewed Maj. Josh Gunderson, commander of the U.S. Air Force’s F-22 demonstration team, and Capt. Kristin Wolf, commander of the Air Force’s F-35 demonstration team.

While neither Air Force team was scheduled to perform this year in Moses Lake, show organizer Terry Quick said Moses Lake is “on the short list” for the U.S. Air Force’s Thunderbirds acrobatic team and the Royal Canadian Air Force’s Snowbirds.

In fact, given the interest that appears to be developing in the Moses Lake Airshow, Quick said he believes “we’re becoming a priority” with the U.S. Air Force.

To promote both the show and Moses Lake, Quick said some ideas he said show organizers have been considering are a series of online videos showing young people what it takes to become a pilot, or even some version of the Federal Aviation Administration’s ground school that might direct interested people to Big Bend Community College’s aviation programs.

And he has moved on to organizing next year’s airshow, which is set for June 18-19, 2021.

“I’m really pretty busy,” he said.

But what the pilots say they miss even more than the flying itself is being with the crowds of spectators at airshows and talking about planes and flying, helping cultivate interest and maybe even fostering future aviators.

“I miss it,” Larkin said during his “Aviation Unfiltered” interview. “I miss it so bad it’s crazy.”

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.