Spring is in full force, and it always brings with it the crackling roar of aircraft overhead signaling the arrival of pilots participating in the Barksdale Defenders of Liberty Air Show. The 2015 open house and show will begin at 11 a.m. May 2 and 3 at Barksdale Air Force Base and is presented in partnership with the Shreveport Bossier Military Affairs Council.  

The show will include performances by The Golden Knights Army Parachute Team and aerobatic stunt flights by Kevin Coleman (Extra 300SHP), Randy Ball (MiG17) and Mike Goulian (A-26B Lady Liberty). Headlining this year’s event is the U.S. Navy Blue Angels returning for another year.

Terri Hensley owns Advance Awards and Gifts in Bossier City, which is very close to the flight line. 

“My favorite moment each year,” she said, “is when I hear the first rumble in the sky – it’s so different from the scream of a B-52 – indicating there’s some new swagger in town. Our production drops dramatically while they perform the practice run on Friday before the air show weekend.”  

Hensley said even though she knows what’s coming, she still gets chills every single time. “During the actual air show performance, when the Blue Angels are here, they perform the ‘missing man’ formation down the flight line with a hole in their line. The missing pilot comes in low right across our building to come up from behind the crowd and roar across the flight line to great cheers from the crowd. It’s sexy and exciting, I tell you!”

Lt. Col. Scott Bussanmas, air show director, agrees. He said the event is Barksdale’s largest and most popular event. “It is the best tool Team Barksdale has to display the pride we have in what we do, to educate civilians on the vital missions we accomplish for this country,” he said.  

While Barksdale’s air show is a favorite with local spectators, the air base itself enriches North Louisiana in many ways.  “Barksdale Air Force Base is one of the largest employers in the Bossier/Shreveport area,” Bussanmas said. “The air show provides us an opportunity to say ‘thank you’ and to give taxpayers a chance to see what their hard earned money does to support national defense.”

“Airmen have lived and raised children in this community for nearly a century,” Bussanmas said.  “Starting as early as 1924, local citizens started lobbying for a military field. Construction finally began in 1931 on what was, at the time, the world’s largest airfield.”

Bill McHugh is a retired B-52 pilot who is now with the Shreveport Bossier Military Affairs Council and is executive director of the air show. McHugh said the Barksdale Defenders of Liberty Show is one of the nicest air shows in the world. 

“This is a gem that people don’t realize is world-class, simply because many people who come to our show have never been to another one. Community involvement has made this show better,” McHugh said. “The Military Affairs Council helps raise money in the community to help defray some of the costs.” 

McHugh said the military presents the event in part as a recruitment tool but that it goes much deeper than that. “What they’re really doing is recruiting 6-year-olds,” he said, laughing. “My favorite part of the show is to see all the smiles on the kids’ faces.”

Many of the men and women performing in the air show or living and working at Barksdale Air Force base were once spectators themselves. “I like seeing adults out there just enjoying what they’re seeing, especially older veterans, but these air shows build careers and they build lives. Children see the planes flying, and the people in uniform and say, ‘I want to do that.’”

Bussanmas said he was one of those children whose destiny was ultimately shaped because of an air show, and he is still moved by that child-like amazement that extends well into adulthood.  

“I love the noise of the jet aircraft flying overhead,” he said. “I love the amazing things that the civilian aerobatic pilots can do with their aircraft and the nostalgia that comes from watching World War II era fighters and bombers do their shows. I also love to see little kids staring up at the sky in awe as all these pilots conduct their shows. It always takes me back to why I am a pilot in the U.S. Air Force. My parents took me to an air show when I was probably 10-years-old. When I saw all the planes rolling and looping through the sky, I decided that’s what I wanted to do with my life. I’ve been lucky enough to fulfill that dream.”

Some of the children who catch the flying bug at an early age take it into the private sector. Kevin Coleman is a professional air show pilot who grew up in an aviation family. His father, local physician Wyche Coleman Jr., started flying in air shows in 1986 so Coleman attended his first air show and flew in a plane when he was just 6-weeks-old. He started taking “real lessons” and flying aerobatics when he was only 10-years-old. Now at 24, Coleman has already done about 60 shows in six years.  

Coleman flies an Extra300SHP plane that weighs about 1,200 pounds and has 400 horsepower that was built in Germany.  “It’s the NASCAR of the sky,” he said. “It’s only built to do air shows and aerobatics.”

Maneuvering that plane into air show stunts is no walk in the park. “An airplane is rated certified for 10 positive and 10 negative G's,” Coleman said. “G’s are gravity. Sitting at your desk you have one G so in the plane it is 10 times your body weight. That means 1,000 pounds are pushing down on you. The entire flight you’re flexing your muscles to increase blood flow to your brain. On top of that, it’s 140 degrees in the plane. When you land, it’s like you’ve been in the plane with Mike Tyson.”   

Even so, Coleman said he flies every single day, and he’s anxious to get that helmet on. “That’s what I have to do to be at this level,” he said. “Every time I get strapped in I smile.”  

Another gratifying aspect of flying these air shows is that Coleman is now friends with and performing with pilots that were his heroes when he was a child. “I’ve grown up watching Michael Goulian fly, and now he’s one of my coaches and best friends. And Marion Cole, who passed away in 2011, he lived in Shreveport and was one of the most famous American and world aviators in history. In fact, my family established the Marion Cole Memorial Scholarship in his memory, which awards a scholarship once a year to provide financial assistance to kids who want to learn to fly.” 

With an event this size on a major Air Force base (with very little shade), safety is a top priority, and Bussanmas offered some tips to visitors.  

“Stay hydrated and wear sunscreen,” he said. “The second thing is to please have patience. There will be a wait to get into the show. We encourage people to park at Bossier Parish Community College and catch a SPORTRAN bus, which will have expedited access to the air show and will drop people off right at the screening tents at the edge of the spectator area.” 

Additionally, visitors are asked not to bring coolers, backpacks or other large bags with them. Of course, anything that can be used as a weapon will not be allowed through the gates.  

McHugh said that for the staff at Barksdale, even amidst all the fun and awe, security is the No. 1 priority. “We open the gates of a military base and you have to consider that 60,000 to 70,000 people will be wandering around out there on a ramp that is generally secure. Normally, you would be arrested if you were standing on that piece of concrete, but on Saturday and Sunday, visitors will be welcome to walk around and touch things. And the base wants it to be open, so that the local population can meet the people who defend our country.”

“In general, putting on that air show and opening the base is a tremendous amount of work for the people on the base,” McHugh said. “It is also not their regular job. These folks go above and beyond to make sure that everything goes as smoothly as possible and it is very rewarding for them. That ramp out there that people are walking on is where we normally park our planes. It’s where we sometimes launch combat. I want people to know what a hard job these people do on a daily basis and remember them. It’s their chance to show what they have built.”

The show is open to the public with free admission and parking. Bus transportation will be available from BPCC. Go to www.barksdaleafbairshow.com.