A breathtaking century of flight will be on display when the Cleveland National Air Show returns to the skies over Northeast Ohio.
The annual affair — taking place Sept. 5, 6 and 7 at Burke Lakefront Airport — boasts the return of headliners the U.S. Navy Blue Angels joined by the U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor Demonstration and U.S. Army Golden Knights Parachute Team.
Also making a Cleveland National Air Show debut are the NextGen Eagles Aerobatic Team, Kyle Fowler in his Rutan Long-EZ performing aerobatics and RJ Gritter with his patriotic red, white and blue Decathlon.
Then there’s Susan Dacy, a retired American Airlines International 787 Dreamliner captain with more than 39,000 hours logged, who brings her Super Stearman “Big Red” to the skies of Northeast Ohio.
“Flying commercially for many years, oftentimes I spent layovers in Cleveland and thoroughly enjoyed it,” said Dacy, calling from her home in Harvard, Illinois. “I’m so thrilled to be coming back to see it once again.”
The two flying experiences for Dacy couldn’t be any more different, beginning with the rush of air felt in her face.
The 787 Dreamliner boasts a wingspan of more than 197 feet while “Big Red” is a mid-20th-century biplane that’s been upgraded with a 450-horsepower engine and inverted fuel and oil modifications.
“Flying is flying, but certainly I’ve always loved general aviation, owning along the way various different aircraft,” she said. “Of course, I’d go to my airline trip and then oftentimes come home and work on the other airplanes and certainly fly them.
“I’m just so thrilled that I got to do that, fulfilled that dream. And then, of course, flying commercially for the airline, I looked at it like best of both worlds. I love both.”
Raised in Rockford, Illinois, you could say Dacy grew up with flying in her blood. Not only was her father an aircraft mechanic, but he also started his own airport, which acted as her home.
“I grew up around it,” she said. “I really do know how fortunate I am to have been right in the midst of it. At the time, I probably just took it for granted.”
At a young age, Dacy was enthralled by the loud and smoky biplanes roaring doing loops and rolls through the air.
These days, that’s exactly how the pilot entertains air show audiences flying “Big Red,” which started out as a World War II trainer plane.
Now, she flies the modified biplane through barrel rolls, slow rolls and Cuban eights in a style reminiscent of the barnstorming era.
“It takes people back to what aviation was way back when,” she said. “It’s a fun contrast to the really highly maneuverable and modern airplanes with the high horsepower allowing them to go vertical and do such fantastic things. So it’s really fun, the mix of it.”
Appearing at more than a half dozen air shows annually, Dacy, speaking from her own experience more than a half-century ago, acknowledges her flying may be inspiring the next generation of pilots.
“That’s very important to me,” she said. “You think sometimes you have to make a big impression, but, amazingly, it can be the smallest bit of information you pass along that can really spark something in someone.
“So I make sure that I listen and I love to share. It’s really interesting with the questions that the young folks do have. I treasure all of those moments and memories.”