Thunder Over The Basin!

June 21, 2008

Klamath Air Show 2008, presented by Pacific Crest Federal Credit Union and organized by the Klamath County Chamber of Commerce, flew in to Klamath on June 21st. The event was the first air show in Klamath County since 2000 and featured aerial performances by the USAF Thunderbirds, John Klatt, Bill Stein, Kent Pietsch, Tim Decker and David Erickson. Paid attendance was nearly 13,000 and close to 20,000 people watched the show from the Klamath Falls Airport event site.

While the cool and windy weather affected total attendance, the performers wowed the crowd with a variety of daring maneuvers and precision flying. On the ground; Paul Stender's Dodge Jet Truck and Jet Powered Outhouse were favorites and the Mad Bomber pyrotechnics show, featuring a 1000 foot wall of flame, brought cheers from the crowd. The day's performances ended with the USAF Thunderbirds streaking across the sky in their famous diamond formation as they thundered through a rousing performance and awed the crowd with wing tip to wing tip flying.

Economic impact from the show will be the subject of a follow up survey by the Chamber of Commerce and the hope is to get a good idea of the overall economic impact the air show had on Klamath County. "Our Board viewed this event as a shot in the arm for the community's economic health and worked very hard to maximize the ability of local businesses to profit from the event," said Chamber President, Darin Rutledge. He added, "In the beginning of our planning we were focused on helping fund our part of the South Portal Project but as the economy slowed our focus shifted to helping businesses in the community meet their goals and creating an event that had a positive regional impact."

Klamath Air Show 2008 was attended by people from all over the Pacific Northwest and Northern California. "We had visitors from Portland, Crescent City, Redding, Medford, San Francisco, Coos Bay, Albany and all points beyond," said Amanda Blodgett, Chamber Program Director. "It was very exciting, we were contacted from as far away as Italy for information about the show," she added.

The Chamber worked with dozens of organizations and agencies to bring the show to Klamath. Nearly 60 volunteers worked for over 6 months on planning for the show and as many as 300 volunteers helped during the day of the event. Food service was provided by local restaurants and catering companies. "We think the community really appreciated the efforts of all our volunteers and local businesses to bring the show to life after nearly eight years," said Charles Massie, Chamber Executive Director. He went on to say, "An event like this requires tremendous dedication by everyone involved and we were thrilled with all the help we got from the community."