Royal Canadian Air Force's Snowbirds dazzle Westmoreland air show crowd

Craig Monstrola sat in the shade beneath a military plane’s 95-foot wingspan — and watched a bit of history unfold on a seemingly unending stretch of tarmac.

Monstrola was anxious to catch the Royal Canadian Air Force make its Snowbirds pirouette in the sky Saturday above Arnold Palmer Regional Airport at the Shop ’n Save Westmoreland International Airshow 2025.

The air show returns Sunday.

The air force’s nine planes successfully pulled off its much-anticipated, mirror- pass maneuver. During that display, one airplane, flying 300 feet above the crowd, floated just a few feet away from a team member’s jet. And that second jet was upside-down.

But, for Monstrola and others, there was something more to the annual air show’s first day than that.

The retired Irwin man waxed nostalgic as he sheltered from a mid-day heat index of 85 degrees beneath the olive-green wing of that C-53 Skytrooper — the same plane in which Monstrola’s father, George, had served as a bombardier during World War II.

Monstrola, preparing to watch aerobatics Saturday with his sister Jennifer, recalled the air shows his father took him to as a child. At one Allegheny County Airport event, he said, when a cluster of B-38 bombers shot into the sky, the elder Monstrola jumped to his feet and saluted — as much a display or patriotism as a kind of muscle memory.

“This really reminds me of the Greatest Generation: we had great planes, we had great people — and nobody gave up, you know what I’m saying?” said Monstrola, 73.

The iconography of the U.S. military — and the legacies of the men and women who served it — formed part of the backbone of Saturday’s show.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and several programs it funds, held prominent placement among those connecting with air show attendees. Volunteers in the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary’s Civil Air Patrol, all sporting fatigues, directed foot traffic. And many fans came in camouflage-adorned clothing or sported baseball caps that paid tribute to their branch and era of service.

Jeff Mori immediately was brought back to his service days the moment his family business, Shanty Ridge Wood Fired Food, arrived at the Unity airport to set up this week.

“When I pulled in and I smelled that jet fuel, it took me back to those Fort Hood days,” said Mori, 60, of Youngstown, Ohio, who served in the U.S. Army in the 1980s.

While the air show wasn’t specifically staged as a veteran-friendly event, Mori and others said the military community embraced it and found themselves right at home.

“It’s like how Harley (Davidson) drivers wave to other Harley drivers, you know?” Mori laughed. “A veteran knows a veteran.”

Harley-Davidsons, though, would’ve seemed like Tinker Toys next to some of the monsters appearing Saturday afternoon.

The “Class of ’45” ignited the crowd with World War II-era Corsairs and P-51D Mustangs, the iconic single-seat aircraft crowned with an inimitable “bubble-top” canopy. Their aerobatics unfolded in stark contrast to modern warbirds on hand like the F-16.

Erik Edgren demonstrated his “deadstick routine,” where the industry star piloted through loops and cloverleaves — all without the benefit of a running engine or propulsive power. While Canadian pilots, the day one headliner, wowed those sitting along the runways, the U.S. Air Force held its own with two F-16 Viper fighters.

Then, there was the show for the taste buds.

An arsenal of vendors hawked everything from Blue Moon beer, spiked Arnold Palmer cocktails and fair staples like jumbo turkey legs and loaded fries to Dippin’ Dots ice cream, brisket sandwiches and even craft-made pickles.

Denunzio’s Restaurant, which runs locations in Jeanette and Monroeville in addition to its spot at the airport, pulled no punches. Dozens of volunteers ran four separate tents for the Pittsburgh-area Italian eatery, some serving only with beverages, some offering beverages and food.

“We are prepared for 50,000 people each day,” said Amy Templeton, Denunzio’s general manager. “And we have over 40 volunteers — family and close friends, many of whom do this year to year and really enjoy it.”

At Mori’s booth, pulled pork sandwiches reigned as king. A meal dubbed “When Pigs Fly” — an air-show-signature dish where $15 got you a melange of pulled pork, mac-and-cheese and two whole chicken wings — was doing great business, too.

“Everything’s from scratch — nothing comes from a jar and nothing we make is cooked in an oven or anything,” said Mori as he stood near a smoke-churning, wood-fired grill.

“We don’t even own a microwave,” he laughed.

There also was plenty of gear — from sunglasses and, yes, ear plugs to T-shirts being sold by Latrobe police.

In the Plane Things tent, air show attendees got their pick of niche-specific T-shirts, baseball caps and hand-sized fighter jet models.

John McDonald, who’s been working for his parent’s business since he was 6 years old, said some items sold fast, like T-shirts bearing the likeness of P-51 Mustangs, fighter-bomber planes that were put in heavy rotation during World War II and the Korean War.

“We travel wherever the air shows go,” said McDonald, 24, of Columbus, Ohio, who plans to next sell plane-related gear at an air show in Dayton, Ohio. “And it’s a lot about veterans, or a lot of people with relations to the service.

“But, yeah,” he added, “you get the airheads, too.”

Those selling water might have been Saturday’s real heroes. The temperature lingered at 82 degrees at the airport around noon, with a heat index of about 85, according to a National Weather Service meteorologist working in a Moon office. Highs for the day were expected to reach 88 degrees.

Though temperatures were high, few seemed to suffer from heat stroke, according to Shawn Penzera, a spokesman for Mutual Aid Ambulance Service. A few people sought first aid but nobody was transported to the hospital.

“They mainly just needed some shade and a place to cool down,” Penzera said.

On Sunday, the mercury is expected to keep climbing — and could hit a projected high of 92 degrees, with a heat index of 100, a meteorologist said.

The air show also will keep climbing, with parachute team demonstrations, Vampire Airshows DH-115 aerobatics and, yes, more Canadian Forces Snowbirds. The gates open Sunday at 9 a.m.