315th wins best in show at U.K. airshow

A Charleston C-17 Globemaster III and the 315th Airlift Wing's mini C-17 were popular attractions at the Yeovilton Air Day 2016 at Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton, England July 2. Nearly 40,000 people crowded into the small British Navy base in order to get peek at aircraft from all over the world. Reservists from the 315th Airlift Wing, participated in the annual air show while also bringing home the show’s top prize, the best static display award. (U.S. Air Force photo by Maj. Wayne Capps)

Published July 6, 2016
By Maj. Wayne Capps
315th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

ROYAL NAVAL AIR STATION YEOVILTON, England -- As jets thundered overhead, nearly 40,000 people crowded into the small British Navy base in order to get peek at aircraft from all over the world, including a Charleston based C-17.

Reservists from the 315th Airlift Wing, participated in the annual Yeovilton Air Day on July 2, while also bringing home the show’s top prize, the best static display award.

Along with the C-17 Globemaster III, the crew also brought the wing’s miniature C-17 replica, marking the first time the converted John Deer Gator has been out of the country. “It felt good to be recognized by the British,” said Maj. Ed Sutton, the chief of tactics with the 315th Operations Support Squadron. “They were amazing and fantastic hosts who just wanted to see what we do.”

Proving to be the most popular display at the show; for most of the day, the wait time to get a tour of the C-17 flight deck was upwards of two hours. “We didn’t mind waiting,” said Donna Speckie, one of the airshow attendees. “The C-17 is just massive and we don’t normally get to see these here in the U.K.,” she said.

For Capt. Mike Murphy, a traditional Reserve pilot with the 701st Airlift Squadron and international sales manager for Piper Aircraft, attending airshows is a common occurrence. “I attend many aviation related events worldwide, but coming as a C-17 crewmember is all about diplomacy. Several thousand people walked through our jet and the image that is imprinted in their minds is both of the magnitude of the C-17 and the crewmembers present. That image is invaluable,” he said.

But, for the C-17 crewmembers, there were multiple reasons for displaying their massive aircraft at the show. “For us, training is always important and that’s the real reason we were here,” said Sutton. “We were able to fly overseas sorties with a complicated load with over 16,000 pounds of shoring and some rolling stock vehicles.”

The entire mission was a team effort according to Capt. Murphy. “Kudos to our loadmasters and crew chiefs; they were able to take a two day off-station training mission and compliment our static display with the mini C-17 in order to win the show’s top prize.”

“Everyone worked hard this weekend,” said Chief Master Sgt. Ben Alexander, 701 AS chief loadmaster. “The effort everyone put in to making this show a success made it worth while.”