By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Power up your riding lawn mower to full speed and forget about using the brakes or reverse. Using just the height of the blade, write your name in the yard. Nathan Hammond with GhostWriter Airshows said that's sort of how skywriting works. One of just three professional skywriters operating in the United States, that will be part of the act at this year's Great Bend Airfest
"We'll be anywhere from 9,000 to 15,000 feet, so we're way up there," Hammond said. "In fact, that's why we call the airplane GhostWriter. We're two miles high in the sky so you might not see the airplane. You might hear it, then you certainly see the smiley face or 'Airfest' just start to appear out in the middle of nowhere in the sky up there. That's the magic of it."
Hammond's father taught him how to fly, and GhostWriter Airshow is now in its 10th season of operation at airshows across the country. In a clear blue sky, Hammond will take his 1956 deHavilland Chipmunk up to 12,000 feet to create images or words in the sky. The images may be visible for 20 miles in all directions, and can travel across the state in the right conditions. The skywriting is just part of the team's act.
"Come Saturday night, we bolt on about 200 pounds of pyro onto the airplane - actually bolt fireworks onto the airplane - and then we'll be looping and rolling at night, with fireworks on, with the music playing," said Hammond. "It's going to be a party Saturday night."
The 3-part act also includes some aerobatics with Hammond flying near zero altitude at 250 miles an hour, then pushing the plane upwards to 2,000 feet in seconds before plummeting back down, resulting in G-forces from negative two to six.
Great Bend Airfest runs from Sept. 20-22. The twilight airshow on Saturday, Sept. 21 begins at 7:30 p.m. with the night airshow following at 9 p.m.