August 17, 2025 • 11 mins
Mindy and Mikaela speak with Herb Gillen the Air Show Director and do a giveaway for callers!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
And only but a goody. Well, I'm leaveven on a
jet plane. I don't know when I'll be back again.
You know that.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I can't believe that who sings it?
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Though?
Speaker 3 (00:15):
I couldn't tell you to sing it? But like, yeah,
but who sings it?
Speaker 4 (00:18):
Well?
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Babe, I hate to go. I don't know, Christy know
who sings that?
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Well? Leave our guest might know plane?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Okay, look, yeah, so Herb Gillan, the air show director
for the Columbus Air Show. We didn't know we were
going to do that. Her do you know who sings
that song?
Speaker 3 (00:36):
By any chance?
Speaker 1 (00:37):
John Denver?
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Okay, Herb, can you hear us?
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Herb? Can you hear We can hear you?
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Now we cannot, Herb.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Can you hear us?
Speaker 4 (00:52):
I can hear you?
Speaker 1 (00:55):
He's like, what is going on? Could you hear us
singing I'm leaving on a jet plane?
Speaker 4 (01:00):
Do you think I hung up or something?
Speaker 1 (01:02):
We did?
Speaker 2 (01:03):
We really thought that was it, and she was discovering
that it's John Denver and it is it's a John
Denver's song.
Speaker 4 (01:09):
Yeah, well that's a great trivia question there.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
It is.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
We're not promising trivia in the segment, but Herb the
Columbus Air Show.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
You're the air show director. Thanks so much for coming
on the show today.
Speaker 4 (01:21):
Hey, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
So what's going to be at this year's show that
maybe hasn't been in the past, Like, why is this
show so cool this year?
Speaker 4 (01:29):
Well, I'll start with what has been there. The US
Navy Blue Angels are headliners. So that's what everybody wants
to know, is you know who's your headliner. So but
beyond that, we've got Navy Week. The United States Navy
has declared Navy Week in Columbus, which is is really
kind of rare that the Midwest doesn't get a lot
(01:50):
of those. So we have quite a bit of Navy
assets that will be at the show. The US Navy
F thirty five Lightning two demo team. We have a
big display that's like one hundred x forty trailer with
a lot of interactive stuff called Strikeforce. There'll be a
big Navy P eight aircraft that's on static display. We
(02:16):
have a lot of military this year, which is I
think probably the most military aircraft we've had at one show.
In addition to what I already mentioned, we also have
the United States Air Force F thirty five lightning. We
have the F sixteen viper demo. Of course, our own
Ohio air National Guard CASEY one thirty five will be flying.
(02:40):
So just just a ton of military assets. Also a
lot of displays that people can go up, walk through,
talk to the crews. You know a lot of aircraft
are coming to Columbus, Ohio this week.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
You know, I want to go back to Navy and
the demo that you were talking about. How does the
Navy demo from the ground, how.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Are you taking because typically aren't they going off like
an aircraft carrier or something like that, or am I wrong?
Speaker 4 (03:08):
These are carrier capable aircraft that will be flying. They
can also take off on our runways here at Rickenbacker,
but they'll be putting their airplanes through and showing what
some of those capabilities are that they use. As a naval.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
Aviator, I always Meanty, I'm always impressed by naval lady
aviators because herb don't like, don't you get hooked when
you land? Don't they like hook the plane to keep
it on the aircraft carrier normally.
Speaker 4 (03:37):
Or something like that. Yeah, carrier landing, they've got to
practice those. It's sometimes they'll have to do them. I'm
hitching decks and in storms and at night. So I've
heard some pretty harrowing tails from some of these guys
and gals that have had to do that.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Oh incredible precision to be so exact. Do you talk
about talent and skill? My gosh, it's so impressive.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
And mindy, you are well familiar with the Blue Angels.
I don't think you ever rode with him though, did
you Anitra Hamper? Did I remember when she did that?
Speaker 1 (04:11):
I did not, but I would. I mean that would
be something that is breathtaking and that is always a
fan favorite, is it not her?
Speaker 4 (04:20):
Well? Absolutely? The Blue Angels are probably the number one
popular demo team in all the world.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Why is that? Is that because they just do so much?
Speaker 4 (04:31):
Well, yeah, you know this iconic blue and gold F
eighteen super hornets that they'll get eighteen inches apart. That's
how close they'll be. They'll go up to seven hundred
miles an hour. You know. I think some of it
goes back to the movie Top Gun and how you
know that was probably the best sales job that the
(04:57):
Navy ever got for recruiting. And speaking of Top Gun,
we are going to have Mavericks an Iceland at the
show this year.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Have you had them before and now we have?
Speaker 4 (05:11):
Yeah, They've become very popular. And if you haven't seen,
these guys are like the spitting image. They have all
the mannerisms. You know, they'll sing you lost that loving feeling,
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
How fun. So they just travel around the country and
go to different air shows. How fun is that?
Speaker 4 (05:30):
What a great gig it is. They sort of got
into it accidentally. I think people kept telling them, oh,
you look like you know what you look like? And
they started saying, you know, maybe there's something to this.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
I love Hey, you know what, let me tell you something.
Herb and YouTube Mikayla I just looked this up because
we were talking about the Blue Angels and this is
just we were talking about how daring they are and
eighteen inches, you know, so close together. Twenty six pilots
and one crew member have died in crashes with the
Blue Angels, and the first fatality occurred all the way
back in nineteen forty six. So I think it's just
(06:04):
intriguing for people to see what could happen or just
what they do up there, because.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
The training here to be right, it's just crazy right,
and I actually all the twenty six pilots have died. No,
I don't. I don't think I did either. There's and
I think there's multip Are there multiple teams around the
world at any time, herb or is there just a few?
Like how does that work?
Speaker 4 (06:25):
Well, there's just one Blue Angels team, but there are
other jet teams. Of course. The United States Air Force
has the Thunderbirds who were here in Commerce last year,
but a lot of different nations have jet teams. None
of them are nearly as popular or I think as
dynamic as the Angels.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
So what you know when it comes to crowds, what
type of people typically come to the air show? Like
do you is there a lot of aviation enthusiasts or
do you see families? Like what's kind of the typical
audience if you will at the air show?
Speaker 4 (06:58):
You know, that's that's a great question. And we get
a little bit of the aviation fans for sure will come,
but a big part of it is families and a
lot of people have never been to an air show,
especially here in Columbus, since this is only our third
year having a show. After there was a long long
time when we didn't have a show, so we get
a lot of families and kids fifteen and under get
(07:21):
into our show for free, so we really try to
encourage to bring the kids. It's a family friendly event.
We have a STEM area that's got over forty different
hands on STEM and aviation exploration activities is presented by
net Jets in the house. State University Aviation School helps
(07:44):
to run that, so you know, there's some education component
to it, but there's also fun stuff to do. We
have a kid's own play area with bounce houses and
things like that, and of course kids love being able
to climb through aircraft and get to meet pilot and
things like that.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
You know what I bet happens in so many of
these little kids' lives and minds. They probably look at
these pilots in the air and what they're seeing. And
I've met several of them think, you know what, I
want to do that when I grow up, I want to.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
Fly one of those absolutely, And I actually I hear
it from almost every year when I talk to some
of these pilots from the Blue Angels know how'd you
get into this? And they said, hey, I started righting
the shows about you know, at this layer show or
that air show when I was little and my dad
or my grandpa or somebody took me and I said,
(08:35):
I want to do that, you know, and aviation is
really it's so inspirational that it just kind of like
people are still just amazing the Saints can fly, you know.
It's kind of a metaphor for life, truly.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
So we are going to give away two family four
packs of tickets. Here in a second, Herb tell everybody
what days the air show is and where it's located.
Just kind of go over all that before we do that.
Speaker 4 (08:58):
Yeah, the show is coming up this Friday, Saturday, and
Sunday at Rickenbacker International Airport with US Navy Blue Angels.
A lot of our premium seating areas have sold out.
There are still general admission tickets that are available. You
can go to Columbus Airshow dot com to get your
tickets and get all the information you need for the show.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Perfect. We're gonna give the number out again and we
are going to give away two family four packs. We're
so glad her that you joined us on the air,
and we're so glad you got to hear us sing
because we have the best voices in Central Ohio. For sure.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
We are not getting hired by any events.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
To go see I'm gonna go call us John, Yeah, exactly,
call us up and win those tickets. Six one four, eight,
two one nine, eight eighty six, six one four eight
two one nine eighty six. Remember it's a family friendly event,
and who knows, maybe your son or daughter will grow
up wanting to be in the sky.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
Yeah, and I love this fifteen and under free right,
So we're giving away four packs so you could take,
you know, for adults, and then bring bring the kids
that are at that age. I didn't know that, Herb.
I think that's a fantastic thing to have going.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
Yeah, it's been real popular, and I you know, we
our company produces and market shows around the country, and
not all of them do that. But we really wanted
to push to have a young crowd. The Columbus Airport
Authority that are partners in this, they they wanted to
make sure that we had a lot of families and kids,
and so it's been very popular.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
Six one four, two one nine eighty six six and
four A two one WTVN. We're up against a break Herbs.
We'll get the winners afterwards, but tell everybody where they
can go to get tickets. If they're not the winner today.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
You can go to Columbus Airshow dot com for tickets.
All the information he needs right there. It's going to
be a great show this week in US Navy, blue
Angels and a giant lineup.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Awesome, Herb, thanks so much for joining us this afternoon.
Speaker 4 (10:57):
Hey, thanks so much for having me. You take care too.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
This is what Matters on six' TEN wtvn
And only but a goody. Well, I'm leaveven on a
jet plane. I don't know when I'll be back again.
You know that.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I can't believe that who sings it?
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Though?
Speaker 3 (00:15):
I couldn't tell you to sing it? But like, yeah,
but who sings it?
Speaker 4 (00:18):
Well?
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Babe, I hate to go. I don't know, Christy know
who sings that?
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Well? Leave our guest might know plane?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Okay, look, yeah, so Herb Gillan, the air show director
for the Columbus Air Show. We didn't know we were
going to do that. Her do you know who sings
that song?
Speaker 3 (00:36):
By any chance?
Speaker 1 (00:37):
John Denver?
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Okay, Herb, can you hear us?
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Herb? Can you hear We can hear you?
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Now we cannot, Herb.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Can you hear us?
Speaker 4 (00:52):
I can hear you?
Speaker 1 (00:55):
He's like, what is going on? Could you hear us
singing I'm leaving on a jet plane?
Speaker 4 (01:00):
Do you think I hung up or something?
Speaker 1 (01:02):
We did?
Speaker 2 (01:03):
We really thought that was it, and she was discovering
that it's John Denver and it is it's a John
Denver's song.
Speaker 4 (01:09):
Yeah, well that's a great trivia question there.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
It is.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
We're not promising trivia in the segment, but Herb the
Columbus Air Show.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
You're the air show director. Thanks so much for coming
on the show today.
Speaker 4 (01:21):
Hey, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
So what's going to be at this year's show that
maybe hasn't been in the past, Like, why is this
show so cool this year?
Speaker 4 (01:29):
Well, I'll start with what has been there. The US
Navy Blue Angels are headliners. So that's what everybody wants
to know, is you know who's your headliner. So but
beyond that, we've got Navy Week. The United States Navy
has declared Navy Week in Columbus, which is is really
kind of rare that the Midwest doesn't get a lot
(01:50):
of those. So we have quite a bit of Navy
assets that will be at the show. The US Navy
F thirty five Lightning two demo team. We have a
big display that's like one hundred x forty trailer with
a lot of interactive stuff called Strikeforce. There'll be a
big Navy P eight aircraft that's on static display. We
(02:16):
have a lot of military this year, which is I
think probably the most military aircraft we've had at one show.
In addition to what I already mentioned, we also have
the United States Air Force F thirty five lightning. We
have the F sixteen viper demo. Of course, our own
Ohio air National Guard CASEY one thirty five will be flying.
(02:40):
So just just a ton of military assets. Also a
lot of displays that people can go up, walk through,
talk to the crews. You know a lot of aircraft
are coming to Columbus, Ohio this week.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
You know, I want to go back to Navy and
the demo that you were talking about. How does the
Navy demo from the ground, how.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Are you taking because typically aren't they going off like
an aircraft carrier or something like that, or am I wrong?
Speaker 4 (03:08):
These are carrier capable aircraft that will be flying. They
can also take off on our runways here at Rickenbacker,
but they'll be putting their airplanes through and showing what
some of those capabilities are that they use. As a naval.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
Aviator, I always Meanty, I'm always impressed by naval lady
aviators because herb don't like, don't you get hooked when
you land? Don't they like hook the plane to keep
it on the aircraft carrier normally.
Speaker 4 (03:37):
Or something like that. Yeah, carrier landing, they've got to
practice those. It's sometimes they'll have to do them. I'm
hitching decks and in storms and at night. So I've
heard some pretty harrowing tails from some of these guys
and gals that have had to do that.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Oh incredible precision to be so exact. Do you talk
about talent and skill? My gosh, it's so impressive.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
And mindy, you are well familiar with the Blue Angels.
I don't think you ever rode with him though, did
you Anitra Hamper? Did I remember when she did that?
Speaker 1 (04:11):
I did not, but I would. I mean that would
be something that is breathtaking and that is always a
fan favorite, is it not her?
Speaker 4 (04:20):
Well? Absolutely? The Blue Angels are probably the number one
popular demo team in all the world.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Why is that? Is that because they just do so much?
Speaker 4 (04:31):
Well, yeah, you know this iconic blue and gold F
eighteen super hornets that they'll get eighteen inches apart. That's
how close they'll be. They'll go up to seven hundred
miles an hour. You know. I think some of it
goes back to the movie Top Gun and how you
know that was probably the best sales job that the
(04:57):
Navy ever got for recruiting. And speaking of Top Gun,
we are going to have Mavericks an Iceland at the
show this year.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Have you had them before and now we have?
Speaker 4 (05:11):
Yeah, They've become very popular. And if you haven't seen,
these guys are like the spitting image. They have all
the mannerisms. You know, they'll sing you lost that loving feeling,
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
How fun. So they just travel around the country and
go to different air shows. How fun is that?
Speaker 4 (05:30):
What a great gig it is. They sort of got
into it accidentally. I think people kept telling them, oh,
you look like you know what you look like? And
they started saying, you know, maybe there's something to this.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
I love Hey, you know what, let me tell you something.
Herb and YouTube Mikayla I just looked this up because
we were talking about the Blue Angels and this is
just we were talking about how daring they are and
eighteen inches, you know, so close together. Twenty six pilots
and one crew member have died in crashes with the
Blue Angels, and the first fatality occurred all the way
back in nineteen forty six. So I think it's just
(06:04):
intriguing for people to see what could happen or just
what they do up there, because.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
The training here to be right, it's just crazy right,
and I actually all the twenty six pilots have died. No,
I don't. I don't think I did either. There's and
I think there's multip Are there multiple teams around the
world at any time, herb or is there just a few?
Like how does that work?
Speaker 4 (06:25):
Well, there's just one Blue Angels team, but there are
other jet teams. Of course. The United States Air Force
has the Thunderbirds who were here in Commerce last year,
but a lot of different nations have jet teams. None
of them are nearly as popular or I think as
dynamic as the Angels.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
So what you know when it comes to crowds, what
type of people typically come to the air show? Like
do you is there a lot of aviation enthusiasts or
do you see families? Like what's kind of the typical
audience if you will at the air show?
Speaker 4 (06:58):
You know, that's that's a great question. And we get
a little bit of the aviation fans for sure will come,
but a big part of it is families and a
lot of people have never been to an air show,
especially here in Columbus, since this is only our third
year having a show. After there was a long long
time when we didn't have a show, so we get
a lot of families and kids fifteen and under get
(07:21):
into our show for free, so we really try to
encourage to bring the kids. It's a family friendly event.
We have a STEM area that's got over forty different
hands on STEM and aviation exploration activities is presented by
net Jets in the house. State University Aviation School helps
(07:44):
to run that, so you know, there's some education component
to it, but there's also fun stuff to do. We
have a kid's own play area with bounce houses and
things like that, and of course kids love being able
to climb through aircraft and get to meet pilot and
things like that.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
You know what I bet happens in so many of
these little kids' lives and minds. They probably look at
these pilots in the air and what they're seeing. And
I've met several of them think, you know what, I
want to do that when I grow up, I want to.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
Fly one of those absolutely, And I actually I hear
it from almost every year when I talk to some
of these pilots from the Blue Angels know how'd you
get into this? And they said, hey, I started righting
the shows about you know, at this layer show or
that air show when I was little and my dad
or my grandpa or somebody took me and I said,
(08:35):
I want to do that, you know, and aviation is
really it's so inspirational that it just kind of like
people are still just amazing the Saints can fly, you know.
It's kind of a metaphor for life, truly.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
So we are going to give away two family four
packs of tickets. Here in a second, Herb tell everybody
what days the air show is and where it's located.
Just kind of go over all that before we do that.
Speaker 4 (08:58):
Yeah, the show is coming up this Friday, Saturday, and
Sunday at Rickenbacker International Airport with US Navy Blue Angels.
A lot of our premium seating areas have sold out.
There are still general admission tickets that are available. You
can go to Columbus Airshow dot com to get your
tickets and get all the information you need for the show.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Perfect. We're gonna give the number out again and we
are going to give away two family four packs. We're
so glad her that you joined us on the air,
and we're so glad you got to hear us sing
because we have the best voices in Central Ohio. For sure.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
We are not getting hired by any events.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
To go see I'm gonna go call us John, Yeah, exactly,
call us up and win those tickets. Six one four, eight,
two one nine, eight eighty six, six one four eight
two one nine eighty six. Remember it's a family friendly event,
and who knows, maybe your son or daughter will grow
up wanting to be in the sky.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
Yeah, and I love this fifteen and under free right,
So we're giving away four packs so you could take,
you know, for adults, and then bring bring the kids
that are at that age. I didn't know that, Herb.
I think that's a fantastic thing to have going.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
Yeah, it's been real popular, and I you know, we
our company produces and market shows around the country, and
not all of them do that. But we really wanted
to push to have a young crowd. The Columbus Airport
Authority that are partners in this, they they wanted to
make sure that we had a lot of families and kids,
and so it's been very popular.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
Six one four, two one nine eighty six six and
four A two one WTVN. We're up against a break Herbs.
We'll get the winners afterwards, but tell everybody where they
can go to get tickets. If they're not the winner today.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
You can go to Columbus Airshow dot com for tickets.
All the information he needs right there. It's going to
be a great show this week in US Navy, blue
Angels and a giant lineup.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Awesome, Herb, thanks so much for joining us this afternoon.
Speaker 4 (10:57):
Hey, thanks so much for having me. You take care too.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
This is what Matters on six' TEN wtvn
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