By Jonathan Berlin

Special to The Sentinel

Some of the United States' most advanced aviators graced the skies last Sunday at the annual Joint Service Open House at Andrews Air Force Base.

The GEICO Skytypers, who flew six of the 11 remaining World War II-era SNJ-2 planes, were a feature attraction for a crowd of thousands.

As loudspeakers played big-band jazz by the Glenn Miller

Orchestra, the Skytypers took off

toward the horizon in two V formations. The Skytypers returned in one six-plane V, with a clearance of as little as one foot from side to side and less than 10 feet from front to back, according to Ralph Roberts, their public affairs officer.

The two outside pilots broke downward to demonstrate close-range aerial combat, called dog fighting. For the "descending" and "belly-up" passes, they flew straight at each other and narrowly missed.

Then the soloists flew a simulated bomb run, in which they would "pop up" in the air and turn on their target, said announcer Rob Reider. Finally, the Skytypers rejoined for the "fan pass," turned on their exhaust and spread out to produce a fan-shaped trail.

Cloud cover at the altitude of 10,000 feet precluded the skytyping for which the group is most famous.

"If we don't have blue sky, we can't do skytyping," said Flight Lead Larry Arken, while signing autographs afterward. Skytyping involves several aircraft emitting a dot-matrix pattern of smoke that forms visible letters, according to the Skytypers' Web site.

The absence of skytyping did not dim World War II veteran Jerry Chenevert's joy at seeing his old SNJ-2 planes in action. As a Naval pilot during the war, he spent up to 300 hours on this model patrolling the Caribbean Sea for submarines.

"I cry when I see these planes," said Chenevert. "They were beautiful."

The Skytypers, retired military pilots themselves, experience a similar thrill while flying.

"You have to come down to the ground once in a while, for example to eat," said Skytyper Jan Wildbergh.

Larry Arken said he continues flying, despite the time away from his family during the performance season of April to October, because he enjoys the camaraderie and the crowd-pleasing.

Aside from entertainment, the air show afforded an opportunity for military families to spend valuable time together.

Cecilia Curry, a first-grade teacher for Anne Arundel County Public Schools, came with her husband and two sons, one of whom is graduating college and joining the Marines.

Curry marveled at the Skytypers' feats.

"With all the technical stuff they did, you'd think they were active duty," she said.

Chenevert traveled from Maine to be present with his son Kevin, a Glen Burnie resident. Kevin is an active member of the Patriot Guard Riders, an organization of motorcyclists who participate in military funerals to respect fallen soldiers.

Another attendee, retired soldier Reginald Whitley, of Woodbridge, Va., brought his 8-year-old son to see the Skytypers for the second time.

The Whitleys first saw the Skytypers last year in Ohio, when they stopped their car on the side of a highway to witness the spectacle.

"This time, we decided we'd get a little closer," said Whitley.

Other attendees simply come every year. Dennis Pryor, an air reserve technician at Andrews, and his wife Lisa have seen the air show for the last 15 years.

"You always see something exciting and different," they said.

The Joint Service Open House showcased the Air Force, as well as the other major and minor branches of the armed services. Along with aerial demonstrations of aircraft as diverse as steady SNJ-2s and screaming F-15s, the Open House contained ground displays of helicopters and planes, as well as Hummers and robotic vehicles.

GEICO, a Washington-based insurance company, has sponsored the Skytypers for the last four years, Roberts said. GEICO has been serving the military since the Great Depression, when one of its target customers was high-ranking, noncommissioned military officers, according to the company's Web site.

The Skytypers, based at Republic Airport in Farmingdale, N.Y., are the only existing WWII squadron flown by civilians, said Roberts. One of their main events is the annual December 7 rose-dropping over the Statue of Liberty to commemorate the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

The Skytypers carry on the tradition in honor of the Pearl Harbor survivor who started it, said Tom Daly, who flew the second plane at the air show.

"It's a quest to keep the old-time aviation alive," he added.

Photo by Marketa Ebert