COASTAL OBSERVER

With a puff of white exhaust smoke the twin-blade propeller turned over and the Georgetown County Airport turned back the clock. The SNJ-5 that rolled off the assembly line in 1943 taxied to the end of the runway with six other vintage military aircraft to join the annual Salute from the Shore.

The airport is the assembly point for the Warbirds, the historic element of the flyovers that began in 2010 as a way to honor the military on the Fourth of July. 

The SNJ-5, built as a trainer, was one of three in this year’s flight. In the lead was a T-34 Air Force trainer piloted by Tim Gause, the coordinator for the Warbirds. 

Gause, who spent 30 years in the Air Force as a pilot and forward air controller, also works out the details of the flight with the F-16s, the C-17 and, new this year, AH-64 Apache helicopters that fly in the salute.

The Warbirds fly north to Little River to join the military aircraft and fly  the state’s coastline south to Hilton Head.

“To see a million people salute is meaningful,” Gause said. “I see it personally from my cockpit.”

While the military pilots are on duty, the Warbirds are volunteers. Last year, there were only five.

“It’s hard. People don’t want to give up their Fourth of July to spend three hours in a hot airplane,” Gause said.

He sent out 100 invitations this year.

The pilots and crews spent an hour going over the route, the communication protocols and the contingencies for any aircraft that needed to pull out early.

“The folks on the beach really get a kick out of you doing wing-wags,” he said.

This year’s flight was complicated by the decision of air traffic control at Myrtle Beach International to keep the Warbirds a mile offshore. Gause was told that was to prevent conflicts with helicopter tours in Myrtle Beach.

The detour meant they would be barely visible to the crowds on the beach.

“I can’t give them the show they deserve,” he said. “It’s frustrating.”

Airports in Charleston and Hilton Head are farther from the shore and don’t have similar conflicts.

Once south of the airport, the Warbirds were able to hug the coastline. Beachgoers in Georgetown County, including DeBordieu where Gause has a second home, got the full effect, including smoke trails from his plane.

“The whole reason we do it is so people can see the airplanes,” Gause said. “The Warbirds are a symbol of those who have served.”

That’s particularly true of his own plane. It was owned by Gen. Chuck Boyd, a former Air Force fighter pilot who was shot down over Hanoi during the Vietnam War and spent 2,488 days in captivity. The late Sen. John McCain was a fellow prisoner.

The plane’s registration number N0273CB refers to Boyd’s release in February 1973. Malnutrition affected his eyesight and ended his military flying career, but he rose to the rank of four-star general. And he continued to fly.

“That’s why it means so much to me,” Gause said of the salute. “This is just a passion of mine.”

While the Warbirds fly at about 500 feet, the four S.C. National Guard Apaches flew at about 100 feet, prompting the suspension of the eight pilots for a safety review. “In military aviation, temporarily pausing flight duties during an investigation is a standard safety procedure that protects both our aircrews and the public,” the Guard said in a statement.

The suspension, which the Guard said was “non-punitive,” was lifted later in the week.