CINCINNATI — While much of the Labor Day focus in greater Cincinnati centers on fireworks, there’s another reason to look to the sky this long holiday weekend.

Airport Days at Lunken Airport takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 3 and Sunday, Sept. 4. The event celebrates vintage aircraft, military vehicles and classic cars.

Every year, a major highlight of Airport Days is historic the warbirds, or vintage aircraft used in military combat.

Admission is free but there are costs for select activities. One of those includes plane or helicopter rides with tickets available for purchase on site.

This year marks 20 years of the show.

“We aim to provide people with hands-on, visceral experience to remind them that throughout our history, young men, most of them 18 to 25, risked their lives for our freedom” said Jim Stitt, president and commander of Cincinnati Warbirds Squadron 18, the host of the event.

Founded in 1996, the organization is on a mission to preserve historic military aircraft and honor veterans.

A C-47 known as “That’s All, Brother,” is one of two iconic warbirds at the Airport Days at Lunken Airport. (Photo courtesy of Cincinnati Warbirds Squadron 18)

While there’s a lot of fun to be had, the event can also be an emotional experience, especially for veterans who saw combat action, Stitt said.

“A lot of times families will come out here with dad or grandpa, and when they see the aircraft, get in the cockpit or ride in them, they’ll start talking about their war experiences,” he said. “I’ve had families tell me that they’d never heard their loved one talk about their military experiences before, but then they see the planes and the floodgates opened.”

The stars of this year’s show are a B-25 Mitchell bomber and Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota, used most commonly for military transport.

This C-47, known as “That’s All, Brother,” served as the lead aircraft on D-Day over Normandy, France. It was one of 800 C-47s used for that mission.

The B-25 didn’t have a remarkable military history, according to Dick Knapinski, director of communications of Experimental Aircraft Association, which owns the aircraft.

Built in 1943, the aircraft primarily served in administrative functions because there was a stockpile of B-25s and a combat aircraft became a primary focus of World War II.

Instead, this plane actually made its mark on the big screen in 1970.

“It actually was an airplane used in the movie Catch 22, and that is where it got its original name, ‘Berlin Express,” Knapinski said.

Knapinski called both aircraft “flying pieces of history.”

“We’re getting to the point now where there aren’t many World War II veterans left where you can get that first person account,” he added. “These aircraft are connections for families, sometimes to their fathers, grandfathers, uncles, so forth, who actually flew these aircraft in a war and, and talks about what many people refer to as the greatest generation.”

Guests can tour the cockpits of both the C-47 and B-25 during the morning, and then rides are available in the afternoon through Monday, Sept 5, at 5 p.m. Trips on board both planes require reservations in advance. 

Guests will be able to talk to pilots and look at other vintage aircraft at Airport Days at Lunken Airport. (Photo courtesy of Cincinnati Warbirds Squadron 18)

The aircraft will provide flyovers over the Ohio River on Sunday afternoon to entertain guests waiting for the Riverfest fireworks to begin. Stitt said those will go from noon to 7:30 p.m.

Knapinski said those who go up for a ride won’t experience a ride anything like they would on a commercial trip to anywhere in the world. The government didn’t build the B-25, for example, for passenger flight.

It’ll be much louder than expected, Knapinski said of the flight. Passengers will see the aluminum, the framework, and the inner elements of the plane. They’ll “feel it” when the plane takes off and they’ll get a waft of the scent of fuel and the oil when the engine starts up.

He feels most people will get a kick out of looking out of the side of the B-25.

“It’s an experience for all of the senses. Not only the sense of flight, but that sense of history and seeing and touching and being part of something that occurred nearly 80 years ago,” Knapinski said.

Besides the warbirds, there are a wide variety of additional historic military airplanes set to make appearances. When they’re not in the air, guests get up close with each aircraft and talk to the pilots.

Beyond the vehicles, there’s a range of activities and entertainment planned for both kids and adults, Stitt said. There are plans to have several food trucks on site as well.

A patriot color guard ceremony and singing of the National Anthem takes place each day at noon.

Lunken Airport is a historic general aviation airport owned and managed by the City of Cincinnati. It’s on 1,140 acres east of downtown in Cincinnati’s Columbia-Tusculum neighborhood. 

Stitt feels it’s a fitting spot for Airport Days given all its history.

Dixie Davis established a permanent airfield at the site that is now Lunken Airport in 1925. 

Two years later, Charles Lindbergh, a 26-year-old air-mail pilot, made his historic nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean in his Ryan monoplane, the Spirit of St. Louis. Lindbergh landed at Lunken airfield to and from New York to refuel. He was mobbed by well-wishers.

Today, the airport serves corporate, private and charter aircraft.