Wings over Batavia 2026

I think the thing that amuses me about airshows over sportscar races is the carnival nature of it. Sportscar races generally happen at a purpose-built facility where there is a designated place for concessions, hospitality, and viewing areas. Most airshows happen in a field or on tarmac directly adjacent to a runway that for the other 360-some-odd days of the year is off limits to most. Food trucks go… vaguely gestures …over there, because “that seems like a good place for them”. There’s realistically no “best” place to sit because the surroundings are flat and barren. While there’s generally something entertaining going on most of the time, it’s not always as constant or captivating as the consistency of an endurance race. There will be 10-15min pockets of pure adrenaline followed by a prolonged interval between demonstrations. Waiting in line for a half-hour for a $20 ice cream cone isn’t just something to do to pass the time, it almost feels like a necessity.

Am I saying I prefer the airshow experience over endurance sportscar racing? Absolutely not. I personally love getting lost in the grove, the consistency, the monotony, of an endurance race - the longer the race is, the more creative I usually feel. But there is something special about airshows… I think it’s the absurdity of them. When you really start to unpack everything that’s going on, it’s an illogical exercise in logistics. The majority of the spectators -the vast percentage that aren’t aviation nerds- tend to be a community of local strangers gathering in an impractical place because… why not?

Sportscars races are a traveling circus in nearly the most literal sense. Airshows are a festival rather than a tour. Sure there are certain acts that travel from show to show, but it’s not necessarily as organized or scripted.

If there’s one thing I’ve been both struggling with and working on most this past racing season, it’s seeing racing for the bigger picture of it. Heading into this last stretch of four consecutive race weeks in a row, two of which being large endurance grand finales, I’m glad I had the chance to take in the obscurity of a small-town airshow beforehand.