The National Warplane Museum in Geneseo, New York is one of the most enjoyable and relaxing places in North America to spend the day, or the weekend, at an airshow. Known as "The Greatest Show on Turf," the airshow attracts many assorted warbirds from the US and Canada and never fails to impress! If you're looking for something to do on a warm July weekend during the summer, there's no better place to relax and watch airplanes than on the gorgeous grass strip down in the valley at Geneseo.

Though the airshow doesn't officially start until Saturday, spending the day at the airport watching arrivals is a great way to spend a day skipping work or school (not suggesting you do that of course!). Throughout the day some aircraft that have already arrived spend time in the air doing media flights or passenger rides along with arriving aircraft from various places across the US and Canada. Even the Friday flying gives you an extra opportunity to enjoy airplane filled skies.

It's recommended you arrive early on your airshow day in order to get a fenceline spot, if that's what you prefer and, when you see aircraft like the Spitfire from Vintage Wings of Canada, the Lancaster from Canadian Warplane Heritage and "The Resurrected Veteran" P-51D Mustang, "Quick Silver," the closer you are to the runway, the more you get to see.

Throughout the two days of the airshow you have the opportunity to see a variety of aircraft from the old and slow trainers to the high performance World War II fighters and even a slick and quick L-39 Albatross. These aircraft are beautifully maintained, cared for, flown and loved by pilots and crews both, and it shows in the air and on the ground.

Watching old trainers take to the air such as the Stearman, Stampe, Chipmunk and the Tiger Moth may have you thinking of those bygone days of aviation. These nostalgic aircraft may not set any speed records but when you hop in the cockpit in the early morning, take off and climb to 500' as the sun rises in the eastern sky bound for a local airstrips for breakfast, speed really doesn't matter!

Other training aircraft, such as the Harvard/T-6 Texan, T-34 Mentor, Vultee, Navion and the Yak 52, add some roar to the skies, especially from the T-6 with the big Pratt & Whitney strapped to the front. The T-34 Mentor was developed to replace the T-6 as trainer for the US Military and was developed by Walter Beech (Beechcraft) and was a slimmed down version of the Beech Bonanza, from a 4-seat to a 2-seat tandem aircraft. They were first delivered to the US Air Force in 1953 with the US Navy taking their version of the T-34 2 years later.

The Yakovlev (Yak) 52 first flew in 1976 and was a Russian aerobatic training aircraft. Over 1800 have been produced and many are now flying as private aircraft in the western world including the US, Canada, Australia and UK, among others. Considered a simple aircraft to maintain, as well as being relatively economical to operate, the aircraft is very responsive on the controls and is easy to fly and land.

During World War II, after learning to fly on aircraft such as the Stearman, then taking advanced training on the T-6, those moving on to fighter aircraft would step into the single seat cockpit of aircraft such as the Supermarine Spitfire, Hawker Hurricane, Curtis P-40 Warhawk and the North American P-51 Mustang. These fighter aircraft were more powerful, faster and were almost always single seat type so training for new fighter pilots often consisted of some "classroom" time, then cockpit instruction by means of the new pilot sitting in the cockpit on the ground with their instructor on the wing beside them. The instruction might consist of familiarizing themselves with the cockpit layout, and tips for take off and landing and then they'd be sent off to learn the airplane on their own. In the early days of World War II, oftentimes, new fighter pilots had single digit hours on type before they were christened with their first combat, flying "tail-end" Charlie and wingman to a more experienced fighter pilot.

One of the most loved fighter aircraft of World War II was the Supermarine Spitfire, often wrongly credited with winning the Battle of Britain. In fact, though the Spitfire was a big part of the Battle of Britain, there were more Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft that flew and fought during that period of the war than there were Spitfires. The Spitfire and Hurricane shown here belong to Vintage Wings of Canada in Gatineau, Quebec and are meticulously maintained and lovingly flown by dedicated crews and pilots from Vintage Wings.

One of the most renowned and loved American World War II fighter aircraft is the North American P-51 Mustang. This fabulous fighter started out as a bit of a disappointment until the British fitted the powerful Rolls Royce Merlin to the airframe, replacing the Allison engine that North American originally fitted the aircraft with. The Merlin gave the Mustang outstanding performance in the skies above Germany, escorting bomber forces deep into Axis territory. The Mustang was a big surprise for German fighter aircraft used to going after the bombers that had been flying over Europe with no fighter escort. When the Mustang first appeared in the skies over Germany and France it quickly gained a great deal of respect by both Allied bomber crews and German fighter pilots alike.

Turning to bomber and transport type aircraft the airshow was graced with the B-25 Mitchell, torpedo bomber Grumman TBM Avenger, transport C-46 and C-47, the C-45, Cessna Bobcat and the fabulous 4-engine bomber Avro Lancaster. These aircraft, though utilized in many different ways, were effective workhorses in their own right. From the D-Day parachute drops by the C-47 to the night-time bombing campaign by the RAF Lancasters, these aircraft were loved and respected by their crews, flying through some of the heaviest flack and concentration of enemy fighters throughout the war. Many of these aircraft sustained severe battle damage and yet, with the hard work of their aircrews, the rugged airframes, and despite massive holes in wings and fuselage, pieces missing, one or more engines dead or dying, they still managed to stay airborne and bring their tired and wounded crews 'home.'

The TBM Avenger flew with several different countries and was designed as a torpedo bomber and was the heaviest single engine aircraft of World War II. The Avenger flew with a crew of three including the pilot, rear gunner and the radioman/bombardier/ventral (rear) gunner. The massive Wright Cyclone engine offered over 1100hp and took 25 gallons of oil! This beautiful example of the Avenger is owned and flown by Charlie Lynch.

This week we've had a look at some of the aircraft that participated in the 2013 Geneseo Airshow, "The Greatest Show on Turf," at the National Warplane Museum. Next week we'll return to Geneseo and have a look other aircraft adorned the skies during the airshow.

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