Warbirds, Wings and Wheels show returns to Farmingdale for Labor Day weekend

Vintage aircraft, cars and World War II-era planes will be on display as the Warbirds, Wings and Wheels show returns this weekend after the event was postponed last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The event, held annually during Labor Day weekend at the American Airpower Museum in East Farmingdale, celebrates the history of aviation and automobiles. This year, officials said, the show will be divided into themes.

Saturday, 1930s biplanes from the Bayport Aerodrome Society, which specializes in antique airplanes, will be featured along with cars on display from the 1920s and 1930s such as Model A and T Fords from the Ford Club of Long Island.

On Sunday, World War II aircraft such as the Douglas C-47 Skytrain and the Grumann TBM Avenger will take to the skies and perform aerial displays. American Airpower Museum president Jeff Clyman said the pilots at the controls of planes will be from the commercial airline industry and ex-military.

"The concept is to introduce to the public the various modes of air transportation and automobile transportation from the 1920s through the 1970s," said Lawrence Starr, the museum’s manager.

The two-day event was canceled in 2020 due to capacity limits placed on public spaces to help mitigate the spread of the virus. Starr said he expects 300 to 500 patrons each day. Masks, he said, are required inside when entering the gift shop and optional when doors are open or when outside. Social distancing is recommended.

The museum, which is a nonprofit and consists mostly of volunteers, celebrates its 21st anniversary this year.

Visitors attending the event either day will be able to get a flight experience, weather permitting, from a 1939 Red Waco UPF-7 biplane and North American AT-6D Texans.

The experience, Clyman said, gives people a look back at "pioneering aircraft that taught Americans, both servicemen and civilians, how to fly."

Nick Ziroli is a member of the Bayport Aerodrome Society and a volunteer senior pilot at the museum who will be flying this weekend. A flight instructor at Bayport Aerodrome’s grass runway, Ziroli, of Lake Grove, said he built model remote control planes with his dad growing up.

"My whole life I’ve built these model planes and now I’m actually flying them," Ziroli, 57, said.

Admission will be $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and veterans, $10 for children 5 to 12. The museum will be open from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.