AirFest has plane rides, authors, more

Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum hosts AirFest and The Wings of Freedom Tour Sept. 4 through 7.
The event includes music, food, vendors, exhibits and much more. Stop by NAS Wildwood Aviation Museum to experience this “living history” event.
Famous WWII aircraft will be visiting Cape May County and historic Hangar #1 for four days.
The tour will feature the P-51 Mustang, B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator.
The public will be given an opportunity to view, explore and even take a flight in these historic aircraft.
Separate fees are required for fighter and bomber tours and flight experiences. For flight reservations and tour information call 800-568-8924.
Also appearing will be several authors, among which are Charles L. Byler and Jack Elliott Byler is co-author of Tempered Steel, the biography of Colonel James Kasler, a three-war veteran, jet ace, Vietnam POW, and the only person with three awards of the Air Force Cross.
He is an Air Force veteran, having served from 1963-1966 as an F-105 weapons loader assigned to 36th Tactical Fighter Wing, Bitburg, Germany.
In June of 1965 he served under the command of Colonel James Kasler during a NATO tactical weapons competition held at Chaumont, France. In April of 1966, Byler’s tour of duty ended and he returned to college.
Meanwhile, Kasler volunteered himself into his third war in Vietnam, where in June of 1966 he planned and led the first authorized attack against Hanoi’s huge petroleum, oil, and lubricants facility.
For that highly dangerous and very successful mission, Kasler received his first award of the Air Force Cross.
Kasler’s second award of the AFC was earned one month later when he was shot down by ground fire during a valiant, selfless attempt to cover his wingman, who was also shot down by ground fire.
For his incredible resistance under torture in Hanoi, Kasler received an unprecedented third award of the Air Force Cross.
Byler is a retired public school English teacher. In addition to a bachelor’s degree, he has also earned two master’s degrees.
Among his publications are a number of magazine and journal articles, plus one novel, After Nam: a Police Story.
Jack Elliott wrote a general aviation column for the Sunday Star-Ledger in Newark, the state’s largest newspaper, for more than 38 years, from 1963 through 2001. No other newspaper aviation column ever ran for that long.
In the course of those years his work won dozens of awards, including seven national awards. He received three journalism awards from the NBAA (National Business Aviation Association) in 1973, 1976, and 1996.
Over the years, his work has appeared in dozens of aviation publications.
Elliott, who holds a commercial license with instrument, glider and seaplane ratings, had been flying for more than 52 years when he grounded himself in 2006.
The column which he wrote for the Star-Ledger consisted of a wide variety of human interest aviation stories, The best of these stories has been published in a book titled, Adventures in Flying, tales encompassing suspense, adventure, compassion, history, inspiration, and humor.
The book has been highly acclaimed by many of aviation’s top personalities.
Both authors will be on hand signing copies of their book.
Naval Air Station Wildwood is at the Cape May Airport, just off Breakwater Road in Erma.