Aerobatic jet club visits airport, puts on show over county

MOUNT PLEASANT – Several jet enthusiasts from around the country brought their aircraft to the Schuylkill County Airport for a training event, and their flights over the county were a sight to see.

Yesterday, jets from the club were spotted over Mahanoy City, Locust Lake State Park, Minersville, Pottsville, and other parts of the county as they practiced formation flying.

Since Wednesday, the Classic Jet Aircraft Association, based in Maryland, hosted a formation and aerobatic training event for their Warbirds division, according to their website.

By 4:00pm today, most of the jets involved had left the area, flying back to airports in Michigan and elsewhere, according to FlightAware data.

One jet remained, an Aero L-39 Albatros, owned an operated by Larry Labriola, of Scarsdale, New York.

Around 4:30pm, shortly after the arrival of a general aviation plane from the Allentown area and the departure of another, Labriola took to the skies in his camouflage Czechoslovakian jet, spending about half an hour practicing various maneuvers such as barrel rolls and aileron rolls over the airport.

Labriola told the Sentinel after the flight he’s been flying since he was a senior high school, progressively becoming more involved in aviation, leading to his purchase of the jet.

Normally, the club would practice at an airport in New York, he said, though their runway is undergoing construction this year, which brought them to Schuylkill County.

Part of the draw, he said, was the airport’s location — there are few neighbors to disturb, he said, and those who are close by are often intrigued in the activity.

“There’s some friendly people here, that’s for sure,” Labriola said of the reception at Schuylkill County.

With the help of the airport, an aerobatics box was attained for the airport, allowing for the performance of low altitude maneuvers.

The four day event concluded this afternoon.

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Kaylee Lindenmuth

Kaylee Lindenmuth is a Shenandoah native with a passion for journalism and the community she calls home.

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