While cars serve as the most common travel method for commuting students, pilot Susan Dacy would trek from Harvard, Ill., to Southern Illinois University Carbondale via a Piper Cub biplane.

At Dacy Airport in Harvard, Dacy would fuel planes, mow the airfield and take up any jobs at the family airport in order to afford the fueling for her uncommon commute.

Dacy has accumulated more than 30,500 hours of flight in her 35-plus years in the air, and when she is not piloting a 757/767 for American Airlines, she flies the skies surpassing 175 mph with “Big Red,” a 1942 Super Steerman biplane.

Dacy, along with more than a dozen other seasoned pilots, filled the sky with billowing smoke and thunderous engines while drawing the eyes of hundreds of spectators who came out to the 11th Coles County Airshow Saturday.

Aircraft flooded the Coles County Memorial Airport as the aroma of corndogs and fries wafted the air.

Spectators set up camping/lawn chairs, blankets and umbrellas in the 93-degree weather while lifting their eyes to the sky. Children found shade under the nose of a UH-60 Blackhawk Helicopter that was on display.

Before the aircraft took flight, the airshow kicked off with the Jet Van, the loudest and fastest van in the world.

Ornamented with a dragon illustration, the van erupted in a burst of fire with a tailing wave of heat as it sped the runway at 300 mph. As the heavy scent of jet fuel subsided, Dacy liberated “Big Red” from the ground.

As “Big Red” looped and rolled followed by a stream of multi-colored smoke, Jaki Ottolini, of Tuscola, sat in her lawn chair shielded by a yellow and black umbrella and awed at Dacy’s performance.

“It reminds me of those old barnstorming shows I would see decades ago on TV, and to see it for real is just great,” she said.

Barnstorming refers to a sequence of acrobatic piloting maneuvers.

Farther down the line of aircraft, Mattoon resident and Eastern graduate Roger Sorensen was overcome with nostalgia as he stood in front of the F8F Bearcat piloted by John O’Connor.

“The first time I ever saw one was in 1945 after flying across the Pacific,” he said, adding that his piloting career began in 1943 during World War II.

Sorensen, who was one of the first pilots to ever land on an aircraft carrier, said he would usually fly an F6F Hellcat, a predecessor of the F8F Bearcat.

Beside the Bearcat sat a 59-year-old Douglas Skyraider, one of four of its model still operating, said pilot Eric Downing of St. Louis.

“This attack craft is big, smoky and noisy, exactly what people want to see at an airshow,” Downing said. “Normally, I would have simulated explosions, but that’s not possible with the burn ban brought on by the drought.”

At 1:17 p.m., a burst of applause came from airshow patrons as a 1941 J-3 Cub successfully perched on a landing strip, which happened to be fashioned to a 1964 Pontiac Catalina driving down the runway.

Samuel Bradbury, 8, of Mattoon, said the landing made him laugh. Gabriel Bradbury, 12, said his favorite part of the show was when pilot Patrick McAlee of the Blue Demon Pitts Special performed corkscrew maneuvers.

“It looks dangerous but fun at the same time,” Gabriel Bradbury said.

Spectators also participated in $5 monster truck rides and $30 helicopter rides.

Rachel Rodgers can be reached at 581-2812 or rjrodgers@eiu.edu.