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KIRKSVILLE, MO. -- Droves of people from all over came to see the amazing aerobatics at the 5th Annual Cape Air Kirksville Air Festival.

"We love it," said Stephen Rutherford, of Bethel, Mo. "Kirksville did a good job this year. Great weather, beautiful weather. Great performers. THey always put on a good act here."

"It was really cool," said Ethan Herring, of Memphis, Mo. "And I like how the steam changed different colors and stuff."

"It's wonderful," said Rebekah Stringert, of Kirksville, Mo. "I didn't expect this much, this many great flyers. It's been really fun. "

The festival opened with the United Army Golden Knights Parachute Team.

"We're going to perform two jumps," said Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Acevedo. "They're both going to be masses. We're going to have all the jumpers jump out and they're all going to come together and build a formation. After that, once we get to 4,000 ft we're going to seperate and open parachutes. "

"As the years have gone on, it's kind of just turned into going into office type deal."

The air festival featured eleven acts, including self-proclaimed "crazy pilot" Gary Ward. He's a tree farmer from Georgia. At 71 years old, he's still in love with aerobatics. He said he didn't need to enroll in classes to learn how to do the stunts.

"For the most part, I taught myself," said Ward. "It's definitely not the smartest way to do it. You can get killed doing it but I read all the books I could read. I watched other performers fly. I've videotaped them, studied videos and just tried to make best of it.It's all about entertainment. Try to scare other people but not scare myself. "