Terre Haute Mayor will parachute during coming air show

May 9—The Terre Haute Air Show has a new act, one it won't even have to pay — Mayor Brandon Sakbun will skydive during the event.

"If visitors are going to bring their paycheck to the city, you want to provide them with a welcoming event," Sakbun said. "There's no better way than that."

Rick Burger, president of the airport board and one of the Air Show's organizers, said, "I know he's excited to be doing this."

The mayor is a former paratrooper. During his service in the Army's 75th Ranger Regiment, Sakbun jumped from airplanes 19 times.

He said he's accustomed to military jumps, which are generally conducted at lower altitude than the 13,000 feet that a commercial skydiver would attempt.

Military jumps are often done at a height of around 5,000 feet, where the parachutist employs a static line that deploys the silk immediately upon exiting the plane, rather than having to pull a ripcord to launch it into action, Sakbun said.

Sakbun signed the waiver allowing him to perform the jump earlier this week, although a couple of aspects of his jump have not been fully determined.

One is the height from which he will jump, though he said he'd prefer to leap from 5,000 feet.

The other is when the mayor will perform during the Air Show weekend. One possibility is on the evening of Friday, May 31, before a concert performance by singer-songwriter Walker Hayes on Terre Haute Regional Airport grounds. The other is at the opening of show on Saturday, June 1. The show continues on June 2.

Sakbun had been in discussions with Burger about the possibility since at least early March.

There was a lengthy legal process leading up to his signing the waiver, including filling out a questionnaire that helped those flying the plane determine whether he was qualified to jump.

The mayor said he will not need to perform a rehearsal jump before skydiving before the Air Show crowd.

Skydiving U.S. mayors can be seen on a handful of YouTube videos, including a news report about one mayor breaking a spectator's leg.

Other Air Show performers this year include the U.S. Navy Blue Angels, U.S. Air Force A-10 Demo, P-51 Mustangs, Younkin Airshows' Matt Younkin, Franklin's Flying Circus, Team Titan (formerly Aeroshell), Mister Mulligan (AKA Doug Rozendaal) and the Patriot Parachute Team.

Burger has said the Air Show's estimated economic impact for the area will be $18 million in tickets, hotels, food and gas.

Gates for the Air Show at Terre Haute Regional Airport open at 9 a.m. on both June 1 and 2, and the program will continue until 4:30 p.m. each day.

Tickets are $30 in advance at terrehauteairshow.com, and $40 day of show. Parking is included.

David Kronke can be reached at 812-231-4232 or at david.kronke@tribstar.com.