The California Capital Airshow will bring more than Thunderbirds, Raptors and historic warplanes to the Sacramento area.

The show is expected to draw at least 70,000 spectators and an estimated $7.4 million to the local economy, which would be on par with last year. The fourth annual airshow will be held Sept. 12 and 13 at Mather Airport, the former U.S. Air Force base. Organizers decided to schedule the event in late summer after last year's show was held on a cold, blustery March weekend.

This year, Air Force Week. will be held in various locations around Sacramento the week before the airshow.

Pilots and airplane enthusiasts aren't the only movers and shakers behind the airshow. The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors, Mather Airport officials and business leaders also have been working to bring the show and its financial benefits to the area.

"This is one of the biggest draws to our region," said developer/business owner Aaron Zeff, as he spent a recent Friday promoting the airshow by flying media representatives and other guests in his yellow Scout seaplane.

Zeff flew F-4 Phantom supersonic jet fighters in the Air Force before becoming a business owner. As a show sponsor, Zeff and staff from his company, Priority Parking, will manage parking for the airshow. The professional parking organization will help maximize space and is expected to help prevent traffic backups on Highway 50, said Darcy Brewer, the airshow's executive director.

From about 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the show will feature aerobatics and other performances in military and civilian planes flown by pilots aged 22 to 88. Nearly 100 planes — including rare aircraft — spanning eight decades of flight will be on display on the airport's tarmac. Those will include PT 17 Stearman biplanes, the Aero L-30 Albatros from the Czech Republic, the U-2 Dragon Lady spy plane, a Coast Guard C-130, a B-52 Stratofortress, the F-22 Raptor and the F-16 Fighting Falcon.

"Our whole mission is to inspire kids of all ages to do something exciting," she said.

For the first time in the civilian airshow's short history, tickets have been sold more than 30 days in advance. Sales began last December. As of Tuesday, $40,000 in tickets had been sold, compared to $5,900 in tickets sold at this same time last year, said Steve Hammond, president and chief executive officer of the Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau and an airshow board member.

The show has drawn as many as 100,000 people. While some show organizers believe that record could be broken this year, the visitors bureau believes the recession will keep the number closer to last year's 70,000, he added.

Mather Air Force Base personnel entertained the region with a military airshow for years until the base was decommissioned in 1993. Local residents went without an airshow until California Capital Airshow was launched four years ago as a one-day event. The county board and Sacramento International Airport system leaders wanted to bring an airshow back to Sacramento. They put together a board of directors, which included some pilots, and hired a company to recruit performers for the show.

Turnout at the first airshow was so large, the show became a two-day event the next year. The show has quickly become one of the country's top 40 airshows, in terms of attendance, and is believed to be the biggest in Northern California, said Brewer.

Much of the spending by airshow visitors is expected in Mather and neighboring Rancho Cordova. Already, 600 hotel rooms, primarily in Rancho Cordova, have been booked for visiting pilots such as the Blue Angels, plane crews and attendees, Hammond said.

"Typically, people think of these kinds of things as only impacting hotels and restaurants," he said. "They certainly get the lion's share of the expenditures."

In addition, gas stations around Mather Field will do very well because the airshow has a big "drive-in market," he said. Only 20 percent of the spectators come from outside the greater Sacramento area. Souvenir sellers on show grounds and other area attractions, such as Old Sacramento and museums, will also benefit, he said.

The visitors bureau has helped promote the airshow, booked the hotels and arranged an Aaron Tippin concert at the Capitol Friday, Sept. 11, for Air Force Week. During the show, Hammond will devote his time to talking with show sponsors in the VIP area, to make sure they get the deliverables they were promised for supporting the show and that they're happy enough to sponsor the show next year.

"We want to make sure our sponsors get good value for the money they invest," he said.

Large, regional events like this don't just bring one-time spending to the local economy. They also help the economy over a longer period by creating the kind of visibility that can help attract companies, development and residents, said Michael Ault, executive director of the Downtown Sacramento Partnership.

"It's media you couldn't afford to purchase," he said. "The airshow is a great regional-identity event. The more we continue to support events like this, the more these events will keep coming back."

General seating tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the gate and free for kids under 13. Reserved seating tickets are $40 for adults, $20 for kids under 13. Parking is $10/vehicle. Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates will provide bike parking.

Airshow tickets include free rides on all light rail trains to/from the Mather Fields/Mills station, and on airshow buses from the station to the airshow gate from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

For more information about the airshow, call 876-7568 or go to californiacapitalairshow.com. For more information about Air Force Week, check out airforceweek.af.mil/sacramento.

Photos by Eric Whalen