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A Johnstown native is a part of a team that is bringing joy to thousands of air show attendees across the eastern half of the country including at the Vectren Dayton Air Show over the weekend.

Staff Sergeant Josh Masimer is the dedicated crew chief for the F-16 Viper East Demo team.

“The F-16 has been nicknamed the Viper by the pilots. It’s lethal. It’s a fast airplane, it’s awesome to work on from a maintenance standpoint. The pilots love it because of the speed and amount of g’s it can pull in it’s tight turning radius.”

Masimer says the Air Force has used the F-16 for one reason.

“The Air Force has used it for so long because of it’s reliability and we can operate out of forward bases anywhere in the world and because of it’s lethality basically.”

Masimer says his schedule is jammed pack with shows.

“I’ve been on the Viper East Demo Team for about eight months now. I’ll be here for two years. We do about 36 shows a year mostly on the east coast so you can catch us about anywhere.”

In other news, Zanesville native Shawn Riffee was awarded the Jim LeRoy Aviation Scholarship named in honor of the stunt plane flyer who died in a crash at the air show in 2007.