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Too often these days, event marketing is marred by the race to find the biggest and most amazing superlatives. We are constantly bombarded by those in the PR business with more incredible adjectives than we can waggle a wing at.

In the case of the Gathering of Mustangs and Legends, which will be held at Rickenbacker International Airport running Thursday through Sunday, there may not be enough superlatives to describe just how much excitement this event has caused through the worldwide aviation community, with visitors to central Ohio traveling from as far away as Norway and Australia.

There are projected to be 107 P-51 Mustangs at the event this weekend, a gathering of the long-range fighters that harks back to their WWII heyday. One Mustang, Stephen Grey's 'Twilight Tear', has been disassembled, transported from England, and reassembled for the event. Another Mustang, known as Gunfighter, will be flown in by B. Gen. Regis Urschler, USAF (ret). It will be something of a homecoming for Urschler, who served as vice commander and later commander of the 301st Air Refueling Wing at Rickenbacker from 1975-77.

Vlado Lenoch, a Mustang owner from La Grange, IL, one of the few civilian pilots to be certified by the Air Force to fly Heritage Flights (formation flights displaying World War II or Korean War era fighters with their modern equivalents), fell in love with the P-51 early on, being drawn in after watching the performance of aviation legend, and event attendee, Bob Hoover. Lenoch has personal history with the aircraft of this era: his great uncle Cvitan Galic was the leading ace flying for the Nazi-allied Croatian Air Force before being killed in combat in 1944.

The skies over southern Columbus will be filled with the sounds of B-17 and B-25 bombers, P-38 Lightnings (three are expected, including Glacier Girl, an aircraft lovingly excavated from under hundreds of feet of Greenland ice and pristinely restored), a rare P-63, two P-47 Thunderbolts, and many more. (Event organizers ask attendees to remember that these aircraft occasionally run into mechanical difficulties, so there is no guarantee that any particular aircraft will be on hand.)

The Air Force will be celebrating Heritage Week, marking the 60th anniversary of the service as a separate branch of the military and the 10th anniversary of the Heritage Flight program. They will be bringing flight demonstration teams flying the F-15, F-16 and F-22 Raptor, as well as the famed Thunderbirds.

Stunt teams such as the AeroShell Aerobatic team, performing in the T-6 advanced trainers that were used to train Army Air Force pilots during World War II, and the Red Baron Pizza flight team and their in vintage Stearman biplanes, will also be on hand.

Solo performers such as Michael Goulian, John Mohr and Patty Wagstaff will all bring their brand of aggressive aerobatic skill to thrill viewers of all ages.

This event, however, is all about the Mustangs. Perhaps the most unusual aspect of this event will be the 51 Legends, or veteran WWII pilots who flew the Mustang during World War II, who will be attending. Famed airmen such as Tex Hill, a veteran of the American Volunteer Group, more widely known as the Flying Tigers, who stayed on in China after the unit was absorbed into the Army Air Force and moved from the group's original P-40 to the P-51, or Tuskegee Airmen Charles McGee and Lee Archer are all scheduled to attend. Significantly, Vivian Eddy and Betty Blake, members of the Women's Air Force Service Pilots, the famed WASPs, will be honored as Legends. All will be available for autographs at various times throughout the gathering.

These are the men who often bring the greatest personal rewards for the today's Mustang owners. Jim Beasley of Philadelphia convinced his father to buy his first P-51 in 1978 for $140,000 (they now cost $1.3-million to $1.8-million, depending on condition). He now owns three Mustangs, and finds one of his most gratifying rewards in taking fighter pilots from the Greatest Generation for a flight in his dual-control model. He has often turned the controls over to some of these men, and tells the story of having had ace Pete Peterson flying his P-51 as part of a 3-plane formation with Mustang aces Chuck Yeager on one wing and Bud Anderson flying on the other.

The Gathering is subtitled 'The Last Roundup', and it is an entirely appropriate title. As each day passes, the numbers of men who flew these and other fighters and bombers in the defense of their country diminish with alarming frequency. Many veterans' associations no longer hold reunions because their membership cannot safely travel across the country to various gatherings. Here in Columbus this weekend, tens of thousands of residents and visitors may witness one of the last great gatherings of air warriors from this pivotal time in world history.

Gates are open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Attendance on Thursday is available only for those who purchase the four-day pass ($65 at the gate). Single day attendance is $20 Friday and $25 each Saturday and Sunday. Students or members of the Military receive a $5 discount. Children eight and under are admitted free with an adult admission. Parking is free. For more images from the gathering, please visit www.thisweeknews.