It certainly was once I outgrew being scared of the SNJs flying overhead. It was always a bit noisy, but we never minded. I think that is one reason Pensacola always had a good relationship with the Navy. Of course, being within five miles of one of the most beautiful beaches in the world was not bad either. Nor the seafood. Of course there were some sad moments like coming across a furrow of mowed down pine trees with what was left of a plane at end of the furrow. Pilot ejected too late.
Blue Angels for sure, unfortunately the LW never received a second chance after its first mishap, or let's say rather "total fallout". All four jets (F-104G) crashed on their first display.
Blue Angels for sure, unfortunately the LW never received a second chance after its first mishap, or let's say rather "total fallout". All four jets (F-104G) crashed on their first display.
Wow! Of course, it probably didn't help that they were flying 104's, not the most maneuverable aircraft in the world.
Speaking of which, has anyone here seen the "Starfighters" air show? I would love to see them, I really like the 104; still a very underrated aircraft, IMHO. Even today, given the choice, a lot of ACM pilots would take a 104 over almost anything else; small airframe, high speed, high-altitude capability, hit-and-run tactics, etc. make for a good ACM a/c.
Sweet! Thanks, Kruska; I guess it kinda makes sense that the Luftwaffe flight demonstration team would fly 104's, since it was their front-line fighter in the '60's and '70's.
The Arrows will be at Southend airshow this weekend so as I'm only 4 miles away as the crow flys I shall take my seat and grab some snaps the Black Cat helo team is there also.
I will be interested to go to Biggin hill this year not just to see if the Vulcan can make it's first show flight and the Vickers Vimy but the Blue Eagles helo and an indian helo team the Sarang as well as the Brietling team will be making an appearance.
I've only seen the N American teams: Blues 4 times (A-4 and F-18) TB once (F-16), and the Snowbirds many times. the Blue Angels put on the best high-performance shows. The Snowbirds are more about graceful artistry than speed and noise. I did see the Golden hawks as a kid, but I don't remember much about it(I was around 7 at the time)
Like pbfoot, I loved the noise and speed of the RCAF Voodoo and Starfighter displays.
For solo displays, the CF-18 demo is always great, but two others really stand out in my memory. One was a very spirited display by a Mirage 2000, but the topper was an F-14D. You could feel the sheer exuberance of the pilot as he hurled the big 'cat thru the sky. He was whipping around so fast that the announcer finally gave up , and the show went on for about 5 minutes longer than scheduled. The crowd just roared when he was done.
I took a girl I was involved with to an airshow one time...As i sat there with a big grin plastered across my face, she scowled and said," This is stupid. And it's too noisy". That's when I knew it could never work...
I remember seeing the Blues in prop jobs, back in the 50's... probably
in F8F's. They were just as good then.... But I do believe the Red Arrows
are better.