2021 Cocoa Beach Airshow
Well, I saw just about every performer, except the bombers. Well, I did see the B-52 parked at Patrick AFB. Thought I read on FB somewhere that the B-1 was at a NASA runway. I guess I need to hope for good weather on Sunday since tomorrow I'll be at Sun N Fun.
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Evidently the TBM Avenger ditched in the water after its performance due to a mechanical issue. Pilot is okay. No injuries. Pretty lucky considering, there were a lot of people in the water where it went down. Rest of the show went on as planned.
Last edited by awal2049 on Sat Apr 17, 2021 11:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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- n33d4sp33d_85
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Update on the TBM Avenger
Yesterday the Valiant Air Command, Inc. WWII era TBM Avenger was forced to ditch south of Cocoa Beach today due to a mechanical issue. Pilot made a textbook belly landing and he is OK. Salvage efforts will continue today. The museum is planning to float the TBM to the Port Canaveral harbor area and crane her out there. If you would like to contribute to a restoration fund, although at this time they are unable to provide a status on whether this will be a static or a flying restoration, you can contribute here: https://bit.ly/3akDih6
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Went to Cocoa Beach today (Sunday) and was able to see both the B-52 and B-1 flybys. The B-52 did 4 passes, including a "high-speed" pass, dirty pass, and a wing wagging pass with bomb bay doors open. We were on the Southern end of the aerobatic box, so we didn't get a great view of the open bomb bay. The B-1 did 3 passes, and all were pretty generic. I did like seeing the fly though. More pictures, probably, to follow, but here are a few bomber pics.
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- B-52_Sunday.jpg (53.83 KiB) Viewed 13848 times
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- B-52_wheels.jpg (61.19 KiB) Viewed 13848 times
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- n33d4sp33d_85
- Posts: 17545
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Great pictures!
Last edited by n33d4sp33d_85 on Mon Apr 19, 2021 3:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
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I must say that I both like and dislike beach shows. We got sandblasted a bit later in the day and I think I'm still getting sand out of things. The nice part was that it was totally free - found a free parking spot and brought our own food and water. The downside of going "free" is that the only readily accessible restroom is really wet. And a few more from Sunday's show.
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- Thunderbird5.jpg (61.35 KiB) Viewed 13766 times
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- Thunderbirds.jpg (78.71 KiB) Viewed 13766 times
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- Thunderbirds-Diamond.jpg (73.66 KiB) Viewed 13766 times
Last edited by Ken91 on Mon Apr 19, 2021 1:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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I'm a little late to this, but new information has been presented in the past few weeks regarding the TBM incident, and unfortunately, it is pretty damning for the VAC as well as Orlando FSDO. These videos, presented by Dan Gryder, site a series of oversights and shortcuts in both the maintenance/restoration of the bird as well as the piloting. The VAC apparently have a history of not following checklists and procedures. None of the VAC pilots attended the mandatory safety briefing for the air show. Instead, they sent a non-pilot representative to take notes on their behalf. Both the other VAC pilots and the air boss Wayne Boggs noticed trailing smoke prior to the demonstration, yet the aircraft was still cleared to enter the box. He also says the landing, while miraculous, was a result of several bad decisions by the pilot, Terry Rush. As is pretty obvious from the crash video, the fact that no swimmers were hit is pure luck. Parts 1 & 2 that focus on the pilot and the VAC are shown below. Part 3, about the Orlando FSDO, was either never uploaded or taken down. In any case, careless like that which is alleged in these videos is a threat to warbird operation. (Note: I can't verify any of this information, but I trust this source.)
Also worth noting, the pilot, Terry Rush, has crashed two (2) other TBMs in the past 12 years.
Also worth noting, the pilot, Terry Rush, has crashed two (2) other TBMs in the past 12 years.
Last edited by awal2049 on Wed May 26, 2021 3:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Dang! That's a pretty damning report. Since I have no idea on the inner workings of warbird restoration or airshow production, I'll refrain from making any sweeping comments. Though, I will say that if there's smoke coming out of an airplane (warbird or modern or whatever) that doesn't have a smoke system installed, that's probably not a good sign. Landing immediately would be the safest option. Yikes.
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- n33d4sp33d_85
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