2018 Joint Base Charleston Air and Space Expo

[OwenORourke]

In looking at videos of past shows it looks like the Thunderbirds (I know they aren't coming, but think fast jets) used the longer 15-33 runway. Wind per weather.gov is supposed to be out of the Northwest, so most traffic will probably depart from the 33 end. Not sure what this means for best spot to shoot from as any takeoffs and landings will be far from the crowd. My other question is what are they doing with all of the C-17's normally based there? It looks like pretty much the whole tarmac will be used for the show or parking.

[awal2049]

In looking at videos of past shows it looks like the Thunderbirds (I know they aren't coming, but think fast jets) used the longer 15-33 runway. Wind per weather.gov is supposed to be out of the Northwest, so most traffic will probably depart from the 33 end. Not sure what this means for best spot to shoot from as any takeoffs and landings will be far from the crowd. My other question is what are they doing with all of the C-17's normally based there? It looks like pretty much the whole tarmac will be used for the show or parking.

They probably moved them off-site somewhere. Maybe Homestead or Fort Bragg (I’m trying to think of bases with generally empty TARMACs). At places like Oceana, for example, they move all the Hornets off into the grass, but C-17s probably aren’t as easy.

[AndyMedic]

They dont put hornets in the grass. They hangar them, fly them out and the rest get put on the 37 and 105 ramp near the wash rack

[awal2049]

They dont put hornets in the grass. They hangar them, fly them out and the rest get put on the 37 and 105 ramp near the wash rack

Ok, I guess the ramp area is what I was referring to. My point was that they’re easy to store in tight spaces.

[Airplanefreak2000]

Good morning from Charleston!

[Airplanefreak2000]

Full viper demo added! F-86 cxd.

[awal2049]

That was a great show, lots of pleasant surprises during the day. The full Viper Demo (it excluded some maneuvers) was great to see. Can't wait for Myrtle Beach tomorrow.

There was a second Dreamlifter! It took off right when I was pulling in to the parking lot at about 8:10 am, the video I took of it while driving was sloppy. @Airplanefreak2000 did you see it?

Anyway, here is the C-17/C-47 Heritage Flight I filmed. More videos on my YouTube Channel.

https://youtu.be/CrkbT37NFVM

[RyanS]

That was a great show, lots of pleasant surprises during the day. The full Viper Demo (it excluded some maneuvers) was great to see. Can't wait for Myrtle Beach tomorrow.

There was a second Dreamlifter! It took off right when I was pulling in to the parking lot at about 8:10 am, the video I took of it while driving was sloppy. @Airplanefreak2000 did you see it?

Anyway, here is the C-17/C-47 Heritage Flight I filmed. More videos on my YouTube Channel.

Nice job on the video! I would love to see one of those flights

[Airplanefreak2000]

I saw it but I was on I-26 lol

[OwenORourke]

Yes it was a pretty good show! I too was surprised by the Dreamlifter which took off about a minute after I stepped out of my car. Great line up of statics that covered all five services and was a good spread over fighters/trainers/bombers/transports/helos. Flying throughout the day was sporadic due to the airline traffic and it got to be quite boring between acts. Highlight was definitely the C-17/C-47 heritage flight. The F-35 pattern work was pretty much a joke as it was like a mile from show center. If I didn't have a zoom lens I probably couldn't have told you what is was through all of the heat haze!