Your five favourite airshow moments of 2019

Discussion relating to 2019 airshows/fly-ins/exercises/other events. Post news before the event and post your photos afterwards! Please create only one thread per event.
Flyingbrian
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Joined: Thu Oct 17, 2019 7:06 pm

Post by Flyingbrian » Tue Nov 19, 2019 9:38 pm

I'll put a slightly different spin on this, and do my favorite moment from each of the five airshows I attended this year.

5: Seeing my two favorite warbirds at the Planes of Fame Airshow
I absolutely adore the F7F Tigercat and Hawker Sea Fury, so to see Tigercat aerobatics and three separate Sea Furies flying in the show was amazing
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4: Formation aerobatics from Matt Chapman, Rob Holland, and Bill Stein at Wings Out West
Unlimited aerobatics is always fun to watch, but I much prefer formation aerobatics. It's even more neat when the aircraft are dissimilar
Honorable mention: my friend nearly tailstriking a Cessna 150 during the Golden Eagles Flight Team demo on the rehearsal day. Laughs were had all around afterwards.
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3: Combined Arms Demonstration, Aviation Nation
45 minutes of afterburner, flares, pyro, and almost every combat aircraft used by the USAF at once? Yes please.
Honorable mention to the Immortal Red Baron, he was at Wings Out West last year and I am beyond excited to see how far his production has come. The airshow scene needs more performers like him, and I'm glad he' s getting national exposure.
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2: Red Arrows and Thunderbirds at The Great Pacific Airshow
A truly unique formation that made the nighttime six hour drive each way completely worth it.
Honorable mention to the monstrosity that is the Yak-110.
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1: Personal connections at Thunder and Lightning over Arizona
Airshows are amazing, but it's even more so when someone you know is flying. When he happens to be flying as part of the USAF Thunderbirds, it is all the more amazing. We met last year at a flight team practice, where he had competed in the early to mid 2000s. I attended his first show as a Thunderbird at Davis Monthan AFB, plus Huntington Beach and Aviation Nation. Photo taken at Aviation Nation
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Airplanefreak2000
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Post by Airplanefreak2000 » Sat Nov 23, 2019 5:43 am

Wow…
I can’t believe the 2019 airshow season is gone already. It feels like just months ago I was getting insanely excited to spend a whole week at Sun’n’Fun to start my year. This was absolutely a year to remember. For me it all started in September of last year when Lunar asked me to help contribute to a new Airshow coverage platform called Airshow360. After sharing my photos and videos from the NAS Oceana Airshow and the Warbirds over Monroe airshow from 2018, they decided to ask me to join them on helping turn Airshow360 into one of the leaders in airshow coverage for 2019. 2019 was no doubt one of my best overall airshow years ever. I got to cover 9 airshows with one T-28 clinic squeezed in during Oshkosh. Each one of these events provided something truly exciting and different. I know this will be a long read and I am sorry if you read it all. But know this, these airshows would not be as memorable without every one of you who I met and got to share our passion for aviation with. Some of you are performers, pilots, announcers, re-enactors, vendors, or just a general spectator with a passion for aviation. While all the moments listed below for each airshow will include an aircraft, there will be several tidbits included for all the fun and shenanigans that was had at each airshow. Now let’s get started with the fun!
1. 2019 Sun’n’Fun
- SNF was my first planned airshow of my season. I planned to camp which turned out to be an amazing experience all on its own. I decided to go a day early to get some fishing in at the skyway pier near Tampa. However, that was bust so I decided to stay for arrival day and I didn’t miss another moment thereafter. Monday started off dreary and rainy but led to a gorgeous rest of the week with decently cool temperatures that allowed for great camping. The absolute highlight of SNF was getting to see the XP-82 for the first time in person. Tom Reilly and his crew deserve all the accolades that can be given. It was an incredible machine and I was very fortunate to be able to interview Tom about this restoration. Some other incredible moments were the epic thunderstorm backdrop during the night show, Lunar announcing my name as part of Wild Blue’s team and all of her amazing hospitality throughout the week, getting to have my camera repo’d by Kevin Lacey, steaks and shrimp on my new camping grill, legacy flights with 4 different aircraft throughout the week, driving around the campgrounds with Gary Ward and Travis, a late night nerd chat with Dudley and Harrison, and a fun time working with the Immortal Red Baron team during the Saturday show.
** Bonus highlight. This would be the last time I would get to see Rain fly. He is probably the best USAF demo pilot I’ve ever seen strap a jet on. He will be missed immensely by the airshow community. I hope he comes back to the circuit like my other top demo pilot in Rifle did!
2. Cheraw Airshow
- This little show popped up on my radar when I saw it on a few of my favorite performers schedules. Being only about an hour away I decided to go. My little buddy Declen got to come with me. That morning, rain and thunderstorms encompassed nearly the entire Carolinas area. I decided to risk it and it paid off. Somehow, the entire show got in without a single drop of rain and the ceilings even raised to allow most performers a chance to do their high show. The highlight for me was getting to see Gary Ward fly for possibly the final time. It was my understanding that he would retire this year. I don’t know how much truth there is to that even though it came from his mouth at SNF. Gary flies a very high energy performance in his awesome painted MX-2. Other highlights included our shuttle bus being a stripper party bus with pole included then pulling into a church parking lot, seeing Mark Henley’s P-51 “Alabama Rammer Jammer”, Aeroshell flying with a different t-6 as lead, meeting a new airshow friend/photographer in Terry, and a couple C-17 flybys that looked so cool on a tiny airport.
3. Seymour-Johnson AFB Airshow
- Well this was a tough choice, I had planned all spring to go the MCAS Beaufort to see the USMC F-35B demo. Then I think, maybe it was two weeks out when SJ announced they would be having the new USAF F-35 demo. Being at that time I thought I would only see it at the JAX Beach airshow (which I ended up not being able to attend), I thought, well it’s a great show with a lot of jets so I’ll go to SJ instead. It was a great choice. I got directions to the dairy farm to watch the Friday rehearsal show with absolutely perfect light and puffy cumulus skies. Of course the highlight for me would be seeing the new USAF F-35 demo which did not disappoint. Dojo flies hard with a lot of power and just thunders the lightning II across the sky. Only thing disappointing about the SJ airshow is that the sun is in your face all day which caused for several terrible photos. However, persistence paid off. Media was kind and helpful, I got on and off base pretty quickly, got to hang out with my Tora team buddies even though I couldn’t help that weekend, the SJ CAD demo was very impressive sending up 7-8 strike eagles, two A-10s, a KC-135, and a C-17 with the Black daggers. Also, I got to see Craig and the good guy finally with the replica P-36. The kiddos got to go with me and they had a blast. We visited an epic truck stop that had at least 10 different places to eat at which made them happy because they got to get what they wanted.
4. Winston-Salem Snowbirds Formation Show
- Really not a whole lot to say about this show. It’s a great venue that needs a full airshow again. My daughter’s favorite team is the Snowbirds so she was very happy. She got to get her photo with one of them! Snowbirds were great as usual. After the show, we got treated to a nice pass by RT Dickson is my new favorite mustang in Swamp Fox in front of an approaching thunderstorm. It was a hot breezy day but a lot of fun none the less.
5. Sheboygan T-28 Clinic
- Returning back to SBM was emotional. The loss of Marty still hung heavy with all the airplanes returning. The jets were not there. Marty will never be forgotten for all he did for the warbird community. With that still in mind, safety was the utmost priority for the weekend. Everyone did a fantastic job with a lot of training flights getting in. I was extremely lucky to get to strap in with some pretty incredible pilots for a total of four T-28 flights. Flew my first two with good friend Jive, then with Alf Beam in his gorgeous diamondback T-28, and then with Robert Johnson in one of the Trojan Phylers. Flying with these great pilots was the obvious highlights. However, several others were worthy of being mentioned. Watching four t-28s say “nope!” and fast taxi back in as an approaching squall rushed in. It sent canopy covers flying, chairs, and other debris. No damage occurred but it was crazy! Aside from that, the weather was great all weekend. I got to stand next to the runway as Trojan after Trojan launched. Watching the Trojan thunder team practice and also practice their big wings for Oshkosh. The great social dinners with a lot of comradery was a fantastic time and made for a lot of great stories. While I’m not a pilot yet, getting to listen to all of these pilots and their stories will help me in my future goals. Chuck’s story was especially insightful and the whole community is glad he is still with us!
Attachments
XP-82 first public showing at SNF
XP-82 first public showing at SNF
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Gary Ward at Cheraw
Gary Ward at Cheraw
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First time seeing the F-35 Demo
First time seeing the F-35 Demo
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Snowbirds formation practice airshow
Snowbirds formation practice airshow
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Air-2-air with T-28s
Air-2-air with T-28s
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Airplanefreak2000
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Post by Airplanefreak2000 » Sat Nov 23, 2019 5:45 am

6. Eaa Airventure 2019
- You know, I honestly don’t know where to begin for this one. Airventure became a big opportunity for Airshow360 to show the airshow industry what we can offer. We had a great week with several on-board cameras, interviews, photos, videos, and just a complete coverage of the show. Oshkosh is the Disneyland of airshows, there is just nothing like. Every day is a new adventure. I actually arrived to Oshkosh the Thursday prior to setup my tent early then head on to Sheboygan. Well I lived in fear the whole weekend wondering if my tent would still be there after Oshkosh got hit with several rounds of intense wind squall lines. By some miracle, Camp Neat withstood Mother Nature and allowed me a great camping weekend. I’m lucky I even got in, it was so muddy and they had to stop campers from getting in because there was nowhere to put them. Luckily as I had checked in Thursday, my camp was already in so I was good. Every year I go to Oshkosh, it’s more about the friends than anything. It is the one place where you can throw a stone and probably hit an airshow friend. With large groups of nearly 20 people each day sitting together, there is always fun to be had. As always, Oshkosh has plenty of moments. There was no other jaw dropping moment for fans than the arrival of the F-35 team Monday evening. After their opening heritage fly-bys for the concert, the A-10 and P-51s landed and then it was on. An epic wagon wheel sound of freedom ensued with Dojo, Loco, and Lawless just ripping the sky apart trying to one up each other with each low approach. No rules, just pure flying and noise. It was only the opening Monday and Oshkosh had been made. Other highlights include, seeing the XP-82 fly multiple times again, Rod Lewis Mosquito, Capt Eddies Firefly, the Firebombers act each day with a crazy flying CL-215. Probably one of the most gorgeous back drops you’ll ever see for a heritage flight with the Saturday night thunderstorm light show, being told over and over and OVER again that I have a headlight out, the fun nights at budday house, getting a $30 parking ticket, standing at a culvers counter for no reason at all while waiting on ice cream, working with my Tora friends providing pyro for the Wednesday day and night show and also Friday, the incredible nuke bomb during the fireworks displays, an unfortunate butt pocket incident, having to get my car jumped by the paradigm team when it was dead one morning, seeing the black knight t-33 in person finally, seeing the USN F-35C in person, and having the snowbirds jump in on our group photo while taking it in front of their “vintage jet”. There were several other highlights but this list is long enough already!
7. St. Louis Stem airshow
-The sole reason I put this show on my schedule was to see the red arrows. Several other good things came of it at the show though. The Reds were fantastic. They used very intricate formations with dynamic maneuvering that created an energetic performance. I really enjoyed their show and I was very happy to see them! Several other highlights include an incredibly fun time throwing the ole pigskin around while watching arrivals, two Alabama (ROLL TIDE!) vipers who knew how to party, an A400 literally almost causing a power outage with the craziest wake I’ve ever seen. It literally ripped the tops of trees off. I got to interview Blue Angel #4, seeing Special K for the first time actually up close, some insanely low passes by both the spitfire and the b-17, a hotel room bounce house, a pretty strong thunderstorm that almost ruined the Sunday show but created the setting for some insane vapor, and just a great time with several budday’s with our dinners and fantastic comradery.
8. NAS Oceana
- I almost decided not to attend this year, there wasn’t anything new I hadn’t seen before and it was stated earlier in the summer that the USN TACDEMO would not be flying. Well of course that changed and so did my mind. I took the kiddos and per usual we had a fantastic time. Weather was absolutely perfect. The highlight for this show was actually seeing the Thunderbirds perform at a naval base. Normally the blue angels are here but NAS Lemoore had scheduled them and so that left Oceana to get the Thunderbirds. That didn’t make a lot of naval folk happy but as a dedicated airshow fan, I was happy. They put on a great show each day even though they were down a pilot as #6 could not attend. Other highlights include the team Oceana fleet demos, a great cookout at a friend’s house, biplane mania with the Sheltons, Skip, and the Jet Waco sasquatch, the insane smoke ring that the firewalkers created that skip had a party in, door-dashing hooters wings at 11pm, and getting to see the super hornet demo for the only time this year.
9. Warbirds over Monroe
- This show, while not the biggest, is by far my favorite show each year. I’m a warbirds guy so it just appeals to me. It’s small, low key, and it gets to go BOOM with all of my favorite Tora friends. It was freezing each morning this year with doing briefs on the frosty ground. But we warmed it up real quick by bringing the heat to the field. The highlight for this show for me was seeing the JU-52 again. I hadn’t seen it in years and it was great to see the old bird fly. It has such a unique sound. Other highlights include greg Koontz yelling HELP! During his comedy routine at us in the pyro field, getting insanely close to Matt Younkin’s photo pass, have 5 WWII fighters(3 P-51s, corsair, and a P-40) strafe the field over your head, the Dave bombs, all of the fun times and shenanigans with my pyro buddies, and getting to see the Class of 45 up close and personal in the box.
10. Nellis AFB airshow
- This was our chance to really shine. Nellis had our team at Airshow360 live stream the whole show weekend. Team Nellis went all out creating a fantastic show. The obvious highlight was the CAD demo (for me in general was seeing wraith and blizzard). It was an intense battle that brought the sound of freedom over and over again of which you’ve all already seen plenty of photos of that. I cannot wait until their next show. However, there was one highlight that superseded the CAD demo, one 41 years in the making. The final demonstration of Julie Clark’s career. I’ve seen Julie many times over the years and it was a great honor to shoot her final performance ever. I wish her all the best! Other highlights include my first EVER commercial flight and boy did I go everywhere. I got to visit LA and NYC in the same weekend. Had a sweet flight to NYC on a Delta 737-900, going to the strip two nights in a row, a ridiculous 4-Loko party, bouncing glasses, NO QF-16 PAINTS MAJOR, actually winning money in vegas then blowing it on a Nellis Swag run, Getting to hang out with the rest of the Airshow360 crew, no cody you’re not funny and I do hate airshows ;), a locked bathroom door that I got open with my hotel key and a screwdriver, a questionable decision loading a truck, a super fun dinner at Bdubs with several runtime errors, Dojos water and champagne bath, and a safe flight back to charlotte that wrapped up my 2019 airshow season!
I am sorry this year in review was so long but understand that airshows are the most fun hobby I have with some of the most fun people in the world. 2020 is shaping up to be an awesome year. I’ve put together a pre-emptive 2020 schedule that I’ll post after ICAS because it may change on different schedules. Next year is the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII. I can’t wait to see what kind of warbird shows or acts happen! See you all next year!
Attachments
Epic burnerfest at OSH
Epic burnerfest at OSH
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First time seeing the RAF Red Arrows
First time seeing the RAF Red Arrows
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Thunderbirds at NAS Oceana
Thunderbirds at NAS Oceana
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Seeing the JU-52 at Monroe
Seeing the JU-52 at Monroe
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Julie Clarks final demo at Nellis
Julie Clarks final demo at Nellis
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Flightline Uk
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Post by Flightline Uk » Fri Dec 06, 2019 2:39 pm

2019 has been an up and down year for certain. There's has fair amount of treading water going on in the UK which is down to variety of reasons (Lack of military assets, precious few new civilian operated displays, Costs, Insurance Issues, Industry Politics etc.) which does mean a lots of shows end up being too similar year after year. The Red Arrows tour didn't help and many eventss didn't enjoy the negative coverage they got from local newspapers/press (lots of 'Why you won't see the Red Arrows this year at....." coverage). That led to some reduced attendances and knock on financial consequences.

However, its not all bad and there have been quite a few highlights. Both Cosford and Yeovilton though not making my five favourite moments had plenty of memorable participation (German Navy P-3 plus Czech & Slovak participation at Cosford; Cocardes Marines, Spanish Harrier, F-35B, Canadian CC-130J Display and the Commando Assault at Yeovilton.) RIAT too attracted some great aircraft after a lot of work such as the Romanian MiG-21, Spanish EAV-8B Duo, Su-27, BA100 Flypast, NATO 70 Flypast, the special scheme jets and so on. Yet somehow RIAT managed to feel a bit ordinary (weather? too much pre-show info and no surprises?)

There were also some great moments elsewhere. The May Evening show at Old Warden was magical, Daks over Duxford was impressive and memorable, the small show at East Kirkby was a joy, The US Navy P-8A appearance at Bournemouth, the Sk37C Viggen at Southport and a superb Battle of Britain Airshow at Duxford.

On the continent Beauvechain Air Base Day was a nice surprise and worth the punt (though a very long day) while both Volkel and Sanicole were both superbly varied events. It was also great to get back to the UAE and visit the Dubai Airshow which was full of highlights - not least the opening Emirati Flypast featuring aircraft from Emirates Airlines, the UAE Joint Air Command and UAE Air Force. It was also good to see the F-22A again with 'Loco' putting on one of the best displays I've seen from the type.

Anyway, here's my pick from year and in no particular order:-

Air Power over Volkel
I always enjoy displays which are out of ordinary such as role demonstrations. While the numbers of aircraft in this year's Air Power Demo at Luchtmachtdagen were a little down (Dutch Apaches grounded) this was one of the most engaging displays I saw all year with constant action throughout the 40 minute slot and plenty of flares. It concluded with a special heritage flypast featuring F-35, Spitfire and F-16.

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The Summer of Ultimate Fighters
Possibly one of the most exciting new teams to join the display circuit in recent years putting a P-47D, TF-51D, Hispano Buchon and Spitfire together for a formation team display. The superb cadre of pilots (Jon Gowdy, Richard Grace, Dave Puleston and Andy Durston) not only paid tribute to the original Breitling Fighters team but put their own unique touch on the display creating the 'Ultimate' warbird act. They certainly had a busy year which culminated in the surprise formation finale at Bournemouth with the Blades.

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Mirages in the Desert
So much to choose from at the Dubai Airshow, but the UAE Air Force's Mirage 2000-9 solo display is a real gem of a solo jet display. In the late 1990's and early 2000's French Air Force Mirage 2000C displays were widely seen at the major airshows and scooped up the after-show awards. I suspect many of us took them for granted at the time and even though the Rafale is superb display aircraft, I do really miss the charismatic Mirage solo display. The UAEAF displays certainly take their inspiration from the French displays presenting a really compact, punchy and flowing display of jet aerobatics. I've seen the display a fair few times now at Al Ain and Bahrain but it never disappoints and was just as memorable in a strong line-up of fast jets at Dubai.

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Fire Breathing Draken over Bournemouth
Bringing aircraft from the Swedish Air Force Historic Flight is no mean feat for UK organisers but Sunderland, Bournemouth and Southport did just that in 2019. Of all the SwAFHF fleet, its the Drakens that I think put on the most dramatic display. Bournemouth was lucky is getting the single seat J35J Draken (a mainland UK first in civilian hands) and pilot Lars Martinsson seemed to really enjoy tearing up the Dorset skies.

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The Light of Liberation at Sanicole
There's been lots of commemorations in 2019 for various 75th Anniversaries. However, perhaps the most poignant and inspiring was that conducted at Sanicole to mark the 75th Anniversary of Belgian liberation. It was a theme marked in both the Friday night sunset show as well as main show on the Sunday. Friday saw some really 'theatre of the air' as a lone piper played the last post as the sun sank below the horizon while a Danish C-130 release a wall of flares. Sunday saw a series of flypasts with aircraft wearing invasion strips marking the Belgian Air Force's own contribution to the D-Day landings and the subsequent liberation of the country.

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