Even If You've Been To Hundreds, There's Always A Reason To Go

By David Juwel

I know the feeling; I’ve attended air shows for over 60 years. Most of the time I just watched them. Other times I worked in them as an aircraft vendor or journalist. If anyone could feel jaded, I guess I’d have that right.  But I don’t feel jaded. Here’s why I don’t, and why you shouldn’t either.

I guess the best reason to become jaded is because you feel like you’ve seen it all before. You’re weary of repetition. You come, you sit and watch, you soak up too much sun, and then you go home. When it’s over you’re not entirely satisfied because a loop is a loop and a roll is a roll, and everyone did them over and over with slight variations.

If all you experienced was a hot and noisy day, with monotony, you missed out. It’s little wonder you might feel jaded. So here are five good reasons why you should continue to attend air shows. Let’s take a look at them ...

1.) It’s an opportunity to rejuvenate aviation by using an air show as a stepping-stone to induct new people into aviation.
 
I decided to ask Patty Wagstaff (pictured above) about how air shows benefit the industry of aviation. Ms. Wagstaff has been called the First Lady of Aerobatics, and over the past 30 years, she has become a veteran of over 1800 air show performances without any violations or accidents. This is what she had to say: “Air shows provide the general public with an inclusive opportunity to become involved in the industry of aviation. Nothing else in aviation does that so broadly and so efficiently. It is clean entertainment done in a family atmosphere.  You don’t have the rowdiness, drunken behavior, and fights that you might experience at other public events. Air shows provide you with an enjoyable and respectful atmosphere. At an air show you can get up close to the aircraft, and then watch how well they perform in the air. And most important of all, air shows are cheap entertainment compared to other industries.”

Well said. Any portion of aviation might be used to induct people into the realm of aviation, but air shows provide the broadest opportunity.  At an air show you’ll see the planes perform, but on the ground you’ll have the opportunity to get up close to the planes, the pilots and owners of the aircraft. You’ll see and be able to handle peripheral equipment, and see firsthand the support areas of aviation. Somewhere, someplace, you’re bound to see a future opportunity for yourself, whether it be as a pilot, support crew, or entrepreneur.

They even had a large “Kid Zone” with numerous activities to help burn off some of their energy. My grandkids didn’t particularly want to go to the air show (been to a lot of them), but said they had a great time when it was over. Like Patty Wagstaff said, “It’s a family environment.”

2.) Because it’s an excellent environment for seeing and touching things that are new to you.  Things you may never have seen or done before. At the recent NAS Jacksonville air show, I saw old warbirds, new military aircraft, aerobatic aircraft, military equipment displays, a variety of commercial vendors, and some of the newest things in aviation. I was on the move the entire day, and I still didn’t see everything I wanted to see. I had to go back on subsequent days. What an exciting event. And because it was a military air show – it was free!

If you missed THIS air show you didn’t get to see:

The Triton MQ4C remotely piloted aircraft. The Triton has an international surveillance & reconnaissance (ISR) platform that is even more advanced than the P-3 patrol aircraft.  The Triton aircraft is stationed at Point Magu, CA, but it is operated from NAS Jacksonville, and can be flown anywhere in the world from the Jacksonville control center.

The P-8 Poseidon anti-submarine & anti-surface warfare aircraft. The P-8 Poseidon is replacing the venerable P-3 Orion aircraft. I had the opportunity to tour the interior of the aircraft. The P-8 is a military derivative of the Boeing 737-800 that commercial passengers fly in all over the world. The P-8 carries 130 sonobuoys and uses the advanced electronic warfare support & protection (EWSP) platform to control all of its warfare systems. The P-8 can fly higher, faster and further than the P-3, and even loiter like a P-3 at extremely low altitudes with efficient fuel management.

The “Stoke” in the USAF C-17 Globemaster III. The word “stoke” is short for the “stick on a yoke” which is how the C-17 is controlled. The C-17 is the only cargo aircraft that has a fighter pilot stick for control. The stoke has to be desensitized because it can roll the aircraft fast enough to over torque the airframe.  That’s one reason why the C-17 is so maneuverable.

The MQ-8C  Firescout. The Firescout is a Bell Jet Ranger converted into an autonomous drone helicopter. Another remotely piloted vehicle.  The various branches of the military, and law enforcement agencies, use RPV’s ranging from hand-launched to full size aircraft.

The jet-engine school bus being chased by Dracula. As part of the multi-aircraft “Immortals” display, we watched the Dracula biplane chase the jet-engine school bus until the bus driver stepped on the gas to 300MPH.

The beautiful livery on Fat Albert gleaming in the sun. The word “livery” is the term aviation uses for the “paint job” on the aircraft. The livery painted on the Blue Angels C-130 is second to none for its aesthetics. There was also a Navy helicopter with the Jaguars Football Team livery on it.

The F-22 Raptor aerial display. We watched the aircraft do a power loop with thrust vectoring, a minimum velocity vertical climb ending with a tail slide, and a 360° flat turn. Absolutely amazing!

The tight formation heritage fly-by with a P-51 Mustang and the F-22 Raptor. There was a very small 74-year gap between the wing tips.

The comfort of an extraordinarily well coordinated event. The security, medical and logistical support teams planned well for the event that was expecting approximately 250,000 people.  Twelve local agencies were working together to ensure everyone’s safety and security. Everyone who attended was checked or monitored at the entryways, and reinforcements were readily visible which served to create “incident deterrence.” It’s a shame we have to be concerned with such things whenever we have large gatherings, but my family and I certainly felt a lot more secure with all these pro-active measures in place.

3.) Because you may see something historic occur.

At this show, we observed four things that were both historic and eventful. The “Thunder-Angel” static display. A USAF Thunderbird jet and a Navy Blue Angels jet were in static display parked right next to each other.  I’ve never seen that occur at an air show before; the new USN P-8 Poseidon. We watched it perform its first air show demonstration. It was particularly poignant to see a fly-by with both the P-8 and P-3 in formation; the river filled with so many boating spectators. They were so packed together, you could almost walk from shore to shore on top of them; the Metlife “Snoopy 1” blimp. We watched the blimp deftly do a steep climb from low altitude, and round out on the top with a tight 360° turn, and dive back down to about 50-75ft above the runway. Then it proceeded to drag-race a jet powered doghouse down the runway. The dog house was operated with a Snoopy character sitting on top of it. This has never been done before, and you might never see it again. As the younger generation says, “This was way cool!”

4.) Because it could be an opportunity for you to earn extra income, or even start a new career.
I attended air shows for years before I realized the opportunities that were being shown to me for extra income or a career change. For example, one of the fastest growing areas in aviation right now is the remotely piloted vehicle. You can get a college degree in it (although it’s not a requirement), and because you’re on the cusp of a new industry, there are great opportunities. At this particular show you could have talked to the actual pilots to get a feel for it. One pilot told me that he spends the day keeping our ground troops safe from injury, and then he gets to go home for supper every night. What a great job!

At an air show you can get up close and personal with a variety of different aircraft such as helicopters, sailplanes, hot air balloons, aerobatic aircraft, corporate aircraft, and even some commercial airliners. You can talk with civilian, military and law enforcement pilots.

There are various ancillary aviation opportunities. The jet-powered school bus is an example. The Blue Angels simulation ride is another. With a little creativity, you could become the next showstopper. You could even design a new kit-built aircraft and sell the plans or the kit. An air show or a fly-in is a natural event for aviation and aerial photography, or journalism, or even a food truck. The opportunities abound, but you’ll have to go to the air shows to stimulate your entrepreneurial vision.

There were several technical schools and colleges with display booths. Those schools cost anywhere from $26,000 to $250,000, depending upon whether you want blue collar training or a white collar degree. A lot of the technical schools have placement programs and a lot of the colleges have scholarship programs. Both educational programs offer you skills that pay very well in aviation.

The USN Blue Angels are primarily a recruiting platform designed to encourage young high school and college graduates to join the Navy. The other military branches key in on this and provide displays for the same reasons. These are not exactly aviation products, but it certainly shows the variety of things you can experience at some of the larger air shows, which makes the event even more interesting.

As a career inducement, you could have seen and handled the following equipment:

• The Remington XM-2010, 300 win mag. advanced sniper rifle with a Butler Creek 5-25X56 scope, and a flash/sound suppressor. You read and hear so much about sniper rifles, this was an opportunity to actually handle one and sight down the scope. Now when you read about one, you’ll know what they’re talking about. The military booths had several types on display.
• The 1165A1 Uparmored Humvee Combat Operations Vehicle. This is a vehicle designed as a self-supporting fast mover. It is fully armored, and contains food, first aid supplies, munitions, internal fire suppression, with a top speed of 80MPH, and it will continue to operate with flat tires. The rear deck has a full complement of crew operated weapons.
• The Mark 47 Belt Fed Grenade Launcher. This device has an IR camera with a laser range finder. It fires a 40MM grenade with pinpoint accuracy.

5.) Because you’ll see some of the most incredible flying you’ll ever see anywhere in the world.

Whether it’s Patty Wagstaff, Sean Tucker, or even the Blue Angels, you’ll see precision and intricate maneuvers that sometimes seem to defy aeronautical physics.

You don’t always get to see “never before seen maneuvers,” but almost all of the pilots have at least one “specialty.”  A maneuver not often seen, or one that only they do, and they have practiced it so much that they make it seem easy and natural. It’s very exciting when you see those done.

So there you have it For a very low price you get visual amazement, career inspiration, what’s new & different, a full day of entertainment, a great place to take the kids and grandkids, the opportunity to introduce friends to the realm of aviation, a safe and secure environment, and at some air shows, the opportunity to actually fly in world war II and other significant aircraft. Oh, and did I forget to mention the night air shows with aircraft spewing pyrotechnics and the daytime shows with exploding ground ordnance as aircraft make simulated bombing runs across the field. One show that I know of takes place on a beach and has a simulated attack from the sea with landing crafts and hover crafts disembarking from ships, and low flying jets and helicopters, ending with a beach assault as the landing crafts deposit their troops and ground attack vehicles.

As you can see, there are many, many facets to an air show. With that in mind, I guess I’ll see you at the next show. Right? And be sure to bring your non-flying friends.

(Images provided by the author)

FMI: www.airshows.aero