In a planned showing of entertainment, Queens and Bronx residents were treated to some roars from the sky at about 1:30pm this afternoon when two F/A-18C’s performed a high-speed flyby at La Guardia Airport.
These two Hornets painted in adversary blue are from the VFC-12 squadron based out of Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach, VA. They are in town for Saturday’s Kiwanis Club Kids Day, to be held near the Marine Air Terminal.
None of that "Negative, Ghost Rider, the pattern is full," garbage here! The two F/A-18C's tear past LGA Tower. (Photo by Phil Derner, Jr.)
Having flown from Knoxville today and pre-approved for the flyby, the planes got in line to land just like everyone else that flies to New York, except for being paired in tight formation. While on the normal Expressway Visual 31 approach to LGA, the jets made the final left bank hard and picked up speed, flying about 100ft above the runway at hundreds of miles per hour before climbing higher and turning right over the Bronx.
They then made a slow right turn, ascending to about 2,500ft at boring, normal airliner speed, and headed west over the airport to get in line to land again behind other airliners over Brooklyn.
On their second approach they remained in tight formation, but the two jets stayed high over the runway and then one of them make a hard right turn towards College Point (known as a carrier break), making a full circle to get back behind runway 31 for a third time, this time to land, with the second aircraft doing the same seconds later for separation.
If you would like to get up-close to see these planes and meet the pilots, come by the Kiwanis Club Kids Day event at LGA, where they will be only part of the many aircraft and exhibits on display, free of charge for all.
(Photo Gallery by Phil Derner, Jr.)
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