McGuire AFB Air Show on 6/4 and 6/5

[jakbar]

Anybody going to this show? Eric and I are heading down for one of the days, and we are gonna hook up with Steve "The Airshow Guru" Holzinger when we get there. If anyone else is interested in meeting up, shoot me an e-mail, call my cell (917-660-7871) or post a reply here. The weather is supposed to be nice both days, so my preference will be to go on Saturday so that we can shoot over to Philly afterwards for some dinner. Cheesesteaks....mmmmm.... I gotta confer with Eric, though, as to which day he prefers.

The Jones Beach airshow last weekend really got me excited about airshows again. I hadn't been to one in a really long time, but they really are fun. Plus, now that I have some good camera equipment, I am really looking forward to getting some nice shots of some of my favorite military planes.

Josh

P.S. - Here's the link to the airshow's site: http://public.mcguire.amc.af.mil/airshow/. The list of performers looks great, as does the list of static aircraft.

[cancidas]

josh i'd love to go. i need a day or so to see if i can get someone to cover me at work. i'll give you a call once i know for sure. by the way, i'm glad you liked sean's performance. the guy amazes me every time i watch it...

[jakbar]

Matt...I'm not sure whether we'll have room in the car. Do you have access to a car? You should probably plan on driving, but we can certainly go down as a caravan. I'll post here when I know what day we're going.

Sean Tucker was really just amazing. I have never seen an airplane (except the Harrier) behave like a helicopter.

[Steven Holzinger]

I will be at McGuire both days... so if you guys are actually considering going to Philly for dinner, you could swing by my place, since I am right between McGuire and Philly.

[eric8669]

Saturday is good for me, Philly sounds like a great Idea.


Eric

[jakbar]

Cool...let's plan on Saturday, then.

Eric, let's talk later in the week about driving (i.e., your car or mine). I'm familiar with Philly's streets having spent three years living there during law school, but I don't know how to get to McGuire AFB. I also don't know how early we'll need to leave....the gates open at 9am and the opening ceremony is at 11am. I think it would be a good idea to get there as early as possible so that we can get better shots of the static aircraft (i.e., not as many people cluttering the shots).

[moose135]

I plan to be there one of the two days - probably Saturday, but it depends on whether a friend comes along, may have to do Sunday. I'll know more later in the week - hope to see you there!

[DNA]

I will be there on Saturday. :P

[FlyingColors]

Did someone say......Cheesesteaks!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! :arrow: :shock:

[markg]

I'll be there Sunday. The weather is supposed to be better on Sunday.

Mark

[jakbar]

The weather is supposed to be better on Sunday.

Thank goodness you posted that, as I hadn't checked the weather forecast in a few days. The weather report is now actually forecasting rain for Saturday, but mostly sunny, with a high of 85 degrees, for Sunday. If the weather report still looks like that tomorrow afternoon, Eric and I will likely go down on Sunday instead (Eric - I remember you saying that either day worked for you).

I'll post again tomorrow after Eric and I decide which day we're gonna go.

[Steven Holzinger]

Everyone is saying rain in the morning on Saturday, with Sunday looking to be the better of the two days.

[cancidas]

so did anyone go? we had RN friday night and yeaterday was beautiful when it came to the wx. today was just dumb hot, i think i lost about 10 pound in sweat in the bagroom....

[DNA]

I was there on Saturday. The show was fantastic. Lots close up shots. :P :P

[jakbar]

A few of us went on Sunday, and it was a fantastic show. Lots of great shots of the static aircraft. I finally got to use my 12-24mm lens for some up close and personal shots....of a C-5, a B-52, etc. Wow! And those Blue Angels were f***'in amazing.

But then there's the issue of the sun beating down on us all day without reprieve. All of us look like tomatoes. And of course it didn't help that McGuire's personnel can't empty a parking lot for the life of them....we sat in traffic for so damn long.

All in all, it was time well spent even if we may not be able to venture out into the sun for another week.

Josh

[DNA]

Josh, I was there looking for you on Saturday.
Dave

[jakbar]

Josh, I was there looking for you on Saturday.
Dave

I hope you didn't run into me, because I wasn't there (see the various posts above in this thread). :)

[DNA]

Josh, I was there looking for you on Saturday.
Dave

I hope you didn't run into me, because I wasn't there (see the various posts above in this thread). :)
Too bad I didn't check the updated note. I just bought a 18-125mm Sigma. It's great.
Dave :lol:

[Steven Holzinger]

At the time I took these pictures (from my dad's Minolta Z1), I did not realize that a certain photographer appeared in both...

http://www.stevesairshow.com/2005shows/mcguire-digital/b-52-static-10.jpg

http://www.stevesairshow.com/2005shows/mcguire-digital/kc-135-static-10.jpg

[Futterman]

Damn! You can even see his sunburn! Funny how I can feel it, too. ;)

The show was nothing short of awesome.

[IslipWN]

Sounds like it was a great time! How long was it each day?

[jakbar]

The gates opened at 9am and the last performance (ended at 4pm). However, the traffic was quite bad, as was the line for security, so even though we pulled into the McGuire AFB area around 9:30, we weren't in the show until closer to 10:15. We wandered around and took lots of pictures of the static aircraft (there was really a great selection), occasionally stopping to grab some shade underneath a DC-10 (or whatever the military guys call it) or inside a C-17. It was so fun. Other than the Blue Angels, which stole the show, the best part of the show was between 4:15 and 5:15, when everybody was leaving. We opted to walk the opposite direction and take more pictures of the static aircraft, this time with far less obstructions (i.e., people camped out on lawn chairs underneath the planes). We all got some insane closeup shots of the heavy birds (C-5, B-52, etc.) as well as some nice closeups of some of the smaller birds.

I'd do it again next year for sure. Maybe Mother Nature will bring a few clouds next time, though. My sunburn hurts like hell.

Josh