Jones Beach Airshow 2009

[Fighting_falcon_51]

Wow, moose the pic is a gem.

[Fighting_falcon_51]

Ok, I went today and the show was amazing here are some quick notes:

Weather: I felt like I was in the perfect storm, it was very windy if you plan on going on Sunday bring a jacket and maybe even sweat pants.

The Golden Knights had to cancel the jump because wind speeds exceeded 22MPH, they did do two quick low passes

Despite the high winds the 106th and the Red Bull AF were able to jump

Ed Hamill did not fly, it may be because of engine trouble.

The schdule for the planes appearance is incorrect but it is correct that the 106th closed the show

Because of heavy winds the show started a half an hour late

Despite John Klatt's cancelation the ANG still had a recruiting booth

The F-18 demo was the legacy demo

There will be a static display of the 106th's Pavehawk near the west bath house

They did mention the accident over fire island with Bob Baranaskas and it was his sons first airshow since the accident

They did sell the official Airshow program at the retail shops near the restrooms

If you plan on going get there early and park at lot 6.

The Thunderbirds music had a lot of transformers music I was star scream to come.lol

Thats about it did anyone know what happened to the missing planes.

[moose135]

Chris Baranaskas made his first show appearance since the loss of his father - he kept the Mustang down on the deck on departure :shock:

[ch2tdriver]

quote "The F-18 demo was the legacy demo"

Square Loop! It was def the Super Bug! Unless you mean the Leagacy Flight with the Corsair?

Moose, You should have been at the beach...the F-18 repeated the vapor performance during the hi speed run and this time the cone lasted for a good run of the crowd line! It was the first time I saw that at a show ever and I wasn't taking video at the time.

I am soooo glad the weather worked out the way it did with clear skies. Yeah the wind could have been a lot less and the left side of my face is like numb right now. That is my only complaint. Snowbirds and T-birds shows were awesome as were the Horsemen.

I'll try to post some video when I can. I may try and get to FRG tomorrow.

Pete

[fk6065]

Moose unbelievable, from the old tower?

[cancidas]

Eric Tucker did not fly, the reason is unknown

eric isn't on the tour this year.

Ed Hamill did not fly, the reason is unknown

ed had engine trouble earlier in the week, could still be the problem.

[Fighting_falcon_51]

Square Loop! It was def the Super Bug! Unless you mean the Leagacy Flight with the Corsair?

Yes thats what I meant if it was just the super hornet it would be the Tac Demo

LEGACY
In addition to high-performance demonstrations with a single aircraft, VFA-106 also participates in "Legacy" shows in which Super Hornets fly in formation with classic warbirds like the F-4U Corsair and F6F Hellcat. Legacy shows provide a unique comparison between where the past and present and provide some great photo opportunities.

Moose, You should have been at the beach...the F-18 repeated the vapor performance during the hi speed run and this time the cone lasted for a good run of the crowd line! It was the first time I saw that at a show ever and I wasn't taking video at the time.

Yeah, that was awesome

I am soooo glad the weather worked out the way it did with clear skies. Yeah the wind could have been a lot less and the left side of my face is like numb right now. That is my only complaint. Snowbirds and T-birds shows were awesome as were the Horsemen.

It worked out good but I am sooooo bummed about the Golden Knights.

Also another thing that ticked me off is that they played O Canada before the National Anthem.

I'll try to post some video when I can. I may try and get to FRG tomorrow.

Pete[/quote]

[Fighting_falcon_51]

Eric Tucker did not fly, the reason is unknown

eric isn't on the tour this year.

I saw the Extra 300 fly in, who was flying it?

Ed Hamill did not fly, the reason is unknown

[quote:2b0w9rgk]ed had engine trouble earlier in the week, could still be the problem.

[/quote:2b0w9rgk]

Ouch that stinks, atleast I saw him on Thursday.

[Gerard]

>Also another thing that ticked me off is that they played O Canada before the National Anthem.<

So why would that tick you off? It was in honor of the Snowbirds I would believe and the Canadiens are
an ally of us. Please, dont be narrow-minded about that.

[cancidas]

I saw the Extra 300 fly in, who was flying it?

the extra comes along on the tour mostly for media rides. i'm not sure who is flying it, although i know who ferries it from show to show. i also know the Pitts and Seneca ferry pilots very well too...

[Fighting_falcon_51]

I saw the Extra 300 fly in, who was flying it?

the extra comes along on the tour mostly for media rides. i'm not sure who is flying it, although i know who ferries it from show to show. i also know the Pitts and Seneca ferry pilots very well too...

Oh, ok thanks for clearing that up.

[heeshung]

I now have exactly 959 photos to sort through. I did some preliminary editing and here they are:

[Big Tim #70]

What a great day! The weather was amazing and the views were perfect. The wind was a bit much but that also provided for some great flying. Some of the low speed maneuvers were amazing thanks to it.

Here is my .02 on the show, it’s a little long but I broke it up by performer so read the ones you’re interested in.

Matty Chapman looked great from the Parkway. Those dopes in the booths were moving like they were in slow motion and it took us an hour to get from Freeport to the beach. I was bummed out that I couldn’t see the display up close as he puts on a great show every time and he didn’t disappoint yesterday.

Ed Hamil was a no show, I think he had engine problems this week and it appears he just couldn’t get them ironed out in time. Hopefully he’ll get up today.

The Warbirds were great as always but the really nice surprise was to see Chris flying Glamorous Gal for the first time in a show since the untimely passing of his father a few weeks back. A few of us were speaking at the practice show and apparently Snort went and got Glamorous Gal from Brookhaven and brought it to Republic but we weren’t sure who was going to fly her for the show. It wasn’t quite the same without Bob flying escort in his P-40 but I’m sure he was looking down on Chris and smiling. He was and will continue to be missed.

Reesman was great in the Mig. It was a treat for me as it was the first time I witnessed a Mig 17 flying. Chuck Aaron in the Helo was really cool too. I’ve never seen a Helo go inverted so to see one do it on purpose was pretty neat. The Red bull Parachute Jumpers were absolutely insane. They bailed out over what appeared to be Tobay, free fell for 1000’, then after pulling chutes, screamed into the drop zone. Fantastic!

It was also my first time being able to see Dave Windmiller perform in a show. It’s really too bad he doesn’t perform more than he does because he puts one heck of a show. Very high speed, very high G, very original & exciting. I saw that he’s performing in Ocean City, maybe we could get him to give Dave Schultz a call and get him into Atlantic City. Just saying…

Skytypers did their usual precise flying. I love the sound of those SNJ’s as they fly overhead, it’s unmistakable.

The Horsemen were a real treat to watch. As with the Skytypers, there is something special about the sound of a P-51 roaring in at low altitude and to see these guys doing formation loops and dives was really awesome. I’m a big time fan now and I can’t wait to see them perform again in the near future. I also made a trip to the ASB tent to buy a Horsemen hat where I ran into Ed Shipley’s son. He hadn’t heard about the water tower that had been renamed after his dad & Beasley so I filled him in on the story. He laughed and assured me he would “inquire” about it with his father. On a side note, Wade Boggs made sure he clarified to the Horsemen when they were in a holding pattern to hang out over the Beasley/Shipley water tower.

Sean D was really on point today as well. He was one of the performers that the high winds really helped his display. The highlights for me were him holding the “Harrier” for what seemed like forever. When he also did his “Get to know the crowd” pass, he was so low & slow that you could count the hairs on his head. I think he was actually at eye level with the boardwalk. He does things with that plane that one should not be able to do. Amazing as always.

The Super Bug was as impressive as ever. Again, the high winds helped out some of the routine, especially the High Alpha Pass. He brought that thing down show line with a 33 degree angle of attack, moving forward at 72 knots. To see an aircraft like a Hornet that close, moving that slow was really cool, but then he plugged in the afterburners and I think he could have set off car alarms in Long Beach! The High Speed pass was one of the coolest ones I’ve ever seen as well with a vapor cone forming back by the West Bath house and carrying through most of the show line.

The A-10 is on of my favorite demos and I was glad to see it back this year. When he does his simulated strafing runs, you can just hear that thing screaming and imagine what it must be like to be on the ground and see/hear that thing coming in on you. The turning radius on that machine is amazing as well. The added Chrome for the demo really showed up nicely in the sun yesterday too.

I felt bad for the 106th. Yesterday’s weather conditions weren’t real conducive to them doing a good SAR demo. The jumpers got blown pretty far to the West and the helo was way down by the West Bathhouse for the extraction. I love seeing the HC-130 doing low orbits though, you can feel the concussion from the Props turning when they fly that close to the deck.

The Snowbirds were absolutely incredible. They did some of the best precision flying I’ve ever seen and they did Cross after Cross after Cross… I love the 9 jet teams like the Snowbirds & Red Arrows, when they fly in formation, they just look so majestic. My Father in law said they looked like a Big ol’ 747-400 turning towards the East. They also had a couple of tight passes where from our vantage point, it looked as if was 1 jet but in fact it was 3-4. They were so tight, you couldn’t even see the trailers. It’s really cool to have them here at the Beach and to see that 9 ship formation fly inbound over the Water Tower was breathtaking.
Speaking of Breathtaking, the Thunderbirds are in midseason form. Now that they have the new Block-52’s, they are really using the added power to do some maneuvers they couldn’t do in the past. They also use the new louder AB’s for 2-3 nice Sneak passes which made people all around me jump and drop their drinks. It looked like 5 may have been a little late getting to the Bomb Burst but he made up and by the time cross happened, he was right there. Another stellar High Alpha Pass into AB which shook your insides. I also loved seeing 5 & 6 split the water tower and would have loved to get up on that scaffolding to watch the show. The workers there on Friday had the best view.


Hopefully I’ll get to the airport today to do some spotting. I have to go put some aloe on my red shoulders & face now…

[Gerard]

>Moose, You should have been at the beach...the F-18 repeated the vapor performance during the hi speed run and this time the cone lasted for a good run of the crowd line! It was the first time I saw that at a show ever and I wasn't taking video at the time.<

My youngest son went today and he told me that the F-18 vapor performance was one of the coolest parts of the show. It
definitely brought in the "ooohs" and "ahhhhhs" from the huge crowd.

[cancidas]

that is by far one of the nicest shots of the set you posted! smoke on plus vapor is a great plus. kudos!