Thunder Over The Boardwalk - August 17th 2012

[moose135]

OK. And the Hoizon BCBS Blimp demo kicks things off. These guys are tearing the place up

I remember a few years ago, it was so humid, even these guys were pulling vapor...

[fk6065]

So far no F-15's , only 1 pass from th NJ ANG F-16's, no USN Greyhound, only 2 USCG Dolphins and the USCG C-130 made 2 high passes during the rescue demo and if you didn't look up you missed it.

[fk6065]

Bone sighted

[moose135]

That's what she said...

[fk6065]

One lame pass from the B1. No demo

[fk6065]

Thunderbirds demo seemed short.

[Gerard]

Thunderbirds demo seemed short.

It definitely was. Just a little over 20 minutes and the ending was like....WTF? What happened?Up to that point they
were good but with gaps. No high show for the most part but 2 high speed passes that did scare the crap out of everyone!! But a short show is better than none!
Black Diamond soloist KICKED BUTT with those nap of the earth runs!!

[AJ]

I agree, the Thunderbirds display was mediocre, the B-1 passes were nice but not enough. My favorite of the day were the F-4's and the F-4/P-51 flyby. The P-51 and Spitfire solos were great.

The 787 formation flyby was fantastic..... what? Nobody stayed for the 5:00 p.m. flyby?

AJ

[fk6065]

Well compared to the other years I have been to Atlantic City this year's show was by far the most disappointing in my opinion.

First the lighting was horrible. Just aweful haze. The wind was off the ocean and kept the beach cool but was steady and strong enough to carry all the smoke from the performers onto the beach. Going to be tough to get keepers from this one, especially the morning performers.

Two, The F-16 flyby was only one pass this year and no single ship passes. Usually the home town F-16's make a few passes.

Three, no F-15 Eagles, never showed.

Four, no USCG MH-60 in the SAR demo. Never flew. Just the two Dolphins, which did a nice demo as always.

Fifth, during the USCG SAR Demo the USCG C-130 made two high passes over the SAR demo. If you didn't look up from the dem you missed the C-130.

Sixth, the USN SeaHawk fly by was one pass from behind the show over the beach, out to sea and gone. Oh well.

Seventh, the US Navy Greyhound never showed.

Eigth, the amount of smoke from the Skytyper vs Speedboat race just wiped out the beach for a good 5 minutes.

Ninth, the B-1 was the "Surprise demo." and was lame. He came in from behind the show went out over the ocean, broke to the left made a large loop and made one pass from left to right in some of the worst haze and smoke you have ever seen.

Tenth, the Thunderbirds were up for about 25 mins tops. First shot in camera shows 3:03PM, last one shows 3:28PM. nd they just seemed to stop the demo short, it looked unfinished. Plus aside from two high speed passes a very tame show, they didn't tear the place up at all.

Eleventh, THE GOOD:

- Demos from Jim Beasley in the P-51 and Spitfire were just outstanding. What wonderful performances to watch and enjoy.

-Demo from the Black Diamonds was just outstanding too. Great low speed passes, tight formations. Very enjoyable.

- Two F-4 Phantoms always great to see and paired withthe P-51 was a nice Heritage flight.

- Easy in and out, light traffic out of the city in 10 minutes. Absolutely no crowd at show center.

This is my 8th year going dwon to Atlantic City and in my opinion it was the weakest show i have been too. Very disappointing overall.

Some pictures later on.

[AJ]

If I may;



Aj

[eric8669]

here are my shots from the airshow
http://southpawcaptures.com/my-blog/...-city-air-show

The Thunderbird shots are from Yesterday's Practice as today they had some issues. No High Show, they missed a cross and one went mechanical. I talked to one of the members of the Thunderbird team and according to her they only didn't perform 4 maneuvers, but to me it seemed like a lot more.

[fk6065]

By the way the aircraft that flew into AC the other afternoon which I thought may have been the surprise for the show were 2 A-10's.

Maybe they were making a stop on their way to the Maryland ANG

[Fighting_falcon_51]

Even though most of this has been covered here are some show notes:

- F-15 flybys canceled they "couldn't spare the jets"
- USCG MH-60 Demo canceled
- USCG C-130J flyby was high altitude
- Navy C-2A flyby canceled
- Navy T-6 Texan flyby canceled
- Thunderbirds cut short due to birdstrike

Even though it wasn't the best Atlantic City Airshow, I am happy at ANY airshow. Plus seeing things I'll probably never get to see again like the 2 F-4's and P-51 was worth going within itself.

[Gerard]

Even though it wasn't the best Atlantic City Airshow, I am happy at ANY airshow. Plus seeing things I'll probably never get to see again like the 2 F-4's and P-51 was worth going within itself.

Kenny I totally agree with you!! I couldnt have said it better. Well maybe later when I post my thoughts!! LOL!!

[Fighting_falcon_51]

I'm looking at my pictures and it looks like the 177th had AMRAAM's onboard. Is it typical for non-demo teams to fly at airshows with ordnance on board? I'm not knocking them I'm just wondering.