Thunderbirds At Intrepid Monday/Tuesday

[Gerard]

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/...m_above_t.html

In an attempt keep New Yorkers from jumping out of their skins, the Air Force made a point Wednesday of alerting the city - ahead of time - that two F-16s will be buzzing the West Side of Manhattan on Monday from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Specifically, jets from the famed Thunderbirds aerobatic team will make multiple flyovers above the Intrepid.


The jets will be back on Tuesday, starting the air show at 10:35 a.m., to kick off Air Force Week.


Then on Wednesday, at 11 a.m., the New York National Guard 106th Rescue Wing will land a HH-60 Pavehawk chopper on the Intrepid.


It will remain there - on the helipad - until 4 p.m., when it's due to take off and return to its base.

[Big Tim #70]

Anybody going in?

With 3 airshows in 1 week, the wifey may not be all that keen on me taking a trip into the city to see a few flyovers.

[Gerard]

Anybody going in?
With 3 airshows in 1 week, the wifey may not be all that keen on me taking a trip into the city to see a few flyovers.

LOL. I have a 1:30 Greyhound to AC and thought about going in early to check it out but decided not to.

[Chris S]

It's nice to see the Thunderbirds are doing the flyovers at the Intrepid,
for Air Force Week in NYC now, since the Coney Island Show was canceled.

[PhilDernerJr]

Anyone that is interested in or able to take photos of this, we're interested in making an article/gallery of it, so please contact me and we'll see what can be arranged.

[Speedbird1]

I'll try to come on Monday. Remember admission to the Intrepid Pier is free but you can only visit the Pier and not board the Concorde or the Museum. You can freely walk all around and under the Concorde; I've done it many, many times. This is hardly a replacement for the canceled air show but better than nothing. It's to commemorate Air Force Week.

[Speedbird1]

Just our luck, the weather forecast for both Monday and Tuesday sucks. Will the F-16's do their fly-overs with a low ceiling? I hope so. Both days are supposed to be cloudy with a good chance of rain. It's pouring rain right-now. Can the F-16's fly over Manhattan in these conditions? I'll go anyway to the Pier; if it pours the Concorde's Delta Wings will keep me dry. What a bummer! What's the minimum ceiling these aircraft require? Too bad it wasn't like this on 9-11-01; maybe the hijacked planes would have missed their targets and put down into the Hudson.

[Gerard]

So??? Any reports?

[eric8669]

With the weather and the LIRR problems I decided not to make the trip in.

[Matt Molnar]

I have a pretty clear view of the Intrepid from my office, went to the window at 3:00pm...saw a Chinook flying down the river, but waited until 3:30 and didn't see any F-16s, so I gave up. The weather was probably above minimums over Manhattan at the time, but it was very on and off and who knows where they were staging from. I'm guessing they didn't make it into the air.

I had forgotten to bring my camera anyway, might give it another shot in the morning if weather cooperates.

[Speedbird1]

I foolishly went to the Intrepid Pier on Monday waiting for the F-16's which never came. I got soaking wet and the guards thought I was nuts for my attempt. It wasn't a total loss as I used Concorde G-BOAD as my umbrella, however the wind gusts was blowing the rain on me. I then proceeded to Battery Park and waited there. The rain had stopped and the visibility and ceiling was good enough that I was clearly able to see EWR departures from Battery Park. They were departing from Rwy 4L and turning westbound. There was no reason therefore for the F-16's to cancel unless it was the wind gusts. I won't waste another day waiting for them on Tuesday as the forecast is for another foggy day. I don't have a car so it's no picnic to get to the Intrepid, especially on rainy days.

[Gerard]

THanks guys.

[Speedbird1]

We got fooled. NBC showed videos of the F-16's in formation flying over the Intrepid on Tuesday. Due to the rain and fog, I figured it would be canceled. So much for seeing the Thunderbirds here. Maybe Coney Island can raise the required $6000 fee so they could do they show next summer.

[Speedbird1]

Although the Thunderbirds abruptly canceled their anticipated air show over Coney Island this weekend, they had a nice exhibit at the Intrepid Pier this week near the Concorde. I went yesterday and it was quite crowded.They gave-out nice booklets which include the various maneuveurs they include during the shows. The booklet also features min-bios of the stunt pilots. Other exhibitors included an actual drone flown by remote control. They also handed-out pens shaped like aircraft and other "goodies" and posters. Unfortunately, the USAF ROTC ran-out of free ROTC caps. The highlight was seeing a USAF drill team doing their routine which lasted almost 30 minutes. They later posed for photo ops. I was disappointed that there was no chopper show, air-sea rescue demo or any chopper landings. I was glad to see a long line of guys waiting on line to board the British Concorde. I also noted aircraft from EWR could be seen west of the Hudson making their turns after departing from Rwy 4L. For the youngsters, they could handle the weapons, sit on tanks and there was even a stage where the USAF band played hard rock. Admission to the pier, as usual, was free and there was no wait.

[Speedbird1]

I returned to the Intrepid Pier on Thursday after missing the fly-over on Tuesday. The Thunderbirds had a booth and I complained to the guy in charge but he didn't know why the air show had been canceled. He gave me a booklet about the air show (which I never saw). There was lots of Air Force booths on the pier and lots of freebies but no fly-overs or chopper demos. The USAF Drill Team performed a great show at 2:30. Glad I went; I almost skipped it.