Author Topic: Blue Angles in town (Read 597 times)

Serapis · « **on:** August 17, 2001, 11:12:00 AM »

Well, just heard the Blue Angles (or is it the Thunderbirds this year?) rattle the windows getting ready for the airshow this weekend. Going to have to move the Home Office outside this afternoon I see

Charon

Yoj · « **Reply #1 on:** August 17, 2001, 12:10:00 PM »

The Blues were here two weeks ago. As often as I see them I never fail to enjoy their show. The best was two years ago when I watched them from the B-29 restoration site where I volunteer. They were parked less than 100 feet away and I could watch from the time they marched out and began pre-flight.

Anyway, may you have clear skies and at least a 10K ceiling - it should be fun.

- Yoj

Serapis · « **Reply #2 on:** August 17, 2001, 12:18:00 PM »

Quote

Anyway, may you have clear skies and at least a 10K ceiling - it should be fun.
Yoj

Thanks Yoj, and I migh add "calm seas." I go out with my parents on their boat to watch off shore, and last year the lake was rolling a bit too much. When the boat was moving everything was fine, but whe the anchor was dropped -- we all lasted about five mnutes

P.S. The Con looked like it was a success this year from what I can tell. Great job.

Charon

pugg666 · « **Reply #3 on:** August 17, 2001, 12:29:00 PM »

saw the Blue angels up here in montreal a few years ago...very nice show

especially when they distract you with the 4 ship formation and then the 2 ship sneaks up behind you and does a nice buzz job

saw the thunderbirds at the old platsburg AFB a few years ago....not too impressive.
but they did fly over the hotel we where staying in they're practice runs, so that wasn't to bad

[ 08-17-2001: Message edited by: pugg666 ]

Yoj · « **Reply #4 on:** August 20, 2001, 10:13:00 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by Charon:

The Con looked like it was a success this year from what I can tell. Great job.

Charon

Thanks Charon. It went very well (though there was a LOT of behind-the-scenes panic, which I guess is normal for these things). The only regret I have is that more people couldn't make it - the dinner at the Museum of Flight and Robin Olds' speech were really memorable.

- Yoj

Serapis · « **Reply #5 on:** August 20, 2001, 01:44:00 PM »

Well, the Airshow was a bust this year, at least for me. Small craft advisory kept the lake action from happening and the weather (rainy and low cloud deck) did the rest. I've seen plenty of Chicago airshows in the past and will see more in the future, so I decided to take a pass on this year's.

The show has gone down hill for me anyway since they closed the local Glenview Naval Airstation where most of the military types staged from. Bunch of unaffordable housing now, what a waste

You could go hang out about 1000 yards off the end of the runway on a railroad embankment (you could get closer, but it was by a main road and had more distraction and less privacy for recreational consumption

) and catch the planes in their takeoff and landing patterns up close and personal. Nothing like a gears-up B-52 thundering overhead at about a thousand feet.

Many of the show groups would put on a small show for the 2,000 or so people hanging out at the end of the runway by the main road. One year, the Italian team hit their smoke when landing and blanked the crowd. Of course, they laid a smokescreen across a four-lane road as well but fortunately no accidents resulted!

Charon

[ 08-20-2001: Message edited by: Charon ]

Greese · « **Reply #6 on:** August 20, 2001, 02:54:00 PM »

I agree sitting at the end of a runway is best. I watched the Blues twice from a parking lot near the end of the Hillsboro Airport runway. The best spot ever.

The Thunderbirds are allright, but the best show I think I've seen was the Oregon Air NAtional Guard in their F-4's several years ago. I miss those f-4's....

-Greese

Yoj · « **Reply #7 on:** August 20, 2001, 04:06:00 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Charon:
Nothing like a gears-up B-52 thundering overhead at about a thousand feet.

[ 08-20-2001: Message edited by: Charon ]

I dunno - gets boring after a while. I lived under a SAC scramble pattern when I was in High School. Having eight or more coming over at 1-2K at random times (including 4:00AM) detracts somewhat from their charm.

Its a shame you didn't get good conditions. We took a group up to Abbottsford during the Con, and the weather was fantastic - except for being in the nineties, which was awfully hot for this area. Still, clear blue and calm. Had some nice shows, too, including a B-1B, an AV8B, a nice F-18F Super Hornet demo, an F-15 which did a fly-past with a Mustang, and a Sea Fury. It was short on war birds, unfortunately. For me, though, the scene stealer was the Waco with a T-38 engine strapped on the bottom. Power-to-weight ratio was ABSURD! Just as we were leaving, he was joing back up with a Wing Walker!!

- Yoj

Serapis · « **Reply #8 on:** August 20, 2001, 07:34:00 PM »

Quote

Waco with a T-38 engine strapped on the bottom. Power-to-weight ratio was ABSURD! yoj

You're kidding me.

Charon

Cobra · « **Reply #9 on:** August 20, 2001, 10:10:00 PM »

Nope, its true....

And that wing walker gets up there and stands on top of that wing with that jet just a purring.

He'll pull the prop all the way back and just let the jet push it around for a while.

Cobra

mrfish · « **Reply #10 on:** August 20, 2001, 10:19:00 PM »

they are trying to ban the practice week here. as it is they buzz the skyscrapers downtown and no on gets anything done. i think its great but employers dont agree - tight bastids - i doubt they will get anywhere though everyone loves the blue angels here

leonid · « **Reply #11 on:** August 20, 2001, 10:24:00 PM »

I think the coolest thing I ever saw was the Concorde doing a fly-by over Waikiki Beach. It was like watching Star Wars. And, boy, are those things loud. Yup, Star Wars

Yoj · « **Reply #12 on:** August 22, 2001, 02:27:00 PM »

One year in Toronto I went down to the CNE (Canadian National Exhibition) Airshow partly because they were featuring a Concorde flyby. However, the day I went the Concorde was cancelled. So they substituted an SR-71 Blackbird

THAT was exceptionally cool. At the end of the fly-by he lit the engines up to full power (I assume) and disappeared trailing these long blue flames with shock diamonds. The next year they retired the plane. I feel lucky to have seen one in flight.

- Yoj

[ 08-22-2001: Message edited by: Yoj ]