Bethpage Air Show at Jones Beach

What makes an Air Show interesting? Air shows are like Fashion Week for planes. Aviation enthusiasts gather to look at the latest technology and see flight demonstrations from new aircraft. The aerobatic tricks show you how advanced jet technology is.
 

For me, I am fascinated by planes, by the kinetic, by the skill and precision of the pilots flying the different planes. And when a jet suddenly shoots over your head at very high speed, the surprise and shock turns into a big smile within a second or two.
 

For reference purposes, the Paris Air Show is the oldest, established in 1909. The primary goal is to entertain. According to many sources, air shows rank 2nd in spectator attendance figures in the U.S. every year. In terms of audience numbers, it is noteworthy that the 350 or so air show events held across the United States and Canada every year attract 10 million to 12 million spectators.
 

I know there is a political dimension, as well. The United States uses these events as a platform to express its readiness abroad. The US Air-force Air shows have continued to serve in this capacity. This past February, the U.S. government sent Ambassador Tina Kaidanow, the senior diplomat responsible for foreign military sales, to Singapore for the largest air show in Asia. From a narrow perspective, her presence was intended to encourage regional attendees to buy U.S. military equipment. As Kaidanow put it, “This is a great opportunity here in Singapore to make the case … that our products are not only the highest in quality. … I think it’s also the case that they come with an array of efforts that we can provide that nobody else can. …”
 

Back to Jones Beach, the performers were:

• B-17 Yankee Lady It is a Boeing B-17G, bearing USAAF serial number 44-85829. The airplane was built by the Vega Division of Lockheed Aircraft Corporation at Burbank, California and was delivered to the USAAF on July 16, 1945. 

• U.S. Coast Guard with an MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter The crew is from the Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod. The Coast Guard is 24/7/365, under the Coast Guard’s motto “Semper Paratus,” which means “Always Ready.”

• The “Thunderbirds” were the highlight of the air show. The unit adopted the name “Thunderbirds” influenced in part by the influential Native American culture and folklore from the Southwest, where Luke Air Force Base is located in AZ.

• Navy FA-18 Super Hornet demonstration showed the high “G” minimum radius turn to the slow speed “high alpha” pass.  The F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets are capable of reaching speeds of just under Mach 2, almost twice the speed of sound. However, during a performance, the top speed pilots are allowed to fly is about 700 mph, or just under Mach 1. Witnessing the 700mph, I can’t imagine 1200mph. 

• The Boeing F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornet are twin-engine, carrier-capable, multirole fighter aircraft variants based on the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. The F/A-18E single-seat and F/A-18F tandem-seat variants are larger and more advanced derivatives of the F/A-18C and D Hornet. Top speed 1,190 mph (1915km/h) Range: 2,069 mi (3,330km), Cost: approx. 70,000,000 USD (2014). 

• The Swiss Air Force has 30 F-18 Hornets and 53 F-5 Tiger Ils. The F/A-18 pilots are all full-time professional military. Here is a “secret”: Somewhere in Switzerland inside a mountain, there is a secret air base in which a Swiss Air Force pilot fires up the engines of an F/A-18 Hornet, the camouflaged doors slide open and the fighter jet takes off. The pilot flies an air patrol, returns and lands just outside the base. A crane rotates the F/A-18 and places the fighter on a platform, which brings the plane back into military silence under the mountain. The stealthy doors close until the next flight. Swiss soldiers have occasionally referred to the base on social media and have been asked to delete their mentions. As a senior Swiss officer told Defense News on March 27, the name and location of bases are classified information. These air bases may evoke a James Bond film, but the Swiss Armed Forces operate the site as part of its national air defense, which is entering a characteristically large modernization drive.

• David Windmiller with his Zivko Edge 540.

• Geico Skytypers Airshow Team with their six vintage WWII era U.S. Navy SHJ-2

• John Klatt Airshows and Jack Link’s Beef Jerky with their Screaming Sasquatch, which is powered by two different engines. The plane style is a Jet Waco.

• Matt Chapman. Bronze medal winner at the 1998 World Aerobatic Championships. He is also an airline captain with thousands of flight hours.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Some of the pictures look like I was taking them from another plane. But it only looks like. I was with both feet on the ground.
 

When will you go to the next Air show in your neighborhood?
 

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