SOUTHERN ARIZONA air show

[BIZILL]

http://www.dmairshow.com/index.html

anyone going this weekend? i have been telling myself to get my two sons out there (6 & 8) since they were born but something always came up. now they're older anyway and can handle walking around all day in the tucson arizona heat. supposed to be 94 degrees on saturday. but they won't let coolers/ice chests into the show. blue angels will be there this time around and a parachute demonstration and obviously airplanes on display.

any southern arizonans going? wes, steve, avelanchfan, rivrrat,shzleppy? btw, craycroft and swan gates will be open to the public.

the F/A-18 Hornets are buzzin' around overhead all day today at work. very loud. i haven't been in like 10 years.

[BIZILL]

anyone else love air shows? chime in...

[Rivrrat]

I think I'll be there Sunday, since Mrs Rat loves the Blue Angels. We haven't seen them since we moved here from Seattle in 99, and as soon as she found out they were going to be in town, I was told we'd be there.

Maybe she'll change her mind by then. I'm guessing it's going to be freakin hot on the tarmac.

[janmike]

Great Shots.
I do indeed. Have not missed an air show in over 35 years. Mostly in Toronto but also in 5 other cities. Unfortunately never one in the USA. I did enjoy the museum in Dayton, OH. I need a ride in a Snowbird.

[I-SIG]

I thought snowbirds migrated between AZ and Yankee-land?

Wes

[janmike]

Just the older ones.

[GV#27]

I live very close to our municipal airport and they have an air show every 5 years or so.During the last one, me and my family had the pleasure of watching the Snowbirds perform from our front yard.

[Fireman32]

Love air shows. Went 2 years ago to the one by me and saw the Blue Angles. It is an awsome show. Nothing like 4 planes going supersonic 500 ft above your head. Enjoy the show!

[venomclan]

anyone else love air shows? chime in...

I attend air shows against my will, I work only a few blocks from the Air and Sea Show held in Ft. Lauderdale every year. Starting a week before the show, they do practice manuevers above my office. Nothing like sitting in the can when 2 F16's blast right by....

[scottnbnj]

i brought my son(4 then) to willow grove, pa and atlantic city shows last year. he's getting to be an old hand at this stuff.

the weather broke a bit this week and he made a point of showing me that he dug out his blue angels shirt the other day,.. so i guess he's ready for this year.

)

[BIZILL]

I think I'll be there Sunday, since Mrs Rat loves the Blue Angels. We haven't seen them since we moved here from Seattle in 99, and as soon as she found out they were going to be in town, I was told we'd be there.

Maybe she'll change her mind by then. I'm guessing it's going to be freakin hot on the tarmac.

i'm thinkin' sunday as well. saturday is supposed to be like 94 with 14 mph winds. sunday is supposed to be like 91 with only 9 mph winds. i do hate the wind. especially in the desert. nothing worse than dirt blown in your eyes.


as far as both the thunderbirds and blue angels go, i love watching all the spectators start buggin' out and wondering just where in the hell all the jets flew away to for that long moment of silence....then all of the sudden.."WHOOOOOSH!" a single jet comes blazing with high velocity and very loudly over the crowd almost close enough to throw a beer can at it and make everyone scream from being startled. i think the crowds' reaction makes me smile more than the jet 'pulling a fast one' over us.

and i just love the tight formations they must hold. and it's fun when they keep a slow pace to fly in formation with the good old propeller-driven planes. the best of the old and new school. it's purty.

[jflail2]

I'm definitely going to take the wife to an air show this year. She's never been, so she'll be amazed.

My dad is retired AF, and was in from the time I was born till I was 15. I've been to a TON of airshows as a result. He also worked with the Thunderbirds in Nellis for 4 years, so we got to see them practice a pretty good bit when they weren't touring. The best airshow I've ever seen was an air tatoo out at RAF Alconbury in England. Phenomenal collection of aircraft, including a flyby by the then still active SR-71. The highlight was some crazy @ss Belgian stunt team though. They flew F-16's like the T-Birds,and really put on a great show.

The best part about going to an airshow now is the connection with my dad. You've also got the best tourguide on the flight line, as he was in for 22 years and worked on a wide variety of aircraft.

I definitely miss living around AFB's at times.......

[BIZILL]

YUP, i'm an air force brat as well.

[SWFalken]

I love going to airshows. We have several major ones a year within two hours of our home. Edwards AFB, Point Mugu NAS although i'm not sure about the status of that one since i have not been in a while. I'm really looking forward to the Reno Air Races this year. I used to drive out to the airstrip where Bill "Tiger" Destefani used to hanger Strega and Dago Red. Watching an unlimited fly by at full throttle 50' off the deck almost sucks the air out of you. RR Merlins for the win!

[Bill Ayotte]

I have a mini airshow almost everyday......:D

[BIZILL]

today is out for me. my mom has several properties that need the heaters shut off and coolers turned on. 94 degrees today. we go straight from cold to hot around here. so hopefully i'll be going to the airshow tomorrow. watchin' them blue angels do practice flights over our work yesterday got me excited. now i have to finish myself.

[jflail2]

Bill:

You fix em or fly em?

[Bill Ayotte]

Bill:

You fix em or fly em?

I fix em.

[Jockos]

Wish I could see the blue angels here in the islands. The thunderbirds came a few years ago. I saw the snowbirds about 10 years ago in colorado springs. It's cool to see the flying teams. I do get to see the F-15's and 16's every week practicing in honolulu. Although when they come in they slow traffic down and we usually have small delays at work. It's cool when they take off you can see the afterburners light up. They are loud!

Jockos

[scottnbnj]

have fun. and, don't forget your sunscreen.

http://www.flyawayphotos.com/videos.htm

)

[BIZILL]

Bill:

You fix em or fly em?

this Bill neither fly's nor fixes 'em.

today would have been outstanding for the show. never got that hot. and when the blue angels flew, the sky was completely cloud-covered. no need to squint your eyes due to the sun. and it kept the heat down a bit. but nooooo, my ass was stuck atop a two story town-home in the **** part of town cleaning and putting into service a swamp cooler. actually i did two today. the **** one was just that, ****. some cheap theif who cannot afford a water pump for $25 decided to steal the ones from the roofs of some of these town-homes. then pigeons decided to make a home of it for a few months. i just love scraping that **** off and being pigeon **** powder coated with a nice layer of sweat to make certain it adheres to my person. oh, and i enjoy having the wind blow it in my eyes and breathing pigeon **** in as well. we were totally across the other side of town, so i just did what i had to with what i had. otherwise i would have been better prepared. perhaps a full body suit and a dust mask. i'd love to know who the mother fugger was that stole the pump. could have at least put the sides back on the cooler to keep from making a pigeon coop out of the damn thing. i'd love to literally break a man's arm! - end rant.

hopefully i make it out sunday. from where i was, i could see them angels doin' their thing...without me.

[TennesseeOutlaw]

Bizill, that second picture you posted on post #1 was taken in Pensacola, Fl. I used to live about 1 mile from that big beach ball water tower.. The Blue Angels are based there at Pensacola NAS.. It was cool as **** to very regularly see them practicing over and around Pcola Bch.

Josh

[beardog03]

They come to S.F to do the shows, and I had one "sneak" up on me from behind while I was looking around for it...

Right over me at a few hundred feet...
Scared me so bad I had to laugh outloud !

Once my heart started up again, I thought I crapped myself !

Bill...Nice shots of the whirlies !
I really like the last one....gonna keep that one

[BIZILL]

Right over me at a few hundred feet...
Scared me so bad I had to laugh outloud !

yeah, the last one i went to like 6 years ago, i was prepared for that low fly-over. they keep you in suspense and make the unsuspecting wonder just where in the heck they went. is the show over? where are they? then 'BAAM!'. i just love being one of the few who are prepared for it. but no matter how much you expect it to do that, it's still so loud and crazy that you can't help but lol, just as you described.

[BIZILL]

Bizill, that second picture you posted on post #1 was taken in Pensacola, Fl. I used to live about 1 mile from that big beach ball water tower.. The Blue Angels are based there at Pensacola NAS.. It was cool as **** to very regularly see them practicing over and around Pcola Bch.

Josh

those pics are from the blue angel's website.
http://www.blueangels.navy.mil/index.htm they have high-res photo's. i had to shrink them down for my original post so as not to upset too many of you. tucson's davis monthan air force base is home to the A-10 thunderbolt II's, aka, warthogs. they do their job 'tank-killing' but aesthetically, they are not pleasing. they fly around all day around here, but i'd love to see other military planes instead.

...it's on! i'm slated to go there tomorrow with the fam. kids will love it. but due to 9/11, we can no longer take in lawn chairs, ice chests/coolers and not even camelbaks. no large duffle bags or large purses. so basically, 4-5 hours walking in the heat with hardly a place to sit and forced to purchase from vendors. you know they charge too damn much for even h2o! bastages!

[Rivrrat]

We just got home. It was pretty cool, but it did get kind of hot out on the flightline. My wife enjoyed the Blue Angels tremendously. She loves watching that stuff, but is afraid of flying, I don't get it.

Oh, we got a flat tire on the way home, that sucked.

[GV#27]

We just got home. It was pretty cool, but it did get kind of hot out on the flightline. My wife enjoyed the Blue Angels tremendously. She loves watching that stuff, but is afraid of flying, I don't get it.

Same here,I absolutely hate flying but love watching fighter jets do amazing acrobatics.:)

Did they show a F22 Raptor?

[BIZILL]

We just got home. It was pretty cool, but it did get kind of hot out on the flightline. My wife enjoyed the Blue Angels tremendously. She loves watching that stuff, but is afraid of flying, I don't get it.

Oh, we got a flat tire on the way home, that sucked.

i'll try and post up some pics later on. it was pretty fun. kids loved it. spent a grip on concessions and souveniers. and since i'm too 'manly' to put on sunscreen, i had on a tank-top and when we got home and i took my t-top off, my oldest told me that i look like i'm wearing a shirt with nipples. i've got this horrific farmer's tan. gonna take alot of sun next weekend to rid myself of this 'permanant shirt'.

rivrrat, doesn't it figure the clouds would roll in at the EXACT time the show had ended???

[Rivrrat]

At least the Blue Angels got to do a high altitude show, but a bit of cloud cover might've been nice for temp control. All day today in the sun and coaching soccer in Mesa all next weekend, thank god for sunscreen.

How about 3 bucks for a pint of water!!?? At least the Air Force had water tanks set up so you could refill that 3 dollar water bottle for free.

I didn't see any Raptors, but they did bring out an F-117 for a few passes.

[BIZILL]

eh, have some awesome pictures, but with my slow 1.4gh processor and the inability to host huge pics, i have nothing to offer you. photobucket makes them too small. polk's file attachment only allows 516k. but do trust, it was a great time! i think my sunburn will be the type that hurt when you lay down to sleep. being good parents, we put sunscreen on the boys. don't call child protective services just yet.