Went to the Eglin 75th anniversary Open House Saturday. Excellent show– the Thunderbirds, as always, are awesome– great displays, and some awesome people to chat with. I even got to chat with some EA-6B crewmen from VAQ-139. (Note: I really wanted a T-shirt they were selling. Not the “I HEART COUGARS” one, but another design.)
Watched the F-22 (I’ve seen Pugachev’s Cobra, and it awesome…) and the Corsair demonstrate while I waited in line for the Virtual Army Experience. The VAE is not bad, but it’s not great, either– the guns look like M-4s, but they’re pintle mounted and semi-auto only. Had that been a real mission, my convoy would’ve been dead, oh… 10 seconds in. Saw the Coast Guard do a simulated SAR mission, and even got to watch a C-17 go through its paces.
All my pics are still being processed, but here’s some videos –
Only three things marred this show.
1) Sunburn. I don’t know if it’s just me, or a new runway coating, but I’ve never been sunburned at an airshow before. I’m red like the Kool-Aid man…
2) Too few static display aircraft. The only aircraft you could get inside were a couple of C-130s (a C-130, a AC-130, and a MC-130), the CV-22, a few helicopters, the DHC-4, and the Lear Jet. No C-5, no C-17, no KC-135 or other transport. Not even that many booths with information from the Air Force– they usually have tons of history and tactical displays.
3) Bus snafus. The gates opened at 9 AM and closed at 3 AM when the Thunderbirds started engines. At 5 PM everyone was told “show’s over.” Now, it took 6 hours for the buses to ferry everyone in… how long will it take to ferry them out? I was in parking lot Blue Alpha, the smallest and closest of the lots– but nobody else knew which lot they were in, which led to me taking two long bus rides with groups that thought they were Blue Alpha, but really weren’t. However, the Air Force worked everything out in style.*
However, it was a good show. Two tidbits I found interesting– the flag and decal vendors sold out of Gadsen flags, and Thunderbird 6 did his “slow roll” to the opening strains of Muse’s “Uprising.” That song’s a bit… odd for an Air Force demonstration team… I enjoyed it. I found a good seat (a vehicle barrier under a shelter) and watched the show while I ate a ice cream bar.
* Yes, they made it up to me. After the second snafu, I was handed off to a Sergeant and told that the next available bus would take me to the vehicle. Moments later, a Dodge Charger pulls up, and the Sergeant practically levitates in a 90 degree turn and snaps a salute. Oh sh*t, I think– officer. Then the Sergeant bends at the waist (he didn’t approach the vehicle at all) and addresses the driver. Oh sh*t, field grade officer, I think.
I get in, close the door, and as my driver leans over to talk to the Sergeant, I flick my eyes down and see one of these on my driver’s collar. (Yes, I snapped to. I come from a long line of enlisted men.) So I got chauffeured back to my car by a full-bird Colonel and got to chat with him about the Thunderbirds, the Block 70 F-16, and the show.
(I just looked him up, and I’m impressed. He earned a B.S. in psychology before I was born, holds multiple Master’s, and his last job was as a tech. Here I thought he was just in charge of the SFs… {chuckle})
