Thunder Over the Boardwalk

    Today we went to the annual Atlantic City Air Show, know as the “Thunder Over the Boardwalk”. A crowd of 650,000 was expected but instead they estimate there was 800,000 (a new attendance record)!! Luckily, the beach and Boardwalk extend for several miles, so while crowded, you could still find a place on the beach to watch the show. 

    Below is what it looked like when we got there mid-morning.

    Later it looked like this...

    Be that as it may, the show started out with the Army’s Golden Knights Parachute Team arriving with the US Flag (while the National Anthem played). The flag carrier hit the Boardwalk just as the last note of the Anthem was played. 

    Not to be outdone, the Canadian Skyhawks came in with three jumpers in tandem, with another carrying the Canadian Flag. 

    A string of military aircraft took turns doing fly-bys. Here the KC-135 tanker flew by with two F-16’s in tandem. 

    Below is a Czech built L-39C fighter.  He flew some impressive aerobatics for the crowd. 

    Several WW II era aircraft were represented. Here are some F4U Corsairs in a show formation.

    Here they sent their “Love” to the folks below...

    Then the Navy guys had to show off. The FA-18 did a wide variety of fast and slow passes for the crowd.  Below you can see the vapor coming off of the side of the aircraft as he pulls into a high speed climb.

    One of the surprises was almost breaking the sound barrier right in front of the crowd. He came in screamin’ low and just in front of the reviewing stand you could see the pressure wave expand around the fuselage. I’ve seen pictures of this before but never seen it in person. We just barely caught it in this photo but there is a good video of it on You Tube. Watch the video and you can see the pressure wave around the 10-11 second mark.  ( Facebook Video Link )

    An aircraft near and dear to my heart (spent quite a bit of time on this line when I worked for Boeing) was one of the fly overs. Here, the Navy version, the CH-46, buzzed the crowd and showed some good maneuverability for a big helicopter. 

    The V-22 Osprey flew over in both of its configurations. It is a unique aircraft in that its engines can rotate upwards so the aircraft can take off or land like a helicopter. Then they can rotate forwards and it flies like a plane.

    Another show crowd pleaser was the “Heavy Metal Jet Team”. Here a group of L-39’s and one lone MiG (you can see him flying in the “slot” below) wow’d the crowd with their precision acrobatics. 

    The highlight of the show was the USAF Thunderbirds. These guys always put on a great show and today was no exception. I really like the “thunderbird” paint scheme on the belly of the jets. 

    How do they do this at this speed? One wrong sneeze and it’s a disaster!!

    This picture is misleading. Since there is no video motion it just looks like it is beginning to climb, but in reality it is moving forwards at a snails pace. The jet is just barely staying in the sky! It is amazing the amount of power it takes to go that slow. 

    As you can tell, the skies were perfect and the white planes and contrails set against the deep blue sky was a photo too good to pass up. It was a great day to have an air show!