NAS Oceana Air Show 18 Oct 2009

[Jschmus]

That is the proper Euro format for dates, right?

The weather this weekend was rotten, so bad in fact that I'm surprised they didn't scrub the whole show.  As it was, they canceled most of the morning and early afternoon flying, and I was on the road leading out of the base when the Snowbirds were finally given clearance to take off.  These are just the raw snaps from my Olympus, sans the usual cropping and clean-up that I do, because this temp machine doesn't have half the chops of the laptop (which is out of town at the mo).  I took shots of the static stuff with a Kodak disposable, and I should have those on a disk later this afternoon.

Here's the current Shockwave jet truck, which did a quick drive-by between bouts of rain.


The Snowbirds were due to start a little before noon, and they sent one of their guys out to do a fast taxi to see how wet the runway was.  Here he is on his way past the (empty) reviewing area.


A little bit later, the sky cleared enough for Dale Snodgrass to get up in a Mustang, and he gave a thrilling solo show, then paraded past the stands.




More later, I promise.

[Jschmus]

Here at last are the stills, such as they are.  I haven't taken pictures with a disposable camera in years.  The lack of a zoom of any kind was hard to adjust to.

A C-2A Greyhound of VRC-40, the Rawhides


It's ironic.  Most of these airplanes are thirty years old, and have been through a couple of different SLEP programs, including the Hawkeye 2000 fit that gives them the eight-bladed props, but they're still designated C-2A.



An MH-60S Knighthawk of HSC-2.  The stores pylon is a brand new fit.  Note the inert Hellfire.


F/A-18F.  This is the CAG Bird for VFA-213, the Black Lions.  I've got a soft spot for this squadron, since they operated the F-14D which is at the Carolinas Aviation Museum.


There were lots of trainers on the ground, but not much else.  Here's a T-34C Turbo Mentor.


And a pair of T-38s.


And an Air Force Texan II.


One for the airliner lovers, the Delta Breast Awareness Pink Jet, a 757-232, registry N610DL.


A Navy MRAP.


A big pink cement mixer.


I thought this was odd, two Blue Angel 7s.

[kitnut617]

Nice bunch of photos   


But not to be a JMN, but I can count 'eight' blades on them there props   

[nev]

That is the proper Euro format for dates, right?

Usually, although in my line of work (Pharmaceuticals) because we are heavily regulated from the US, to avoid all confusion it is da law that the month is expressed in letters, and the year in 4 digits, so I would have to write 18 October 2009.  They aren't making us write Anno Domini at the end, but its only a matter of time (A.D. would be rejected as not being clear enough as to what it means)

Weather looks pretty horrific - no wonder there's no crowd!

[Jschmus]

Nice bunch of photos   


But not to be a JMN, but I can count 'eight' blades on them there props   

You're right.  I couldn't count the other day when I posted these.

[Jschmus]

In case anyone is wondering, the static area on the apron was the emptiest I've ever seen.  This is all there was:

AT-6 Texan
T-28 Trojan
T-34C Turbo Mentor
T-38 Talon (2x)
T-6A Texan II
F/A-18E Super Hornet (2x)
F/A-18F Super Hornet
C-2A Greyhound
P-3C Orion
C-130H Hercules
Delta Pink Jet
Shockwave
MRAP
two Navy riverine assault craft (see last year's pics)
WAVY's Chopper 10

I almost didn't recognize the place.

[Jschmus]

I only managed to get a couple of shots of anything in the air.  Here's the Mustang.



The Mustang demo was supposed to have been part of the run-up to the Air Force Heritage Flight.  It would have flown in formation with an F-4 Phantom, an F-15E and an F-16C.  Alas, none of the jets made it into the air.

[B777LR]

Lovely photo of that Mustang

[Jschmus]

Lovely photo of that Mustang

Thanks!

[dragon]

That is the proper Euro format for dates, right?

Usually, although in my line of work (Pharmaceuticals) because we are heavily regulated from the US, to avoid all confusion it is da law that the month is expressed in letters, and the year in 4 digits, so I would have to write 18 October 2009.  They aren't making us write Anno Domini at the end, but its only a matter of time (A.D. would be rejected as not being clear enough as to what it means)

Weather looks pretty horrific - no wonder there's no crowd!

Exactly.  the DDMMMYYYY is considered (for all intents and purposes) universal in my line of work (Clinical Trials Management- Clinical Trials Monitor, Clinical Research Associate, or just Monitor).  It works real well all over the world.  See, in parts of the world it is DDMMMYYYY, others it is MMMDDYYYY.  My brother got stuck in Paris (with his wife) once because of that.  He had his Venezuelan passport and having lived in the USA for a long time, he misunderstood the passport's expiration date.  Venezuela uses the MMMDDYYYY format.  France uses DDMMMYYYY format.  Granted, I can think of worse places to be stuck in....According to him, good wine was cheaper than Pepsi.

[Jschmus]

Here are a few more that didn't make the cut the other day.

Shockwave parked.


Jet-powered car?


F/A-18E, VFA-211 Checkmates


P-3C Orion, from VP-46 Grey Knights


Part of Kent Pietsch's aerobatic demo, flying a 1942 Taylorcraft Cadet.

[ChernayaAkula]

<...>
F/A-18E, VFA-211 Checkmates

<...>

My! What a beauty! Wish there were 1/72 decals for this one. And for it's Tomcat predecessors. Maybe Fightertown will down-sale their 1/48 sheet one day...

[Captain Canada]

Day goes into monght, month goes into year...pretty simple, if you ask me !

Great shots, J. Looks like there were lots of interesting things to see. That shot of the Mustang beating up the ground is awesome ! I see it's the usual BS, tho...corporate takes all the good seats, nobody uses them, and the enthusiast has to stand in the back.

Any more pics of that big RIB ?

[Jschmus]

Any more pics of that big RIB ?

I've got this one from last year, with no rain and a lot more crowd:


I should've known someone would want to see the things I didn't take pictures of.