Lol. Sneak pass like that scared the crap out of me at the 2010 Thunderbird show at Cocoa Beach. Skip to 35 seconds and wait for my camera shake. He is going so fast you can just barely see him in the video. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIahuxRE-PY[/ame]
The first Abbotsford show in 1966 was a screamer too. Three CF-101's came over the crowd at something like 500 feet...with after burners alight. Like getting hit with a huge pillow when the over pressure smacked you. They were at very high Mach.
In around 1964, I was watching the Thunderbirds (with F-100s) doing their show over the ocean just off the beach in San Juan, PR. You know after their "bomb burst", the four diamond aircraft come down each at 45-degrees to the show line and then cross at show center? Well, one of the four came down behind us and screamed over at perhaps 200 feet headed for show center and the crossover! I just about jumped out of my shoes!
I live in right by the back of the base. Every Blue Angel practice and show I get to watch from my backyard. I took it for granted as a kid but now I realize how lucky Pensacola is to have them.
Voodoo was a great plane... had some at Kirtland in Albuquerque when I was a kid. Big aircraft... bigger than it looks in a pic.
Several years after the first show, possibly 1970, a couple of CF-101's did the same routine, except over the show line, and pulled up into an almost vertical climb. The trailing airplane started a series of rolls. At the third one he started to oscillate and wobble and the airplane came apart in a flash of fire and aluminum. Almost instantly we could see two olive drab colored chutes coming down through some wreckage. To the left of them the center section with both engines burning spiraled down into a farmers field. The crew sustained burns and the following year they were back again flying in the show.
I went to a number of Abbotsford airshows, including 1979, 1980, 1986, 1989 and 1991, and they were all great. They're the only airshows where I've seen F-101s, SR-71s, Vulcans and Nimrods perform, and one of the few that I've seen F-104s fly. 1986 was more of an international show, almost akin to Paris and Farnborough, held at the same time as the major Expo '86 world's fair being held in nearby Vancouver. The show was extended to 3 days, and during that time, the air demonstration teams of Canada, the U.S. (both of them!), France, Italy and Brazil all took part; I saw the Patrouille de France for the only time in my life. The Soviets also had a presence; I believe that was the first North American appearance of the (now common) An-124. (Fittingly, it was parked at the opposite end of the show line from the C-5!) In 1989, the Soviets pulled out all the stops, and we saw the MiG-29 and An-225 for the first time. In 1991 the Su-27 made an appearance as well. I don't know if Abbotsford is still so special, but taken as a group, the Abbotsford shows are the best that I've seen in my 47 years of airshow attendance.
Jim, I was at that show as a VIP guest (yeah, I know, unbelievable) but we saw all of what you described. The teams from all over put on a marvelous display but the Russians with the Ant 225 Myria and the aerobatic Sukhoi's blew us away. I'm with you, it was the best air show I have ever seen. Abbotsford is still special but has become another Paris type thing and highly internationalized.
Grew up a few miles from Abbotsford, started going to shows a a baby. Then ended working there for a few years. Amazing site for an airshow. in 86, all lead pilots of all 5 teams joined up for a photoshot, dont think we will see this formation ever again Image Unavailable, Please Login
Okay, so I got it a bit wrong - the Thunderbirds were not there, but the Frecce Tricolori were! Still, who ever heard of five different national demonstration teams at the same event?
It don't matter nohow, I was there and it was the greatest air show that I can remember, and Iv'e seen a lot of them.
I grew up about 40 miles outside of Chicago. Back then, they used the airspace over my little cul-de-sac as a regroup/turnaround point for all their practices. That's when they were in F4s, and it sure thrilled me as a kid!!!
Jim, I was at that 1991 Abbotsford show with a couple of F-4G's. One of the pilots is now retired and a former Thunderbird slot pilot and lives in Warner Robbins. That is the year it rained, I believe it was the 30th annual show. It's a small world.
I used to sit on the beach at Hickam Field on Oahu as a kid and watch F4's take off. Such an awesome airplane. Formation takeoffs were especially cool. Oh, and the Blue Angels were over the Grand Tetons yesterday. https://www.facebook.com/GrandTetonNPS/photos/a.134442479903690.25354.130250293656242/1127473407267254/?type=1&theater Image Unavailable, Please Login
An interesting story: Years ago, I was talking with y wife's uncle, Roy "Butch" Voris (Goggle him), he'd been the "Boss" of two of the Angel's tours. When he retired, he never flew again. We were talking about my plane then an A36. Said he never could fly again because he didn't want to fly anything less than what he'd flown before. A very interesting guy died in 07 I believe. The museum at Pensacola is named after him. Art
