May 20, 2006

I hadn’t been to an air show since I was a little kid, and I think all of those were civilian barnstormer operations. The Andrews open house is a major affair, with dozens of heavy-business aircraft and access limited to offsite shuttle buses.

The other guys on the bus were encyclopedic in their detailed knowledge of warplanes past and present, trading third-hand stories of B-24s and “shooting at 262s.”

Overheard as the bus rounded a curve beneath the tail of the big C-5: “JUST. ENTERED. HEAVEN.”

The day started out overcast but the cloud cover began to burn off after about an hour. I walked in through the cavernous belly of the C-5 at about a quarter to nine and wandered past the Snowbirds and Blue Angels parked along the flightline, wedging myself next to a trash can by the fence near the old F-86.

US Army Apache Extraction

The first exhibit of the day featured the agile Apache helicopters, dropping and collecting troops via three inch thick hemp ropes.

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The other side of the fence

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The rest of us

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Remembering those loosely-scheduled airshows of my youth I planned on bringing reading materials but was warned to leave the backpack in the trunk before trying to get through security. As it turned out the show moved at a good clip, alternating jets with stunt planes and parachute demonstrations. Not a dull moment, and the announcer’s patter during the flyovers was pretty informative.

With no backpack I was limited to the one long lens (70-200mm/2.8 with image stabilizer), my pockets full of memory cards and the Epson data bank. When the clouds cleared I threw a polarizer on the lens – I’m still trying to figure that thing out.

F4U Corsair

I’ve always been fond of the look of the Corsair, and via the announcer I discovered that the trademark gull wing was necessary to clear that giant prop off the deck. Originally meant for carrier operations, pilots couldn’t see the ship over the giant 18-cylinder engine and the Navy punted the plane. The Corsair was relegated to land-based Marine support where it served to help end the war in the Pacific and later extend Robert Conrad’s acting career.

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T-6 Texan

The venerable Texan trainer threw a few loops and was joined by the new Texan II for a few passes in heritage formation.

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AV-8B Harrier

Everybody’s favorite jump jet was there, louder than anything else on the field.

About half the guys I show these pictures to shout out “True Lies!”

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Air National Guard Jet Car

This one brought all the young lads to the fence. Engine flamed out on its first attempt.

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F-16 Falcon

Aileron rolls the length of the flight line.

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MiG-17 vs. F-86 Sabre

I was looking forward to this Korean War dogfight all week. First out of the gate was the MiG – flying the colors of Red Bull nation – and that plane put on the most fluid performance of the day. Don’t get me wrong – the newer gray jets do inspiring things but they act in right angles, probably just because they can. The 1950’s-era MiG would swoop in fast and low with wide beautiful curves before pulling back up to the cloud deck.

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The F-86 followed with similar style – it was probably just as elegant but by this point I’d been captivated by the red MiG. The two planes shared the field for a few minutes but never got all that close – probably for good reason, but my visions of cockpit-to-cockpit rocket climbs were left unfulfilled.

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Heritage Flight – P-51 Mustang, F-4 Phantom, F-15 Eagle, F-22 Raptor

I made a point of sticking around for the fighter heritage formation, as I can’t remember if I’ve ever seen a live F-4 before. I’ve definitely never seen an F-22, and unlike those guys on the bus I didn’t know just how advanced that plane is. I need to do my homework before these things.

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The jets politely followed the Mustang, but it was pretty clear they just had. to. fly. faster. After a few passes they got their chance.

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We’d been seeing vertical climbs all day, from jets and prop planes alike. The F-22 climbed like the rest, then slowed, then stood on its engines. It hung for what seemed like a minute, vectored itself level and flew off.

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I didn’t have it in me to wait for the Blue Angels. Seven hours in the sun did me in. I did manage to see a few stray fighters regroup over Prince George’s County as I spent 15 minutes looking for my car back at FedEx field.

A fine day.

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