Great Smoky Mountains Airshow

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Bacpacker

Bacpacker

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Tomorrow and Sunday will be the Great Smoky Mountain Airshow. Blue Angels are the headliners, along with several others flying, and what is said to be almost a mile of static displays. I love going to air shows, and entrance is free. However parking is $75 a vehicle. Plus walking for miles into the show and back the car. 6 years ago we went and ended up doing a 8 mile hike, plus the show. This year is even worse, 4 times as much to park and at least as long of a walk. My dad is 85 and just can't do that any more. Mother couldn't make it 6 years ago
So we are having the family out tomorrow and will get to see the far end of the turns and such. Wife has a pork roast on to barbq, gonna do tater salad, baked beans, and who knows what else. a couple of my friends I met during my times running a EmComm group are coming out too. They are in their 80's as well. Expecting rain in the morning, but hoping for the deck to lift and the show to go on by afternoon. The Blues won't fly before 3.
I got a couple pics this afternoon of them practicing in the area. I put them up later and hopefully have some good ones tomorrow.
 
That sounds like great fun, @Bacpacker ! Glad you’re able to pull your folks and friends in for a party. We’re close to an area that has the Blue Angels usually but always an air show. I am skittish of them.
 
Here is a couple shots
 

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Patchouli said:
That sounds like great fun, @Bacpacker ! Glad you’re able to pull your folks and friends in for a party. We’re close to an area that has the Blue Angels usually but always an air show. I am skittish of them.
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Step dad pulled me out of class growing up to go to them. I've went to them ever since. Sometimes doing longer drives/weekend trips to go. First time I've missed one near by. Sad about it, but circumstances have changed
 
Bacpacker said:
... Wife has a pork roast on to barbq, gonna do tater salad, baked beans, and who knows what else. a couple of my friends I met during my times running a EmComm group are coming out too. They are in their 80's as well.
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I usta live within 60 miles of you!
You can bet I'd be right there with you today.... if I wasn't stuck in a swamp. :(
 
Bacpacker said:
Thought you was from Bama? I'm a bit farther than 60 miles from there, maybe 90 or 120 to the northeast corner
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Yeah....but I drove real fast! :D
We got married in Chattanooga in 1990.
I have lots of great air-show pics, but I won't pollute your thread with them.
Show us today's stuff.:thumbs:
 
I've been to several shows in Chattanooga. I actually like their runway better than Knoxville's. Tri City is my favorite around here.
If weather is good tomorrow or Sunday I'll try to get more. But they won't be great, we are way too far from the runway. All we catch is turns heading back in. Still pretty cool.
I was surprised today how much our trees have grown since the last time we watched practice from here. Used to got real good views, now just brief glimpses. I do like my trees though.
We need to do a thread of past shows to get everyones pics up.
 
When I lived in South Florida I went every year to the Valiant Air Command's warbird show.
Three day affair, mostly WWII but Korean War jets too.
The big thing is the Tora, Tora, Tora part of the show where the Japs sneak in and Americans dog fight with them. Pyrotechnics on the ground exploding, the whole deal.
If you have the desire, go to You Tube and type in Tora Tora Tora airshow. If you don't add "airshow" you'll get directed to the movie of the same name.

We live about 40 miles from Jacksonville, Florida, and being home to two Naval Stations, the Blue Angels come every year and do their show at Jacksonville Beach, out over the Atlantic.
But I've seen the Blues 15 or 20 times, the airshow draws hundreds of thousands of people, and I'd rather be out here in the woods. Some years they practice out here because of the smaller population. They have come over our hose several times. Low and fast!!
 
rice paddy daddy said:
When I lived in South Florida I went every year to the Valiant Air Command's warbird show.
Three day affair, mostly WWII but Korean War jets too.
The big thing is the Tora, Tora, Tora part of the show where the Japs sneak in and Americans dog fight with them. Pyrotechnics on the ground exploding, the whole deal.
If you have the desire, go to You Tube and type in Tora Tora Tora airshow. If you don't add "airshow" you'll get directed to the movie of the same name.

We live about 40 miles from Jacksonville, Florida, and being home to two Naval Stations, the Blue Angels come every year and do their show at Jacksonville Beach, out over the Atlantic.
But I've seen the Blues 15 or 20 times, the airshow draws hundreds of thousands of people, and I'd rather be out here in the woods. Some years they practice out here because of the smaller population. They have come over our hose several times. Low and fast!!
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I've saw the Tora, Tora, Tora show a few times. Normally have some P-51's, and/or some naval planes up with them. Great show to see. They do it right.
Cousin lives just north of Jacksonville, she always talks about seeing the flyovers when the show goes on.
 
I'm a military history enthusiast, big time!!
Have been since about age 8, and I'll be 74 next month.
It is such a broad subject I concentrate on WWII. I barely graduated high school, didn't go to college, I'm entirely self taught thru reading books on the subject.
I have well over 100 paperbacks, and nearly that many hard backs in my library. Heck, I've been a member of the Military Book Club for 40 years, and I can even find out of print books still available on Amazon.
I read every night for 30 minutes to an hour, and at this moment I'm re-reading a 1979 book on Martin Borman (Hitler's secretary), one on General George C Marshall, another on Japanese aggression in 1941-1943, and have two on the Doolittle Tokyo Raid awaiting.

I'm just a dumb old truck driver/forklift operator who found something very interesting - WWII.
Especially anything on Patton or the 5th Infantry Division.
 
I just saw the Thunderbirds at Holloman AFB this summer, but I used to see the Blue Angels out on the coast every year. Truthfully, I don't see much difference in the pilots or their skills, both squadrons or groups perform at an extremely high level. The F-35 was also cool to watch at the recent air show, one pilot put the plane into a flat spin overhead and it was radical! I'd never seen the F-35 at an air show before, but I missed a few years in the boondocks of Arizona. This year was fun, but even with cover I got sunburnt, and the parking was an absolute clusterf#%, lol. :oops:

P.S. I think the "knife-edge pass" is my all-time favorite maneuver, it's so crazy, lol... but there are other cool maneuvers including the "Fleur de Lis" and various tandem rolls (slow & fast). Those pilots are good... I don't think the Armed Forces allow tweekin' crackerheads to fly their planes, lol. ;)
 
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Wingnut said:
I just saw the Thunderbirds at Holloman AFB this summer, but I used to see the Blue Angels out on the coast every year. Truthfully, I don't see much difference in the pilots or their skills, both squadrons or groups perform at an extremely high level. The F-35 was also cool to watch at the recent air show, one pilot put the plane into a flat spin overhead and it was radical! I'd never seen the F-35 at an air show before, but I missed a few years in the boondocks of Arizona. This year was fun, but even with cover I got sunburnt, and the parking was an absolute clusterf#%, lol. :oops:
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T-Birds are good as well. Saw them probably more than the Blues. I like seeing them both.
One show we had here a good while back and had a F-119 flying. Turns out the pilot was like a 4th or 5th cousin. Got to meet him and shake his hand. I'll see if I can find a pic.
 
The one I will always kick myself for, was when I was in Talladega with my full 35mm photography gear, including my 100mm-300mm zoom lens, and they flew the the B-2 bombers over the field.
They only did that this one year because it costs so much to put them the air :oops:.
They looked so bizarre with no fuselage, I just stood there with my mouth hanging open like an idiot. >
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@Bacpacker better start posting some pics.
 
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The Blues have had female ground crew, and a female flying Fat Albert, but this year one of the demonstration pilots is a female.
And you can believe this is not some "woke" jive. Only the best are even offered the spot, and then they have to prove themselves.
 
Last winter I was working on a tie gang, putting ties in a track down by El Centro, California. The Blue Angels' winter airfield is near El Centro and we would see them practicing their formation flying every day. I don't think I would ever have the nerve to fly that close to another airplane...
 
Well rained all morning into the afternoon. Clouds were under 5000', maybe down to 3000. The show took place, but all flights were low to stay under the cloud deck. Here is a couple short videos I took. We didn't get much else. Even the 6 ship delta formation to end the show was well south of yesterday's route and just above the tree tops.
 

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