Eglin AFB 2010 Air Show Review by AirshowsReview.com

2010 Air Shows

Eglin Air Show and Open House

Location: Eglin AFB, Florida

Admission: FREE

Parking: Free on site

Value: Excellent

The Eglin AFB air show and open house held on April 10th and 11 th 2010 was an excellent show that combined interesting aircraft and some unique aircraft formations. The open house aspect of the show could not be dismissed. There were interesting displays of weapons and aircraft that are tested by the Eglin based Air Armament Center (AAC) and its various units.

This was also the 75 th anniversary of Eglin AFB so the making of a great show was in the cards.

Getting to the base was simple although detailed maps on the air show web site would be useful. If you arrived before the opening of the gates at 9:00am you were placed in a holding area. However, once the gates opened it was easy to get in if you were early. If you were late arriving the line ups were very long (which is pretty standard for most air shows). One of the few complaints I would have with this show was the start time. The flying started at 930am but the gates only opened at 900am. This gave virtually no time for you to park and walk to the flight line to watch the first take off of the KC-135 and C-17.

The KC-135 and C-17 formation was unique and well executed. This was followed by a solo display of the KC-135. I would love to see a permanent KC-135 “demo team”. You don’t always see this large aircraft put through its paces. Well done.

Although Eglin AFB lost a major tenant unit with the disbanding of the famed F-15C equipped 33 rd Fighter Wing “Nomads” in 2009 this did not stop the other fighters at the base from putting on a show. The Eglin based jets representing the Air Armament Center took off next. First up was an F-16D followed by an F-15E, F-15C and an A-10. Several nice formation passes were made. There were no solo displays by the aircraft but the unique formation and the touch and goes with afterburners blazing excited the fast growing crowd. The nice thing about this show was that virtually all advertised acts flew and they were on time. The flying schedule was fast paced. I barely had time to catch the ground and static displays.

Sometimes a one hour lunch break with a slower flying act is helpful for the crowd to grab a bite to eat or catch the static displays.

The only aircraft missing from the flying (but still in the static) was the CV-22 Osprey. Several days earlier one of the type had crashed in Afghanistan and this obviously put a stop to the CV-22 flying display The pace continued with a MC-130 demo from nearby Hurlburt Field. I hadn’t seen Tora, Tora Tora for a while. The re-enactment of the Pearl Harbor attack by the Japanese is interesting. The Sea Fury and Corsair aerobatics were good. The F-18C demo team tried their best to pull vapor in the relatively dry skies of Eglin.

The most unique formation and one that I don’t think has flown before was the C-47/C-17 heritage flight. Now this was cool. This was the highlight of the show for your reviewer. I hope this is the start of something new on the air show circuit. Kent Pietsch demonstrated his usual superb stick and rudder flying in his Interstate Cadet. I have seen Kent fly numerous times but it is always fun to hear and see the expressions of novice air show attendees to his crazy flying act. Many people actually believe that some crazy pilot has infiltrated the air show. The headline act was the F-22 Raptor demo. Great show and it will be nice to compare the Raptors air show display with the latest European fighters this summer.

The static displays were also varied. Highlights were the De Havilland Canada C-7 Caribou in Vietnam War era markings, the CV-22 Osprey, the QF-4 Phantom, the NASA T-38 Talon (complete with Astronaut) and the uniquely camouflaged (??!!) EA-6B from VAQ-139 “Cougars”. See the photo and try to figure out how those stripes appeared on the fuselage. There were also numerous war birds and civilian jets.

The post show arrival on Saturday of three F-5N Tigers ( at 500 knots ) from VFC-111 “Sundowners” helped mitigate my inability to attend the NAS Key West Air show that was also taking place that weekend ( and the scheduled 4 ship F-5N formation ). The three jets formed a colorful “shark mouthed” static display. One also has to mention the ground display of all the various aerial weapons that are tested at Eglin. Here you could see displays of weapons that are tested at Eglin before they are released for service to front line squadrons.

Finally the first USMC F-35B squadron has stood up at Eglin. VMFAT-501 is scheduled to be the first Marine Corps F-35B “Lightning” training squadron and will be based at Eglin. A model of the aircraft served as a static display and the squadron members were already selling their new F-35B souvenirs. The sign of things to come (we think?).

There were ample washrooms although well away from the show line fence so you had to walk a bit. The food was the usual event fair. Drinks were 3 dollars and food was from 3 to 10 dollars. My “smokie” was terrible. It was half frozen. I ate what I could as per my usual air show procedure (I was starved and wanted to wolf something down so I could get back to the show). This is the first time I have encountered a frozen dog at a show. The food lineups were long and they were obviously trying to catch up to demand. On Sunday the concessions were running out of drinks and there was no water at the three booths I went to. Not fun when it is hot.

The sun was well placed for the first half of the show but started to creep to the front of the show line during the later parts of the show.

Special thanks to the Public Affairs office at Eglin AFB and Lois Walsh for the media credentials and parking. Our job of reviewing air shows is always made easier by the help of co-operative Public Affairs Staff.

Some of the participating performers were:

USAF Thunderbirds
F-18C Demo Demo Team
F-22 Raptor Demo Team
KC-135 and C17 formation
F-15E, F-15C, F-16C and A-10 formation
C-17 and C-47 Heritage Flight
Ken Pietsch Interstate Cadet
and many others including static displays.

Rating: 9 out of 10 Eglin AFB was an excellent air show. It was fast, on time, had unique aircraft and flying formations. It was organized and friendly.

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Review and photos by Ajay Soni.

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