Charleston Air Expo 2008

Miranda and I kicked off our 2008 airshow season in Charleston, SC with Air Expo 2008 at Charleston Air Force Base. We had a beautiful day for an airshow, bright sunshine with some scattered cumulus clouds (just enough to provide some background to my pictures!), temperatures in the low 80s and just enough of a breeze to keep it from being too warm and to blow off the smoke that many of the aerobatic performers employ on their planes.
Being that the show was at an Air Force base, there was a strong military presence,
both in the air and on static display on the ground. Aerial demonstrations included the Army Golden Knights parachute team, a simulated combat air drop by Charleston-based C-17s and members of the 82nd airborne division from Ft. Bragg in
NC, tactical demonstrations by the U. S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle, F-22 Raptor, and C-17 Globemaster III (based locally at Charleston AFB), and Navy F-18C Hornet, the Air Force Heritage Flight (F-22, F-15E and P-51) and a performance by the USAF Thunderbirds Demonstration team.


Civilian aerial performances included aerobatics by Patty Wagstaff, Vortex Aerobatics, the "Big Dog" T-33, Angel 7 (an L-39 painted in the Blue Angels scheme), the Red Bull helicopter, Dale Snodgrass in the P-51 Luscious Lisa, a warbird review including a B-25, P-51 and Japanese "Kate" bomber, the Air Force Reserve Jet Car and the Trojan Horsemen aerobatic team.
In addition to this plethora of acts in the air, there were a significant number of planes on static display, including Boeing's massive 747-based Dreamlifter transport aircraft, a Marine Corps V-22 Osprey, and Air Force Reserve WC-130J Hurricane Hunter, as well a multitude of other military and civilian aircraft.
As one might expect given the variety of aerial acts, the Air Expo 2008, provided pretty much non-stop flying action throughout the day. There was a nice combination of military might and agile acrobatics, including some different performances that you don't see at a typical airshow such as the simulated combat airdrop. All of the demo teams put in awesome performances, looking like they were in mid-season form. The weather held out for most of the show, with some thunder showers moving in shortly after the end, chasing us from poking around the static displays some more while waiting for traffic to thin out some. This however, was a far cry from 2006 when at this same show a severe squall line blew into town just as the show ended leading to a few tense moments of sitting in a Honda Civic in the middle of an exposed tarmac with tornado warnings ringing on the weather radio. Nothing of the sort this year, though, although the traffic jam to get out was just as long.

All in all Air Expo '08 provided a great kick-off for our 2008 airshow season. Plenty of planes, lots of noise, and a liberal application of SPF 50 that kept the sunburn at bay. We're looking forward to more good things next week at MCAS New River's airshow in Jacksonville, NC!