For the 50th year, the skies above Naval Air Station Oceana came alive with the roar of jets and the buzz of propellers as the 2008 Oceana Air Show took flight. The base's first show was back in 1953, featuring the U.S. Navy Blue Angels demonstration team flying their then state-of-the art F9F Panthers. With few exceptions (1956, 1959, 1961, 1967 and 2001), the air show has been back every year since. This year was no exception, with the Blue Angels headlining once again, now flying their F/A-18 Hornets.
In addition to the Blue Angels, there was a wide variety of military hardware up in the air. This included demonstrations by the US Navy F/A-18C Hornet, F/A-18F Super-Hornet, and E-2C Hawkeye, the US Air Force F-22 Raptor, and C-17 Globemaster III, and the Canadian Forces CF-18 Hornet. While the performer list may seem a little
Hornet-heavy (an inevitability for a Navy show given the retirement of the venerable F-14 Tomcat back in 2006), I certainly wasn't complaining. The various demo pilots kept the routines interesting, and besides....the Hornet and Super-Hornet are fast and loud, which is what air shows are all about!In addition to the big iron of the military, a wide range of civilian and war bird acts kept the variety going. Superstar aerobatics from Patty Wagstaff and Mike Goulian dazzled the crowd, as did performances by Bill Leff, John Moher, the Geico Skytypers and Manfred Radius in his sailplane. War bird participation in the air was a little light in terms of numbers, consisting of a pair of L-39s and Dale "Snort"
Snodgrass in the P-51 "Little Horse", however the acts made up for it with some great routines. The L-39s put on a great show featuring both solo and formation passes, and Snort's flying never disappoints. The lineup was rounded out by Les Shockley's jet truck (the '57 Chevy version, as the Super-Shockwave was presumably still being repaired after it's accident a few weeks ago up in MA), and the British Red Devils and Blackwater Worldwide parachute teams. However, cloud cover on Saturday kept them grounded for our visit.
Overall the show was well done, as always. The biggest issue was the weather, with low ceilings and winds which canceling the Fleet Flyby/Air Power demonstration and parachute acts. However, the organizers did a great job of shuffling things around to keep stuff up in the air. And while we did not get to see the full Air Power demo, they were able to launch a couple of Super-Hornets from VFA-11, the "Red Rippers" to beat up the field for awhile complete with pyrotechnics, which was still a treat! On the flip side, though, the clouds kept it cool and pleasant throughout the day, and the high humidity provided plenty of condensation (vapor in air show parlance, but meteorologically speaking it's actually condensation) by the fast jets....always good for a photo-op.
I have to say, while I'm glad we went up for the show, the Oceana experience is definitely better when you can go for the whole weekend, and take in the Friday night and Saturday night beach blast shows as well. And while the show isn't quite the same since the Big Cat took its final bow back in '06, the hard work of the organizers and some top notch performers make this one of the top shows in the country and a great way to spend a Saturday!
