It’s 6:30 AM, the sun is shining, the sky is blue, the surf is up and it’s another beautiful day in Juno Beach. Last night Tina suggested going to the VNA Air Show (http://vnaairshow.com/) up in Stuart. So I went online and printed out a couple of General Admission tickets. We figured to head out around 10:30 AM so we could get a good place to sit.
We took the dogs for a long walk then put the lawn chairs, cameras and binoculars in the car. Witham Airport in Stuart is about 23 miles north on US 1. Traffic was light and we reached our destination in about forty minutes. Then it took another twenty minutes to wind our way to a parking spot.Once parked, we grabbed our gear and started walking back to the flight line. Along the way we passed a dozen planes parked as static displays – from a giant C-130 Starlifter to an old Stearman Bi-Plane. A pair of A-10 Tornadoes were flanked by several WWII fighters, small bombers, trainers, stunt planes and a dozen helicopters, from small Robinsons to fully rigged Blackhawks.
Before leaving the static display areas Tina spotted an old Mohawk aerial surveillance plane. It kinda looked like a mosquito with a big front end and small long body. So we walked over to visit with the owner/pilot. Turns out this is the plane Tina used to fly in when she was in the Army at Fort Huachuca, NM in the early seventies. They swapped stories for a while then we headed for the viewing area next to the announcers stand.After setting up our chairs we walked back to the food concessions and got a large Iced Tea and a couple of big Giros for lunch. Behind the concessions a small fair with rides was set up. Looking around there were thousands of people at the event but surprisingly it didn’t feel crowded. With lunch in hand we sat down in our chairs to watch the show.
Turns out our timing was pretty good. Before we finished our giros the show opening was getting under way. Another C-130 was taking off followed by two small chase planes. As the planes reached an altitude of 5,000 feet three streamers were dropped to gauge the wind speed and direction. On the next pass, a lone parachutist exited the rear of the C-130 with the American Flag and trailing smoke streamers.As the jumper was floating down under his parafoil the two chase planes executed circles around him with smoke trails. At the same time as the flag was descending, the national anthem was sung by a local high school student. As the guy with the flag touched down, a mass jump was made from the C-130 which had gone up to 10,000 feet. What a marvelous and stunning opening for the show.
Before long one of the A-10s took to the air and performed various mission maneuvers. These are the same type of planes stationed at NAS Whidbey. Several strafing runs were made along with flash-bang pyrotechnics on the ground to simulate ordinance impacts, then another pass, which simulated dropping a 500 pound bomb, done with TNT and gasoline. Very impressive and verrrry loud!!For the next several hours we watched numerous aerial acrobatic displays as teams of small monoplanes decorated the sky, a fly through by a powered hang glider with multi-colored smoke streamers, a flying demonstration by the bi-plane and precision team flying by four old WWII P3 Mustangs.
The show was really well done and the weather was perfect with high lacy clouds, temps in the high 70’s and a light breeze to keep things cool. Around 3:30 we decided to make our way back to the car to head home getting back to the coach around 4:30 PM just in time to take the kids for a walk and start dinner. After a great dinner of pork chops and broccoli with strips of prosciutto and sprinkled with fresh grated parmesan cheese – delicious!!After cleaning up the dinner dishes I went up and shot a little pool, spending an hour giving one of the residents a lesson. What a nice day!!
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