Just got in from the Sunday show and it was "Awesome". Just a little warm but other than that everything was perfect. The Horsemen made a surprise apperance and show. Thanks Ed and Dan. "Max" Moga and the Raptor had their usual outstanding performance. Ed Hamil and Greg Poe was at their outstanding aerobatic best. And the "Blues' minus 1 (#4) filled the air with excitement. Also got to meet "Zeke". He will be the next Raptor Pilot. A real nice and classy guy, the Air Force really knows how to pick them. Tora group put alot of explosions and smoke on the base. And a "Big" surprise to see the P-39 "Airacobra" from the Centex Wing of the CAF in San Marcos, TX fly in their re-enactment of Pearl Harbor.

Agreed the Sunday show was excellent. Glad I traveled down here.

Here was our booth on Saturday.



Ryan

Be sure to vote in the poll

I'm giving it a "C" from the vantage point of Saturday (I'm guessing the Horsemen may have changed that for today) and having been to probably all but two or three shows at Kelly since our family moved to San Antonio in the '80s.

For starters as a pilot with a fabric covered aircraft on display I wasn't too happy with the fact that hawkers with ice chests were selling beer around the plane quite often (every five minutes?), and I had to deal with several folks that were getting too close to the edge by the end of the day - not good . It's frustrating trying to argue with someone who's not quite sensible. I'm guessing it's a good seller, but if someone really did get close to the edge I'm guessing it could easily wipe out the profits. I talked to a security forces guy who recognized me from years past and a high school friendship and he said that they had to double their security presence because of the alcohol.

The warbirds contingent was very weak compared to past years and except for the Mustangs that dropped in, Tora, and the P-40 with the Heritage Flight, there were NO warbird displays - not good.

The warbirds that did fly were cordoned off until around 1500 or so - right after the Blues show was starting and I doubt more than 200-500 people total visited the area (P-40 was still on the "hot" ramp and inaccessible). Because of the weak warbirds showing, that wasn't too damaging, but I know that two years ago talking to a major bomber crew that they were quite distressed over this as it really significantly affected their sales opportunities - which help them out with the

On the positive side, our static team received great treatment from the airshow officials and my POC was as good as I could've asked for. The F-22 demo was spectacular, and for being short a member and flying the low show, the Blues were fine. The Heritage flight was also great. Crowds were decent, as could be expected from a free airshow.

Will post more pictures soon.

Ryan

Just got home from the show and it was outstanding! I give it an A! A very good modern military presence, and change of pace from most of the airshows I attend, which are almost strictly warbird. Nothing against warbirds, it's just a nice change of pace. Although the modern military (F-16, AV-8B, F-15E, F-22, Blue Angels) were great, it was nice to see a good Tora Tora Tora display as well as Greg Poe, Ed Hammill, and Dan Buchanan. The Horsemen did great with both their pre-show flight and entire routine. The Golden Knights were awesome as well as all the other acts. I also thought the static line up was pretty good...judged against other shows I attended this year.

The Sunday show offered the most precise and well timed Blue Angels routine I have ever seen! It would have easily been the greatest performance I had ever seen had #4 not been removed from the team. None-the-less, they did outstanding!

Will post pictures later!

SLICK

Glad you enjoyed it Slick. I've been talking with my family, who were also there, and I guess the biggest change we noticed in addition to what I've already mentioned was the ground stuff. There ALWAYS used to be a LOT of static aircraft. At some of the shows it seemed that one of every major type of US military aircraft was present, and a good lot of Army vehicles as well. If I recall correctly there wasn't even a USAF bomber type on the ground this year. There also always used to be two or three hangars filled with displays and other folks as well. I'll have to see if I can't dig up some old programs with ramp maps if I can... May take some time to do that.

Ryan

I drove down both days for the show. I gave it a "B" overall. I wish there had been a few more warbirds and wish some of the larger transport planes would have flown (not like they didn't have any sitting on the west side of the runway). I'm all for everyone making a profit, but I still think charging $3.00 for a bottle of water is excessive. Egress and ingress was very organized and worked very well for me. I didn't like the looks of the bus lines, but compared to Tyndall, earlier this year, egress was a heck of a lot better organized.

I took around 3,000 photos, so it will take me a day or two ;-) to dig thru mine. Here are just a few of mine from today.

Ok, enough griping. Here are some pictures.


Tora! Tora! Tora! begins as I watch from under the wing of the O-2


Tora version of the crossover


P-39 defends against the Japanese aircraft


The view of show center from our spot on the ramp


Heritage Flight


P-40 down low after Heritage Flight

Ryan

A Blues shot


Another Blues shot


An F-22 shot - my camera BTW isn't the greatest, and I was using full zoom on most of the shots since we were so far back from the flightline.


Heritage Flight


Another Heritage Flight shot


The pleasant surprise on Saturday of the Mustangs arrival

Ryan

I see the guy in the second picture, did they have a comedy cub act where he pretended to cut the grass?

Wonderful pix everyone!!! Keepum coming ASB gals and guys. Fran and Mike

Here's a few more from this past weekend at Lackland AirFest.

Here are some of my photos from Saturday - using a borrowed D80 and 18-200 lens.

TropicDiver - YOU LUCKY DOG!!! I didn't make in time to see the F-15 from the show - I had to watch from the parking lot. Love that vapor!

A few more...

Love the ATEC flyby.

agreed!

i love seeing the local guys get up there.

nice!

A few shots I took on Friday during the practice show. My position is on a grassy knoll just beyond the approach end of runway 15.

Chiefjim, never say grassy knoll in Texas

Great Pictures. Nice talking with you during the show. Hope the hand gets better.

Thanks, Trace. Good meeting you, too. Had the pins removed from the fingers two days, ago. It sure will help with taking photos, no doubt.

Here's a few more photos I got from this past weekend.