pjd@alpha.ces.cwru.edu (dr. funk) (05/11/89)
From: dr. funk <pjd@alpha.ces.cwru.edu>
Finally got off of an airplane long enough to post this!
Last week I attended an ACM workshop in Long Beach and flew in Saturday
night (5/6) to save some travel bucks. I decided to wander down to the
Marine Air Station at El Toro to possibly catch sight of an F-18 or two.
Lo and behold, it was the weekend for the El Toro Airshow! (Forget about
the workshop, computers, etc. now.) This was indeed a worthy effort! It
had the usual civilian stunts (plus a biplane dogfight) and superb
Blue Angel performance.
BUT
The Marines put on quite a show by demonstrating their air-ground tactics.
Novelties included a KC-130 refueling fly-by, low attitude strike runs
by A-4, F-18 and AV-8 aircraft, photo run by an RF-4, low altitiude
parachute jumps from OV-10 Bronco's, Cobra close air support, troop
deployment from a variety of helicopters. And in true Marine tradition,
lots of smoke and noise. If you;ve read "Marine Air" (John Trotti,
Presido Press) this show makes the book "really live."
I had a chance to walk around F-18's, A-6's, AV-8's, an F-111, two
F-16's from Hill, an aggressor F-16N, an F-14, A-4's, an RF-4, and bunches
of the standard fare at civilian airshows. (It's a modeller's dream.)
I had a great time. It's open to the public, free and relatively crowded.
So, park in a lot/field near the base perimeter. It's a long walk, but
the fastest way out after the show. Hopefully, someone from LA will post
the dates for next year's show.....
paul drongowski
case western reserve university
cleveland, ohio 44106