Saturday – February 28, 2015
Yuma Air Show
Yuma, Arizona
Lots to see and do at the Yuma Air Show today. The Yuma Airshow attracts spectators from all over the country. The event encompasses civilian air acts, modern aircraft displays, live air performances, and more held at the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Arizona.
Misty Blues All Women Sky Diving Team
Imagine peering out the door of an airplane at 4,000 feet up. Now imagine stepping outside that plane, right into the wide open, blue sky. This is what the members of the Misty Blues All Woman Skydiving Team do all the time, and they enjoy it.
Since the early 1980’s The Misty Blues All Woman Skydiving Team has been thrilling audiences at air shows, corporate events and other special occasions around the world. These exceptionally talented and brave ladies delight in displaying their parachuting talents that make them some of the most skilled skydivers in the world. There are approximately 35,000 active skydivers in the North American continent, and only a mere 15% are women!
One of the team members jumps with a 60-foot American flag that weighs in at amazing 45 pounds! Even if she is a petite thing, the flag jumper will always weigh well over 160 pounds when she steps out of the plane.
Not only are these women great skydivers, but they are also highly successful professionals with full-time careers ranging from an accounting consultant to a welding instructor. Although there are eight women on the team, four of them go to every show.
SHOCKWAVE Jet Truck
This is baddest/most impressive jet ground vehicle on the planet!!! 3 times the smoke, 3 times the fire, 3 times the noise, and 3 times the horsepower! THREE afterburning J34-48 jet engines totaling 36,000 HP. SHOCKWAVE is the Guiness Book world record holder for the fastest jet truck in the world at 376 mph.
Red Bull Helicopter
"Malibu" Chuck Aaron is the first - and only - civilian pilot ever to be licensed to perform helicopter aerobatics in the United States. In fact, he’s one of only three pilots permitted to execute the dangerous maneuvers internationally.
In 2004, he joined forces with Red Bull to take on a daunting challenge: figuring out how to perform aerobatics in a helicopter. After devoting nearly two years with the Flying Bulls team to modify and test a Messerschmitt-Bölkow Blohm BO-105, devise maneuvers, and determine how to make the aircraft perform them, in 2006 Chuck guided the Red Bull Helicopter through its U.S. debut.
Today, Chuck has logged more than 20,000 hours in the air and performed aerobatics with the Red Bull Helicopter at more than 150 air shows and events from coast to coast.
The Showcat Biplane
This aircraft is the first Grumman biplane to be used in airshows since the 1930’s when the late Al Williams flew the famed "Gulfhawk". Gene Soucy's new airplane is also the first agricultural aircraft to be used in the airshow environment. Gene has created three new acts with the airplane; a Hollywood style smoke and noise solo routine, a wingwalking act, and a night pyrotechnic show: "Fireflight".
The Ag Cat was first designed in 1958 and over 1800 Cats are in use throughout the world. The aircraft carries on the Grumman tradition of a strong over-built airframe and has the best pilot safety record in the agricultural business.
Soucy’s "Showcat" was modified by Jim Swick at his son’s "Swick Aircraft" facility in McKinney Texas. The six-month project entailed a complete renovation of the former crop sprayer. The hopper was removed and a two seat front cockpit was added for media rides. The entire top of the fuselage was redesigned with a sleeker look including a new rear cockpit, engine cowling, dorsal fin and turtle deck. The wings were clipped to improve roll rate, new gear fairings, wheel pants, and smaller tires were installed. The aircraft was fitted with a Bendix fuel injector and new inverted fuel and oil systems were constructed. The total aerodynamic cleanup improved cross-country cruising speed from 90 MPH to 110 MPH. Swick also installed an airshow smoke system and wing rider stand, plus a wing-tip smoke and pyrotechnic system. The aircraft’s electrical system was removed and completely rewired.
Another interesting feature of the Ag Cat was the removable side panels on the fuselage. No other airshow aircraft provides the ease of accessibility for maintenance, which is so important in this type of flying.
The combination of the Showcat's light wing-loading and high lift airfoil section provide the perfect slow speed performance for the wingwalking airshow Gene is performing. In the airshow configuration, the Showcat is still operating 1,500 pounds below the maximum weight it was flown at in the cropduster configuration with a full load of chemical.
The modified Ag Cat makes the perfect airshow airplane. It has all metal construction, ease of maintenance, excellent controllability and good cross-country range. It also has the round engine, the "Pratt & Whitney 985", which provides the earth-shaking noise that has been an airshow tradition since the 1930’s.
MCAS Search and Rescue Unit
The primary mission of the Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Yuma Search and Rescue Unit (SRU) is to
provide support for military flight operations within a 100 nautical mile radius
of MCAS Yuma. MCAS Yuma will also respond to community SAR and Medevacs on a
not-to-interfere with military operations basis. There is a fully qualified crew
on 24-hour duty status, 7 days a week including holidays.
F-5N Tiger II
AV-8B Harrier Jet
This aircraft was made famous by its performance in the 1982 Falklands War between the United Kingdom and Argentina.
F-35 Joint Strike Fighter
Establishing air superiority in today’s complex global security climate requires the unprecedented capabilities and versatility that only the F-35 Lightning II can offer.
Conceived in the mid 1990s, the tri-variant F-35 represents the pinnacle of more than 50 years of fighter development technology. Designed to dominate the skies, the F-35 combines the 5th Generation characteristics of radar evading stealth, supersonic speed and extreme agility with the most powerful and comprehensive integrated sensor package of any fighter aircraft in history.
Advanced avionics give the pilot real-time access to battle space information with spherical coverage and an unparalleled ability to dominate the tactical environment. Data collected by F-35 sensors can be immediately shared with commanders at sea, in the air or on the ground, providing an instantaneous, high-fidelity view of ongoing operations – making the Lightning II a formidable force multiplier.
Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lightning II – the world’s only international 5th Generation multi-role fighter.
MV-22 Osprey
With the speed and range of a turboprop, the maneuverability of a helicopter and the ability to carry 24 Marine combat troops twice as fast and five times farther than previous helicopters, the Osprey greatly enhances the advantages Marines have over their enemies.
The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-mission, military, tiltrotor aircraft with both a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL), and short takeoff and landing (STOL) capability. It is designed to combine the functionality of a conventional helicopter with the long-range, high-speed cruise performance of a turboprop aircraft.
Since entering service with the U.S. Marine Corps and Air Force, the Osprey has been deployed in both combat and rescue operations over Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan and Libya.
Tomorrow another adventure begins.
