LA County Airshow 2014
On March 21st and 22nd, the City of Lancaster held the inaugural Los Angeles County Air Show at William J. Fox Airfield. The Air Show was headlined by the United States Navy Demonstration Team, the Blue Angels. With so much aviation history stemming from the Antelope Valley and neighboring communities, the air show was a tribute to the valley’s rich aviation heritage, and the aerospace pioneers who have paved the way for future generations to come.
In addition to aircraft perfoming in the sky, the crowd was treated to some very unique aircraft on static display, as well as many interactive booths where kids and adults could get hands on experience with a wide array of exhibits and simulators.
Notable static displays included:
NASA’s F/A-18B chase aircraft
Planes of Fame’s P-38 ‘Skidoo’
Burt Rutan’s ‘Proteus’ high-altitude aircraft
Along with their C-130T support aircraft affectionately known as ‘Fat Albert’, the Blue Angels dazzeled the crowd in the Antelope Valley with their precision formation flying, sometimes with as little as thirty-six inches seperating the aircraft, as well as breath taking head to head crosses at show center by the two solo aircraft. In addition to to US Navy Blue Angels, the air show at Fox Field had a very diverse set of performances and flybys.
Performances included:
- The West Coast Ravens-with a formation of six custom built Vans RV aircraft
- Chuck Coleman-with his Extra 300L
- Steve Oliver-‘Sky Dancer’, a highly-modified 1956 de Havilland Chipmunk
- Greg ‘Wired’ Colyer-in his Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star named ‘Ace Maker’
- Bill Braack-in the Smoke N’ Thunder Jet Car, who raced ‘Ace Maker’ each day at over 350 mph.
- Red Bull Air Force including the Wing Suit Flyers
- Kirby Chamblis-in his Edge 540 and
- Chuck ‘Malibu’ Aaron-in his Eurocopter BO-105 aerobatic helicopter
- Commemorative Air Force’s Red Tail Squadron-P-51C Mustang ‘Tuskegee Airmen’
- Korean War Demonstration including a Yak-3, Mig 15, AT-6 Texan, P-51 Mustang, F4U-1 Corsair and F-86 Sabre from the Planes of Fame Air Museum, culminating with a dogfight between the F-86 Sabre and the Mig 15.
- Heritage Flight-with a P-51 Mustang and F-86 Sabre
Additional fly-bys included:
- POF’s Northrop N9MB Flying Wing
- B-25J ‘Executive Sweet’
- A pair of A-4L Skyhawks from Draken International
- NASA’s ER-2 High-Altitude Platform
This inaugural event had all the makings of a complete and total success. I hope to see this become an annual event that can help people of all ages realize that no dream is too big.