Orange County (New York) Air Show 2023
Story by Kevin Burke, photos by Bob Finch and Kevin Burke
In late June spent more time dissecting weather forecasts leading up to the Orange County Air Show than I did actually watching anything fly at the Orange County airport. About a week out from the show it began to appear the weekend could be a wash out.
I had booked a motel room nearby with the option to cancel just prior to the selected dates. I had given up on my usual plan of being at the airport for the Friday activities, mainly practices in this case as most aircraft flying in for this show land at nearby Stewart Airport. In years past it was possible to park nearby and watch performers practice.
Apparently, it seems someone in charge of the airport property doesn’t want to deal with aviation enthusiasts that show up on Friday. People pay to get in on Saturday and Sunday, why turn people away on Friday when you could simply cordon off an area and charge people $10 or $15 per car?
With the weekend looking like a washout, I cancelled the motel booking and focused on possibly making a one day out and back trip. I am about a 4-hour ride away from the Orange County Airport.
As of Friday night, I decided that the forecast for Saturday from 11:00 to 4:00 looked better than Sunday’s, and looked like it may be possible to have an air show.
Knowing all too well that after all the effort of leaving at 4 AM to be at the airport front gate before 9:00 to avoid sitting in traffic, by the time things started to fly, that Sunday’s forecast could improve by then. I also leaned toward going on Saturday to avoid Sunday night traffic while driving home.
That 4-hour drive was not a very optimistic drive with some heavy rain and fog, and absolutely zero signs of any conditions necessary for an air show.
Once I arrived at the airport conditions were improving although there was a shower or two that passed by and around 11:00 it seemed the base of the clouds was lifting and the skies were getting brighter. The announcer was keeping the crowd informed and efforts were being made to work around the forecast to shift performances based on the forecast. I am definitely glad this show learned their lesson after cancelling the Saturday show when a thunderstorm passed nearby a few years ago, only to have a partly cloudy sky an hour later.
After the opening National Anthem, a single F-15C Eagle of the Massachusetts Air National Guard made a few passes, heating up the area with the application of afterburners, and wringing out the moist air by Squeezing vapor during some quick pulls and turns.
The clouds were still low, but having a fast mover come by was a good sign.
The A-10 demo flew what I would call a modified low show.
The Jelly Belly plane performed as well as a Red Bull Edge 540, an aircraft I don’t think I’ve seen before, as well as Mike Goulian.
The main attraction, the US Navy Blue Angels were still “on the fence” about performing because the weather although improving was still flirting with minimum required conditions mainly on the outskirts of their restricted airspace. One of the solo pilots circled around the airport discussing the ceiling and visibility as the rest of the team circled out of sight.
It was determined the show would be a ‘go’.
From that moment some spots of blue sky appeared and some even got quite large.
The Blue Angels performed a flawless show; especially since earlier the weather was questionable enough for them to perform a show.
Of course, by the end of the show, Sundays forecast improved greatly. I think Sunday’s show had mostly blue skies, but I kept to my plan of just the one-day trip.