Story and photos by Scott Jankowski
The 2023 Milwaukee Air and Water show was once again held in the skies and waters around Downtown Milwaukee WI on July 22nd and 23rd. This annual air and water show is centered on the Bradford Beach area on the Lake Michigan shoreline with airshow aircraft typically staging from General Mitchell International Airport a short 5 miles away. The 2023 show once again featured several great civilian and military performers and included the headlining U.S. Navy Blue Angels and the U.S. Air Force Air Combat Command F-16 “Viper” Demo teams. The majority of the military performers were based at the 128th Air Refueling Wing, which is part of the Wisconsin Air National Guard, they hosted a special media event on Thursday July 21st, where local media members could get a closer look at the airshow aircraft which I was a part of.
We did have a brief time to mingle this year with the Blue Angels Team prior to their planned practice that morning. As with previous years the Blue Angels Boeing F/A-18 E/F model Super Hornets along with their support aircraft a Lockheed C-130J Super Hercules named “Fat Albert” were parked on the Southwest corner of the 128th Air Refueling Wing ramp. The 2023 Blue Angels Demonstration Team has a Wisconsin connection once again this year. Madison WI native Lieutenant Commander Griffin Stangel who flies as the opposing solo in Blue Angel #6 was once again thrilled to be back in his home state to perform in front of friends and family. Lieutenant Commander Stangel visited Milwaukee for last year’s airshow as Blue Angel #7. The Blue Angels appearance in Milwaukee was the only stop they made in the state this year.
Our time with the Bule Angels went quick as they needed to prepare the jets for their scheduled practice that morning, but our time on the 128th ramp was not quite up yet. We were repositioned to the North side of the ramp in order to photograph the U.S. Air Force’s F-16 “Viper Demo Team” arrival. This demo team is part of Air Combat Command and is assigned to the 20th Fighter Wing based at Shaw Air Force Base SC and flies the Lockheed Martin F-16C Block 50 Fighting Falcon or Viper. A pair of these F-16C’s arrived with one of the aircraft painted in the spectacular paint scheme named “Venom”, the other was painted in the standard tactical grey scheme. 2023 Team Captain Aimee “Rebel” Fielder leads the eight-member team which also made its only 2023 Wisconsin visit to Milwaukee.
The 128th Air Refueling Wing also hosted other military performers which included a Boeing P-8A Poseidon, which is a maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft and is based off the civilian Boeing 737-800. This P-8A flies with Patrol Squadron 45 (VP-45) known as the “Pelicans” and is based at Naval Air Station Jacksonville FL and have flown the P-8A since 2013. Also present was a Sikorsky MH-53E Sea Dragon which is assigned to Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron 15 (HM-15) better known as the “Blackhawks” and is based at Naval Air Station Norfolk VA. The MH-53E is powered by three General Electric T64-GE-419 turboshaft engines and has a crew of 3-8 people.
In addition to the 128th Air Refueling Wing supporting the visiting military aircraft during the airshow weekend, they also provided direct airshow support with one of their Boeing KC-135R Stratotankers. The 128th also took advantage of the nice weather on Friday’s practice day to get in some touch and go training as well.Other performers for the weekend airshow staged out of the Northwest corner of the airport at the AvFlight Fixed Base Operator (FBO). This included The Minnesota Wing of the Commemorative Air Force’s North American B-25 Mitchell, “Miss Mitchell.” Sharing ramp space with the B-25 were a pair of Lockheed Martin C-130J-30 Super Hercules based at Little Rock Air Force Base and believed to be assigned to the 48th Airlift Squadron. It is presumed both aircraft are part of the 48th Airlift Squadron, but only one aircraft carried any tail markings and visible serial numbers. Both of these aircraft used the callsign “Puma” and took part in a flyover of a Milwaukee Brewers game that weekend, they were not scheduled to be part of the airshow but did make a few passes on Sunday.
It was decided to head to the prime spotting location at General Mitchell International Airport, the centrally located parking garage to catch some of the action on the Friday practice day. Runway 7 Right was in use this day which meant all arriving and departing aircraft would need to taxi right past the South end of the parking garage. In addition to the airshow aircraft, there were plenty of commercial airliners and business jets to be seen and photographed as well. These included several different types of 737’s including Alaska and United Airlines, also to be seen were Beechcraft 99 freighters from Freight Runners Express and Shorts 360’s from Air Cargo Carriers both based at Milwaukee.
I was not able to attend the actual show on the weekend due to a scheduling conflict with EAA AirVenture which unofficially started on Sunday. There are plenty of spots on the lakefront in which to take in this free airshow, there are several other paid options for prime parking and seating available as well. This show draws thousands to the Milwaukee Lakefront every year and is expertly set up by the team at the Milwaukee Air and Water Show headed up by Mr. Paul Rogers. If you are in the Milwaukee or surrounding areas, I strongly suggest attending this event, you will not be disappointed.
My sincere thanks to Mr. Rogers, his staff, and the Public Relations Team at the 128th Air Refueling Wing for facilitating the Media Day. Until Next time, “Blue Skies To All!”
