June 14, 2015 - Ocean City, Maryland Airshow
Ocean City, Maryland has been doing an annual airshow for a few years now, and it has gotten better and better.  This year they would have for the first time the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels, plus an F-22 Raptor, plus the new Breitling Jet Air Team.  So of course I had to go.  Lynnette and I drove down Saturday night, stayed with Bruce & Ellen, and all four of us went to the show the next day.
   
We staked out a spot just to the north of show center, the "Drop Zone", which cost money to enter.  But on either side the price was better:  free.
   
Bruce and I walked the boardwalk a little before show and had a couple of cold beers at a boardwalk bar.
   
A lot of people were on the beach for the show.
   
The show started off with parajumpers descending as an aerobatic plane circled around them.
   
First time I've ever seen a U.S. flag parachute.
   
Then Panchito, the B-25 medium bomber based at nearby Georgetown, did a routine off the beach.
   
Panchito rolls in hot.
   
The crowd goes wild.
   
Panchito in an 80 degree bank.
   
Lynnette enjoying Panchito's air routine.  Not.
   
Turning and burning!
   
 Highlight of the show!  Cessna 172 doing a high-speed flyby.  Oh wait, the show hadn't actually started yet and this was just some guy on his way to a $100 hamburger.
   
The Cessna 172 was followed by the Breitling Jet Team.  This is the third time I've seen them in the last few months.
   
Something new:  flares!  I like it.
   
John Klatt flying very, very low in his Extra 300L.
   
The best fighter plane of WWII and one of the great planes of all time, the P-51 Mustang.
   

Then came the plane I had wanted to see fly above all the others:  The U.S. Air Force's F-22 Raptor.  It has stealth, supercruise and supermaneuverability (thanks to moveable exhaust nozzles).  It's the best fighter plane in the world today.  Unfortunately, the USAF has only 187 of them.   The U.S. should buy about 1,000 of them.  Get rid of a few federal agencies to pay for them.

The F-22 has powerful engines so it can accelerate straight up.    It was LOUD!  You could hear the power.
   
 
Pulling hard G's just off the beach.
   
Coming towards us, the Raptor looked like some big prehistoric bird.   The Raptor did maneuvers I've never seen any airplane do before.  With the vectored thrust, it could just point its nose where it wanted, regardless of direction of flight.
   
The Raptor carries its weapons internally for stealth purposes.  It flew by with the weapon bay doors open to give us a look.
   
Incredibly, Lynnette was reading her book during the show!  Can you believe it?
   
After its routine, the Raptor flew alongside the P-51 Mustang in a heritage flight.  I'm sorry to say this, but compared to the Raptor, the P-51 seemed like a toy airplane.
   
Mustang breaks left, Raptor breaks right.
   
A Coast Guard helicopter demonstrated a Search and Rescue mission.
   
Mike Wiskus flying low over the ocean in the Lucas Oil S-1-11b Pitts.
   
The Blue Angels C-130 "Fat Albert" does a fly-by.  I flew as a passenger in this airplane from Pensacola to Los Angeles a long time ago.  It may look good on the outside but on the inside it's just another cargo plane.  It wasn't a pleasant flight but the price was right.
   
We know the parents of the Marine Corps Officer who is flying this plane.
   
And then it was time for the star attraction: the U.S. Navy Blue Angels Flight Demonstration Team.
   
 
Great move!
   
Now that I fly formation myself, I am even more in awe of what the Blue Angels do.   The wingtip is only one and a half foot from the canopy of the other plane.  Their rejoins were incredibly quick.  It looked like the jets had brakes.
   
 
Crisscross.
   
Rolling break.
   
 
   
 
   
Nice.
   
The Blues left a smoke trail down the beach that lingered for awhile.
   
Final starburst.
   
The following pictures I did not take but copied them off of Facebook.  Thanks to the photographers -- great shots!
   
 
   
That's the Drop Zone straight ahead with the free areas on each side.
   
 
In this picture you can really see how much larger the Raptor is compared to the Mustang.
   
Breitling Jet Team doing its thing off the beach.
   
 
Nice shot of the Blue Angels starburst.
   
American flag parachutist landing in the Drop Zone.
   
 
   
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