The Vero Beach Air Show has come and gone, but the roar of the planes and the excitement over having the best of the best grace our skies will linger on in the memories of the entire community for months to come. The highly acclaimed U.S. Navy Blue Angels and other exciting aerial acrobats wrote smoke-trail love letters in the sky and residents bellowed back in admiration and awe.
Aeronautic aficionados were as gleeful as children on Christmas morning; their infectious enthusiasm generating a buzz of excitement that helped draw tens of thousands out to the airport, from the arrival of the Blue Angels’ six F/A-18 Hornets and “Fat Albert” C-130 Hercules on Thursday morning to the last wing waggle on Sunday afternoon.
Final numbers aren’t in but judging from the overwhelming response it’s clear to say that the event was the biggest in Vero’s history.
“All I can say is that the attendance was beyond our expectations,” said spokesperson Jan Binney.
In addition to show attendees, roadways, parking lots and rooftops were crowded all weekend long with residents eager to catch a glimpse and snap a photo for posterity.
The event was hosted by the nonprofit entity Vero Beach Air Show, Inc., to benefit the Exchange Clubs of Indian River, Treasure Coast and Vero Beach towards their mission to prevent child abuse, and the Veterans Council of Indian River County, to honor and assist current and former members of the armed forces. A squadron of roughly 800 volunteers helped to coordinate the massive undertaking.
Vero Beach was chosen as one of only 35 sites nationwide where the elite Blue Angels will perform this year; a return for the Navy to an airport which served as a Naval Air Station during World War II.
“It’s not just flying; it’s community outreach,” said Lt. Cmdr. Dave Tickle, who joined the Blue Angels in 2010. “It’s all about being a teammate; being a follower and a leader. We’re a very close-knit team.”
Tickle said the mission of the Blue Angels is to inspire a culture of excellence and to inspire people to serve their country in some fashion.
As part of their outreach, approximately 30 special needs students were selected by their schools for some one-on-one time with their heroes at a private reception on Friday.
“Because that’s what we’re promoting,” said Binney. “Some of these kids are really hooked on the Blue Angels. I got tears in my eyes when I talked to the parents.”
“It was an amazing experience,” said Cynthia Falardeau, whose son Wyatt was one of those chosen. “It’s a big deal for them to be there and participate; it’s huge.”
This writer was among a few lucky members of the media treated to a demonstration ride aboard “Fat Albert Airlines,” piloted by Capt. A.J. Harrell and Capt. Dusty Cook. The C-130 Hercules transports the Blue Angels maintenance and support teams as well as thousands of pounds of fuel and equipment to each performance.
“The level of precision and the amount of detail you have to know is pretty intense,” said Capt. Harrell, after giving instructions to the crew in a language seemingly all their own.
After a gradual takeoff, remaining low to the ground as the landing gear was retracted, things got more hairy, with zero G-force takeoffs and landings – a “maximum effort climb” skyward at a 45-degree angle on the way up, and a steep landing approach angle on the way down.
During the weightless periods, crew members, previously assuring with a grin that “nothing out of the ordinary was going to happen,” held on to a stationary ladder, their feet flying out perpendicular to the floor until gravity was regained.
Those, along with demonstrations of minimum radius turns, banks and passes, are all geared to simulate actual war-time tactical maneuvers. It’s like a fun rollercoaster ride for civilians but serious business for those in harm’s way.
“This is eight and one-half minutes; it’s nothing compared to what our armed forces do,” said Harrell. “We get to be the face of the Navy and the Marines, but we all owe thanks to our forces serving around the world.”
The Blue Angels may have been the big draw but there were plenty of other aerobatic performers also wowing the crowd with thrills and chills as they performed their death-defying stunts.
Gasps from the crowd accompanied jaw-dropping loops and spirals, spins and drops performed by Patty Wagstaff, a three-time U.S. National Aerobatic Champion; Skip Steward aboard his biplane, Prometheus the Flying Machine; Rob Holland, winner of the last three U.S. National Unlimited Aerobatic Championships and a Gold Freestyle Medal at the World Aerobatic Championships; Scott “Scooter” Yoak and his restored Quick Silver P-51 Mustang; retired Northwest Airlines captain Julie Clark, marking her 31st year as a solo aerobatic air show pilot; and Dave Folk aboard an F4U-5N Corsair, one of the most famed fighters of WWII.
New to the show was stuntwoman Teresa Stokes, a wing-walker performing her acrobatics atop a biplane piloted by “Mr. Airshow” Gene Soucy, a three-time national champion. The audience was also treated to the Lucas Oil Skydivers, who parachuted in a series of breathtaking jumps, and the Shockwave Jet Truck, a jet engine powered, fire-breathing, semi-tractor trailer, which traveled so fast it had to utilize its own parachutes to stop.
It doesn’t stretch the imagination at all to reflect that youngsters who attended the Vero Beach Air Show might return one day to soar overhead in a future show.
