Ed McKeller and Mr. Pieroni (probably butchering that) used to run a
large bus from our air museum out to El Centro to catch that show each
year. The best part of the excursion was the bus ride - we always had
at least a couple retired Blue Angel pilots on the bus, sharing stories
of flamed-out Panthers landing in the desert or sneaking up on boats on
lakes, things like that.

The show we went to was the day before the start of the official season
- and yes, it was generally referred to as the family airshow, since it
was primarily an invitation-only type show. Our bus had its own
bleachers (it pays to have Blue Angels on your museum board of
directors!). There were a couple occasions when it honestly appeared
that our group of 50+ made up the majority of the "crowd".

v/r
Gordon