muff528 wrote:
"Dudley Henriques" wrote in message
...
Vaughn Simon wrote:
"Dudley Henriques" wrote in message
...
Great pass. Quite frankly I'm surprised they got authorization to do it.
I did not catch it this year, but the Blue Angels SF show is an
amazing thing. It will awe and thrill any aviation buff, and is well
worth the trip to experience. And quite frankly, I am surprised (and
cautiously delighted) that it still happens. It is the only place that I
have seen an airshow happen right over the heads of thousands of people.
The crowd thins only a bit when you get past the water's edge. There are
so many boats on the bay, one could almost walk from boat to boat.

There is a sort of mutual love affair between SF and the Navy.
...and yes, like lovers everywhere, they have the occasional spat.

Vaughn
Some of the best shows with the teams were during the early days when out
of restrictive airspace.
The Thunderbirds did one at Okinawa in the F100's that had Herman Salmon
flying the solo out over the ocean where he was "forgotten" by the crowd;
(all air force and AF civilian base personnel)
The Diamond sequenced with the Diamond Roll and exited the show line. Fish
timed the entry exactly right. He came in low from the ocean 90 degrees in
back and behind the crowd. He timed it to go supersonic just as he crossed
over their heads at about 500 feet. It was like a cannon went off. Nearly
everybody hit the ground flat as he passed over them. They were taken
completely by surprise. Nobody knew he was coming!
To this day, they talk about Fish's super pass at Okinawa.
Can't do this stuff any more. I have to admit it's a lot safer not to do
it, but I'll tell you as well; there just ain't NOBODY ALIVE today who was
there that day who will tell you they would have rather not been there as
Fish "opened the show"
DH

--
Dudley Henriques


I was at this show in 1956 at Bartow Air Base, Florida. Not quite 6 years
old but I remember it very well.
I think this was F-100C. Also a very low surprise pass that no one expected
and quite a shock to all who were there.

http://home1.gte.net/res0f19c/pics/Mach1F100.jpg

BS, TP


That would be Bill Pogue's airplane. Bill flew the slot and solo in the
100 from 55 through 57.
Bill flew on Jax Broughton's (Thud Ridge) F100 team. Jax is still alive
and well the last I heard. He recovered from a heart attack last year
and is out in California recovering. We shared a few emails as of early
this year.

--
Dudley Henriques