TBA
Miramar Air Show
Lots to do in San Diego this weekend! Friggin' aweosme tacos at a local corner taco shop called Ortiz's, the somewhat overrated but still beautiful works of art dessert at Extraordinary Desserts, and the trend of overrated BBQ in California sadly continues at Coop's West Texas BBQ. (ribs and collard greens were the best items there, and honestly even the ribs weren't all that good...)
Highlight of the day was the Mirmar Air Show. An active military base means tons of hardware on display-- instead of one F-15C or one F-16C Block 30, you get a few-- close to a dozen if it's an aircraft based there such as the F/A-18C Hornet!
The stars, of course, were the MV-22 Osprey and the F-35B Lightning II. The Osprey didn't do anything too fancy, but some extremely low level passes, transitioning between flight and hover modes, and some slow spins right above the runway. Very cool, and definitely revealing if you've never seen one before! As much crap as the Osprey gets for being expensive, the performance and capability clearly opens new horizons compared to conventional helicopters or fixed-wing aircraft.
F-35B Lightning II did a similar demo to the F-35A I saw earlier this year at the Planes of Fame Airshow, but with the main twist thrown in-- vertical flight and hover! Friggin' awesome. Think of a Harrier, but stealth and supersonic. *drool*
Additional F-35B's and MV-22's were on display, so easy to get a close look. A C-17 Globemaster III parked with thrust reversers fully deployed made for an interesting view of a jet engine you rarely see, and multiple F-15C's parked wingtip to wingtip was definitely a sight! Much less focus here on older equipment, although there was definitely some-- AT-6 Texan, P-51D Mustang, A-4 Skyhawk, etc. Very different feel than the Planes of Fame Airshow; both are well worth a visit!