TBA
Pacific Air Show
Back to the Pacific Air Show in Huntington Beach. Sadly the Canadian Forces Snowbirds canceled their season, but the line-up was still impressive, with the United States Armed Forces making a substantial appearance with the:
United States Navy West Coast Rhino Demo Team (F/A-18E/F Super Hornet)
United States Army UH-60M Blackhawk
United States Air Force Pacific Air Force F-16 Demo Team
United States Air Force (California Air National Guard) C-130J Hercules with MAFFS (modular airborne firefighting system)
United States Navy F-35C Lightning II Demo Team
United States Air Force C-17 West Coast Demo Team
United States Air Force KC-135R Stratotanker
United States Air Force Thuderbirds (F-16C Block 52).
Plus plenty of others-- and I think I missed the USMC MV-22B as they were flying right when I was approaching the parking lot! Supposedly the next day (Saturday) had a B-52 in attendance as well, sadly I missed it (and the MiG-17 also scheduled for Saturday). ;_;
Morning clouds started clearing about halfway through the show, with the sun fully coming out around 2pm. The C-17 and KC-135R demo wasn't as impressive as it was in 2019, but I still couldn't complain. Got a ton of time with both US Navy F-35C Demo Team jets in the air, and the F/A-18E/F Rhino Demo Team took to the air twice as well, the second time with the F-35C and the North American T-2C Buckeye, whic was a welcome change from the usual Heritage Flights that always have P-51 Mustangs.
And of course, the USAF Thunderbirds put on a great show. 40 or 45 minutes long, just wish I had captured some of the low passes better as they afterburnered over the pier at high subsonic speeds.
Dinner at Da Hawaiian Kitchen followed. They had just gone to a limited menu due to staffing shortages so I missed the full experience. Portugese sausage musubi was okay, shoyu ahi tuna poke was pretty meh (again mostly just shoyu tasting, no complexity), the spicy mayo ahi tuna that came with bits of (imitation) crab was actually pretty decent tho.