Blues own sky with blazing performance
NAVAL AIR FACILITY EL CENTRO — The Blue Angels seemed to defy the force of gravity at will with amazing tight formations and split-second timing, delighting crowds from across the continent here during their 71st anniversary and 50th at NAFEC on Saturday.
Ideal weather greeted an eager crowd of 55,000 comparable to last year’s estimate, noted Kris Haugh, public affairs officer. Arriving from Long Beach, Peter Murray was here to see the jets and was loving it, he insisted.
“I like the rural shows — El Centro and China Lake (Ridgecrest), because the jets seem lower and louder,” he said. “This show is more spread out, less people (than Miramar) and it’s pretty laid back.”
Returning for a second time, since the ’80s, was David Ver from Rancho Cucamonga.
“We went to see the U.S.S. Iowa during Fleet Week in LA last week and it’s nice to see they open the base here to the public,” he said. Added his wife, Mary, “I like the vintage planes you never see anymore, I like the nostalgia.”
Pointing out features of a B-24 Liberator to his two daughters was Chris Plummer from San Diego. He was a former E-2c Charlie early warning reconnaissance pilot. “The show is great and I came in 2014,” he said. “The Blue Angels are awesome — best in the world.”
“My God, you have the best of the best flying, that’s what I love about it,” said Heike Kozlik of San Diego. “You have these men who protect our freedom and provide us this beautiful air show. It’s my first time here but it won’t be my last.”
Volunteering with Planes of Fame from Chino, was Joe Filkens informing visitors about 10 different World War II-era aircraft, including the FU4 Corsair with its distinctive “bent” wings to prop up the fuselage higher and accommodate an oversized propeller.
“For us, the show is all about our (volunteer) family, we’re a close-knit group and have a really good time flying and doing maintenance,” he said. “And we’re very proud of our planes. We’re proud of the history, and what our country did with it.”
Captain Brent Alfonzo, commanding officer of NAFEC noted El Centro is the driving force in the training they do here.
“The people of the Valley are key to our continued success,” he said in a published welcome. “Your hospitality and understanding enables us to train like we fight and is vital to the effectiveness of our military forces in combat.”
Commuting from her winter home in Yuma was Jinny Hawk, who was attending her fourth air show. “I love it, that’s why I come back year after year, and my husband is retired air force,” she said.
Robert Hawk was a Lt. Col. and flew typhoon reconnaissance planes. He was first assigned to Fort Hood in Killen Texas, then shipped out to the Andersen Air Force base in Guam.
“I enlisted at the height of Viet Nam, March 16, 1967,” recalled Hawk. “I spent 25 years in the Air Force, but the closest I got to Viet Nam was 14,000 feet above it, flying weather reconnaissance. I love being around airplanes, seeing the old planes, it’s a nostalgic feel. But time is relative. As we get older you change on the outside, but stay the same on the inside. That’s like old people.”