[MilCom] Keesler AFB airshow report (long)

Tue Apr 27 00:04:56 EDT 2004

Some notes from the show:

Freqs
-----
118.7   - Ground boss
120.75  - Air boss victor (tower freq)
123.175 - Lima Lima air/air
123.45  - All American Firebirds air/air
138.7   - 3-ship F-16 air-air (fly over prior to show start, missed c/s)
157.05  - CG6593 contacted Mobile after the show to have them assume his
          guard for the rtb to KNBG
269.075 - Air boss uniform (tower freq)
283.7   - T-6 Texan II demo discrete (time hacks, airspeed calls) I had this
          prog'd as a 53WRS freq so this might not be their regular discrete

Static displays
---------------
A-10A   (#79-0093 926FW/706FS) Lets Roll insignia
C172P   (N97779 Civil Air Patrol)
C182    (N9310X Civil Air Patrol)
C-12C   (#76-0163)
C-130J  (#02-8155 403WG/815AS) new tail number?
CT-142  (#142805 402SQN)
C-21A   (#84-0106 45AS)
LC-130H (#83-0491 "City of Albany" 109AW/139AS) callsign SKIER 91 - a great
 article on the 109AW can be found at Lockheed Martin's Code One magazine:
 http://www.codeonemagazine.com/archives/2003/articles/jul_03/c130/

 the following was on a frequency placard overhead the co-pilot's seat (a
 nasty sun glare obliterated some of the freqs in the photo)
 1   USAF GND CON     275.8  121.9
 2   SCH TOWER        321.1  121.3
 3   USAF TOWER       236.6  126.2
 4   ALB APP COM      307.2  125.0
 5   ALB APP COM      226.8  118.05
 6   SONDY/GOOSE OPS  319.#  130.#5  (Sondrestrom AB? Goose Bay?)
 7   SCH COM POST     340.8
 8   ??? APP CON      342.5  11#.#
 9   ??? TOWER        ###.#  11#.3
 10  FLIGHT SERVICE   255.4  122.2
 11  MAC COM POST     349.4
 12  PILOT DISPATCH   372.2  122.85
 13  METRO            344.6
 14  GOOSE APP CON    267.1  119.5   (Goose Bay Canada?)
 15  SONDY TOWER      234.6  120.2   (Sondrestrom AB? now Kangerlussuaq)
 16  SONDY APP CON    363.#  11#.3
 17  DYE II/III       236.5  122.2   (radar sites?)
 18-20 blank

OH-58A  (#71-20767 aka N304SD Harrison County MS Sheriff's Department)
RC-45J  (#67124 aka N4207)
SH-60B  (#164179 HSL44) callsign NAVY HP444
T-34C   (#161033 TAW4, #161809 TAW5, #162289 TAW4)
T-37B   (#68-8042 37FTS)
T-45C   (#165464 & #165608 TW1/VT7)
UH-1H   (#74-22538 JRTC Flt Det)
UH-60L  (#91-26329 Co C 1-132AVN)
WC-130H (#65-0984 403WG/53WRS)

also noted as non-static
WC-130H (#65-0977 & #64-14866) both of these were hangared with only the
                               tails sticking out - the J Baugher site
                               indicates both have been deconverted to
                               C-130H models although they still carry
                               the weather banner on the tail
WC-130J (#96-5300) one of 4 at their assigned parking spots
C-130J  (815AS) there were 2 at their assigned parking spots, one of them
         had the Lets Roll insignia behind the forward crew hatch

Aerial displays
---------------
BLACK DAGGER    (US Army Special Operations Command parachute team) - see
                 the May issue of MT for an article on them - searched the
                 136-144/148-150 range for their ops freq but found nothing
COAST GUARD 93  (#6593 HH-65B New Orleans)
FIREBIRD        (N911CG and N911JD Extra 300S)
GUNFIGHTER      (#44-74202 aka N5420V P-51D)
HAWK 31         (B-1B 7BW)
HERITAGE FLIGHT (A-10 and P-51)
LIMA LIMA       (6x T-34)
RUSSIAN THUNDER (N154DB YAK-54)
SCOUT 93        (#60-0042 B-52H 917WG/93BS)
STEALTH 91      (#81-10794 F-117A 49FW)
TEXAN II        (#01-3629 T-6A 479FTG)
TIGER 21        (#80-0194 A-10A 23FW) Lets Roll nose art
THUNDERBIRD     (#44-85718 aka N900RW B-17G) flown as #42-38050
THUNDERBOLT     (#44-90460 aka N9246B P-47)
TORA 101        (A6M Zero replica)
Bobby Younkin   (Twin Beech and Learjet 23)
Chuck Lischer   (SIAI Marchetti F-260)
Mary Dilda      (SNJ-6 "Two of Hearts")

Overall this was a good show. The static displays were a bit weak in numbers
but the uniqueness of some of the aircraft made up for that.

Judging from the applause the B-1B was the crowd favorite - guess they liked
the noise from 4 afterburners! Although I noticed during his first pass that
the number 4 engine did not go to afterburner. I also noticed that during
his high banked turn inbound for the 3rd pass he began to lose altitude.
When he reached treetop level from my vantage point he rolled level and
climbed back to altitude. At that point in the turn he would have been over
the Gulf so perhaps he just wanted to say hello to some boaters.

Fuel was an issue for a couple performers. The F-117 only made 2 passes due
to a fuel critical situation. Following Eric Beard's YAK-54 performance they
discovered there was only 5 gallons left to refuel him with so he departed
with special clearance to Gulfport Regional (about 12 miles away).

The afternoon flying events were hampered by strong winds which cancelled
some of the acts - the Black Daggers did not jump again and some of the
warbirds elected not to fly.

Despite the warnings at the shows website about strict security, I found it
to be normal. Photo IDs were not required for entrance. Everyone was wanded
before entering. Hand carried items were given a cursory going over. The one
area I found most perplexing was once on the base you were on your own to
find a way to the entrances to the flight line. The only areas were I saw
security police directing traffic was near these entrances (there were also
some road guards posted at the entrances to the student triangle area).
After the show you were on your own again to find a way out. At the very
least some arrows directing you to the parking area would have been helpful
to those not familiar with the base (like the guy in front of me).

Photos are online at http://www.pbase.com/mriffle/aviation/keesler/

Mike Riffle
Cataula, GA