[MilCom] NAS Atlanta airshow report

[Mike Riffle]

A crisp salute to NAS Atlanta for a very good show! Comments at the end...

Frequencies
-----------
123.025  - Sky Soldiers discrete (only prior to show, during their act they
           used show boss victor - thanks to Barry W for finding this one)
123.150  - F-16 discrete
123.475  - common discrete
134.125  - air boss victor
138.800  - parking lot attendants and shuttle buses (FM)
165.1125 - transient ramp, used by air boss (FM)
173.5875 - fire/crash/rescue (FM)
249.625  - Blue Angels 5/6
273.300  - Blue Angels Fat Albert
275.350  - Blue Angels 1-4 and delta formation
283.700  - T-6A discrete
299.650  - Blue Angels 1-4
346.800  - air boss uniform
376.025  - F-15 discrete
467.5625 - FRS ch 8 used by the T-6A ground support team

Static from 8 May
-----------------
AH-1W     (#165286 HMLA-773)
B767-232  (N102DA - special Delta Air Lines 75th anniversary paint scheme)
C-130H    (#84-0204 94AW/700AS)
E-2C      (#161783 VAW-77)
F-16CJ    (#92-3916 169FW/157FS)
F/A-18A   (#163101 VFA-203)
F/A-18A   (#163149 VMFA-142)
F-5E      (#721387 VFC-13)
L-39C     (N8124N - Careers in Aviation Inc. - painted as AF74211)
P-3C      (#163291 VP-62)
T-28C     (#140637 aka N28BZ)
T-34B     (N85995 - NAS Atlanta flying club)
T-34C     (#160638 VF-101)
T-45C     (#165458 TW-1/VT-9) *note Scramble shows this as VT-7 but in my
                               pics it clearly says VT-9
TH-57C    (#162020)
UH-1H     (#68-16104 - Army Aviation Heritage Foundation)
UH-1N     (#158777 HMLA-773)

Aerial from 9 May (in order of appearance)
-----------------
HUNTER 94       (F/A-18 VFA-201) departed prior to show - had been parked at
                                 the transient ramp along with 3 other F-18s
MACE 91         (F-16 157FS) departed prior to show - see static above
SEAN TUCKER     (N260HP Challenger II)
SNJ/AT-6 FLIGHT (N934JT, N3238G, N29931, N777AP)
EAGLE 1         (#84-0025 F-15C 27FS) Let's Roll insignia
L39             (N2399V L-39C Careers in Aviation)
PATTY WAGSTAFF  (N68PW Extra 300S)
RED EAGLE       (N181DM, N106BD Eagle)
RUSSIAN THUNDER (N154DB YAK-54)
VIPER 1         (#88-0459 F-16C 4FS) Let's Roll insignia
HERITAGE FLIGHT (F-15, F-16, F-86)
DALE SNODGRASS  (NX86FR F-86F)
SKY SOLDIERS    (#69-15354 UH-1H Huey, #66-16624 UH-1H Huey, #57-2795 TL-19D
                 Bird Dog, #59-2631 AO-1B Mohawk, #67-15737 AH-1G Cobra,
                 #76-22599 TAH-1P Cobra, #62-4149 CV-2B Caribou, #66-17795
                 OH-6A Cayuse) Vietnam era "Air Cav Troop" demo - see
                 http://www.armyav.org/board_1.htm for aircraft history -
                 pyro display started a grass fire on Sat, no pyro on Sun;-)
TEXAN           (#01-3628 T-6A 479FTG)
TEXAN HERITAGE  (T-6A, N934JT SNJ-4)
TOMCAT          (#163900 F-14D VF-101)
PISTOL 2        (T-34C VF-101) departed prior to Blues performance - see
                               static above
FAT ALBERT      (#164763 C-130T)
BLUE ANGELS     (1 #161967, 2 #161963, 3 #161955, 4 #161943, 5 #161942
                 6 #161956)
GUNFIGHTER 96   (F-14) departed after show, returned approx 20 mins later
                       with aircraft prob, on approach tower advised smoke
                       coming from rear of aircraft, upon landing fuel leak
                       discovered from fuel vent, aircraft had to be
                       de-fueled to stop leak

Comments
--------
Security - No problems getting scanners, FRS radios, cameras, and cell
           phones in. Pity the people who had coolers though.
Weather - One word for Saturday, HOT! 91° true air temp but I'm sure it was
          well in to the 100's on the tarmac. Numerous heat related medical
          calls. Sunday was better but there was rain just as the Blues took
          to the air. This seemed to throw them off a bit as there were
          several busted passes.
The Acts - Non-stop activity from the moment they started shortly after 9am,
           the only pause was 1/2 hour for lunch. Great crowd reaction to
           Sean D Tucker's cockpit narration during the centrifuge and tail
           slide. The Sky Soldiers demo was very detailed - anybody else
           notice the Vietcong picking rice and cooking it prior to their
           demise? Eric Beard in the YAK-54 said he could feel Scott Hamrick
           tapping the throttle on the Air Force Reserve jet car during his
           intimidation passes. The Red Eagles ganged up on poor Scott with
           one of them playing chicken during the race - nothing like a
           500kt closure rate to get the heart racing! The next time you see
           the Blues watch them after they enter the cockpit, they even take
           off their caps and sunglasses with precision!

I should have some photos scanned and online by the end of the week.


Mike Riffle
Cataula, GA
milcom - http://www.qsl.net/kc8mzm/
photos - http://www.pbase.com/mriffle/aviation/