[MilCom] NAS Jacksonville airshow report

[Mike Riffle]

My notes from the 30-31 October 2004 show

[AERIAL FREQUENCIES]
  123.150  Common discrete
  127.700  Show Boss
  136.575  Heritage Flight (F-15, F-16, F-86, P-51) also used for a/a by the
           F-16s for their Sunday departure
  167.800  Blue Angels ground/engine start/pre-taxi (FM)
  265.000  Blue Angels (some comms on Saturday)
  284.250  Blue Angels diamond
  305.500  Blue Angels Fat Albert
  323.200  MAULER a/a
  333.300  unk, "talk to you after the show" (possibly the F-14)
  346.500  Blue Angels solos
  384.550  F-15 and F-16 discrete/chit-chat

[GROUND FREQUENCIES]
  138.650  tower controlling vehicles
  138.775  ?
  139.925  vendor support (138.825 mobiles)
  140.100  Crash
  140.250  ?
  140.425  Public Affairs/Show Boss (this was THE freq to listen to)
  140.700  Fire (also simulcast on 142.750)
  141.000  unk unit calling FM Shop
  142.200  ?
  142.500  CP
  142.700  Police (143.5 mobiles)
  143.700  unk units calling CP
  143.725  ?
  148.150  ?

[MILITARY AERIAL DEMOS]
  BLUE ANGEL 1     F/A-18A #161967
  BLUE ANGEL 2     F/A-18A #161975
  BLUE ANGEL 3     F/A-18A #161960
  BLUE ANGEL 4     F/A-18A #161942
  BLUE ANGEL 5     F/A-18A #161956
  BLUE ANGEL 6     F/A-18A #161948
  BLUE ANGEL 7     F/A-18B #161943
  DRAGONSLAYER 610 SH-60F  #164800 HS-11
  EAGLE            F-15C   #79-0053 on Sat, #80-0024 on Sun, 58FS
  FAT ALBERT       C-130T  #164763
  MAULER 702       S-3B    #159746 VS-33
  MAULER 705       S-3B    #159744 VS-32
  MAULER 706       S-3B    #160144 VS-32
  ORION 1          P-3C    #160999 VP-30
  SPANKY 1-2       F/A-22
  TOMCAT           F-14B   #162694 VF-101
  VIPER            F-16CJ  #90-0821 on Sat, #91-0376 on Sun, 20FW

[CIVILIAN AERIAL DEMOS]
  Extra 300S   N68PW   Patty Wagstaff
  F-86F        N86FR   Dale "Snort" Snodgrass
  Hang Glider          Dan Buchanan
  SF260        N941TA  Chuck Lischer
  Pitts S-2S   N99MF   Jim LeRoy's "Bulldog"
  WACO UPF-7   N2369Q  Jimmy Franklin's jet powered bi-plane
  Cyclone      N985MW  Frank Ryder's Oreck XL 2
  P-51D        N851D   #44-84745 "Crazy Horse"

[STATIC]
  AS-350  N578AE     ICE
  B-25J   #44-30734  "Panchito"
  C-40A   #165834    VR-58
  CH-47F  #98-0011   US Army ATCC
  F-14D   #164349    VF-213
  F-15C   #79-0069   33OG (departed Sun as NOMAD 31)
  HH-65B  #6524      CGAS Savannah
  L-39C   N139PJ     painted as Blue Angel #7
  OV-1D   #67-18926  N18926
  PA-42   N9142B     ICE
  PT17    #75-2174   N63947
  S-3B    #160152    VS-31 (acft #700)
  SH-60F  #164804    HS-3 (acft #614)
  SNB-5   #39750     N12718
  SNJ-5   #84-923    N3931R
  T-34C   #160269    TAW-6
  T-6A    #165971    TAW-6
  UH-60A  #85-24390  US Army ATTC

[COMMENTS]
  I found the static displays to be rather sparse. Being a Navy base I was
  surprised there was no F-18, E-2, EA-6, or AV-8.

  The announcer stated that the 2006 show would have a demo by the Super
  Hornet. Next years show will be back at Jacksonville Beach.

  The F/A-22 fly-by was Saturday only - a single flat pass in a line
  abreast formation at an altitude between 500-1000 ft.

  Some comms on the Fat Albert freq made reference to a new comm cart to
  be used at future airshows.

  This was not a good weekend for the Blues. #4 did not perform on Saturday
  due to an illness. #5 had to land on Sunday after 10 mins due to a burning
  smell in the ECS (Environmental Control System). He switched to #7 and
  returned to the show only to land after another 10 mins because "the back
  seat nav bag is back there somewhere and I think I feel it against the
  stick - it started flopping around during that last maneuver". After the
  bag was removed he returned to complete the show. Another minor glitch
  occurred at the end of the show as they were preparing for the delta pitch
  up to land. One of them noticed that the left gear door on #3 was slightly
  ajar so they performed a flat pass, #3 exiting the formation, and the
  remaining 5 came back for the pitch up to land.

  In the Nov issue of MT, Bob Parnass has a review of the Icom R20 in which
  he notes a significant falloff in sensitivity between 280-295 MHz. I can
  confirm this, the R20 was essentially deaf to the Blues 284.25 freq. The
  only time I could hear them is when they were directly in front of me.

Mike Riffle
Cataula, GA
http://www.geocities.com/kc8mzm