[MilCom] 2005 Airshow Chattanooga report

[Mike Riffle]

I'm a little late with this but the past couple of weeks have been rather
busy, as you will see...

Location: Lovell Field Airport (KCHA)
Date: 29 October 2005

[FREQUENCIES]
121.700   ground control
123.150   discrete common
126.500   air boss
136.575   Heritage flight discrete
139.8125  Blue Angels ground (FM)
142.6125  Blue Angels ground (FM)
149.800   NG security detail
237.800   Blue Angels solo
275.350   Blue Angels outside show box
284.250   Blue Angels inside show box
305.500   Blue Angels Fat Albert
346.500   Blue Angels engine start
384.550   F-16 discrete

[STATIC]
A-10         (#80-0214) 103FS
AH-1W        (#165287)  HMLA-773
AT-6A        (N90629)   "Paradise"
AV-8B        (#164153)  HMM-162(Rein) LHD-3
              (#165593)  VMA-231
B727         (N241FE)   Fed Ex
F-15C        (#78-0525) 110FS "Spiderman"
              (#81-0026) 110FS
F-16C        (#86-0218) 184FS "City of Booneville"
              (#86-0285) 184FS "City of Lavaca"
              (#91-0357) 20FW, East Coast Demo spare
F/A-18A      (#162398)  VMFA-142 #214
              (#162469)  VMFA-142 #212
              (#163166)  VMFA-142 #211
F/A-18B      (#161746)  Blue Angel #7, parked in the hot ramp area
KC-135E      (#57-1465) 134AW
RC-45J       (N145J)
S-3B         (#159753)  VS-33 #700
T-1A         (#90-0405) 12FTW
T-33         (NX99184)  "The Red Knight"
T-34C        (#162252)  TAW-5
T-37B        (#60-0105) 14FTW
T-6A         (#02-3654) 85FTS
UH-1N        (#158549)  HMLA-773

[AIRSHOW]
A-26C        (N6840D)   "Spirit of N.C."
B-25N        (N333RW)   painted as PBJ-1J "Special Delivery"
C-130T       (#164763)  Blue Angels "Fat Albert"
F-104D       (N104RB)   Starfighters
F-16C        (#94-0048) 20FW East Coast Demo
                         Heritage Flight w/P-51
F/A-18A      (#161959)  Blue Angel #5
              (#161960)  Blue Angel #6
              (#161963)  Blue Angel #4
              (#161967)  Blue Angel #1
              (#161975)  Blue Angel #2
              (#162897)  Blue Angel #3
Hughes 269C  (N7505B)   Otto the Helicopter
MiG 17       (N217SH)
P-47D        (NX647D)   "Wicked Wabbit"
              (NX9246B)  "Hun Hunter XVI"
P-51D        (NL2151D)  "Moonbeam McSwine"
                         Heritage Flight w/F-16
Pitts S-2S   (N99MF)    Jim "Bulldog" LeRoy
PT-17        (N49739)   John Mohr
TBM-3E       (N4170A)   painted in colors of VMT-232
Super Shockwave         Les Shockley


[NOTES]
All of the warbirds that flew were also on static display.

The Collings Foundation TA-4J Skyhawk was a no-show.

Seeing the MiG 17 was a first for me. I love that flickering AB.

Another first was seeing the aircraft-to-helicopter transfer by the United 
Team of John Mohr (Stearman), Roger Buis (Otto the helicopter), and stuntman
Todd Green. No safety belts or lines that I could see, it was all hanging
on for dear life, even when Roger performed a hammerhead in Otto.

A Tribute to the Masters was performed by Jim LeRoy in the Pitts, John Mohr
in the Stearman, and Les Shockley in the Super Shockwave. The tribute was an
act very similar to the one which had been flown by the X-Team "Masters of
Disaster".

This may have been my last show seeing Fat Albert performing the JATO. Rumor
is they no longer manufacture the JATO bottles and the remaining stock is
limited.

This was my first time to this show. Unfortunately, out of the 7 shows I
had been to this year, this one would rank last. The flying & static
displays were great but the infrastructure stunk. My troubles began after
arriving in the offsite parking lot at 0845 (gates opened at 0900). As we
pulled away from the lot our driver decided to pull off in a side lot and
chat to some of her fellow drivers for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, other buses
continued to drive by heading to the show! We finally arrived at the airport
around 0920. Still early enough to get a front row seat I thought. Wrong!
The general seating area only had a frontage of around 200 feet! The rest of
the show line was taken up by box seats and VIP seating. In 26 years of
attending airshows I have never seen such a small seating area. Evidentially
the organizers tried something new this year - to get the crowds closer to
the Blues they parked them on Runway 33 which took away a huge chunk of real
estate where the crowds used to sit.

And the problems continued after the show was over. Throughout the day there
was a strong presence from the NG, CAP, and LE maintaining peace and order.
However, when the show ended at 1550 they all seemed to disappear. There was
mass confusion in the lines for the buses. After 1 hour of standing in line
I finally saw a LE presence, but that was only because they were responding
to reports of fights breaking out (as heard on the Chattanooga TRS). At 1800
I finally arrived back at my vehicle and so ended my Chattanooga adventure.

The weather was perfect for photos, which are available at
http://www.pbase.com/mriffle/2005_kcha

Mike Riffle
Cataula, GA