A signature event for the Yuma community, the 2018 Yuma Air
Show was held yesterday at the Marine Corps Air Station.
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| Patriots Jet Team Photo: Public Domain |
The base gates opened at 9:00am. We were traveling in a westerly direction on East
32nd Street and had planned on turning left on S. Avenue 3E, the
street that borders the base where the main entrance is located. Police however, had traffic blocked on 32nd
and would not allow anyone to make a left turn onto 3E. We drove past the
entrance, made a U-turn and turned onto 3E at 9:01am.
Traffic abruptly came to a complete stop. As I flashed our “BLUE” parking lot ticket to
the traffic control folks, we were told to take a right just past the main
gate. I would estimate the distance to
the main gate at somewhere between 1 to 1.5 miles. We did not make that turn until
9:48, an unbelievable 47 minutes to travel 1.5 miles.
Once we drove onto the base property, further traffic patrols directed us to the “BLUE” parking lot area.
We backed into an empty space, jumped out, locked the doors and looked at
the time. It was now 9:54am but we are
still not there yet.
Next came the tram ride from the “BLUE” parking lot to the
main entrance gate. All in all it seemed
pretty frustrating just getting to the admission gate but we were finally in and it
was 10:10am.
A variety of ticket prices were offered. I purchased the “Semper Fi Chalet” ticket.
This included covered seating, water, soda, beer and a lasagna and salad
lunch catered by Olive Garden. We very quickly
located the “Semper Fi Chalet”
tent. After presenting our printed
tickets we were given a bright orange bracelet indicating we held the Semper Fi
tickets. This was the only magic key to
get you into the tent.  |
| Shuttle service from "BLUE" parking lot to main entrance |
Preset tables filled the entire tent area. Each table was covered with a black tablecloth and surrounded with 8 white folding chairs. Dividing the area in half was a rectangular buffet
line, set and awaiting the food arrival from the Olive Garden.
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| Inside the "Semper Fi Chalet" tent |
In one corner of the tent stood 2 small refrigerators filled with 3 different types of soda.
They also had 2 large ice chests filled with ice covered bottled
water.
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| Soda refrigerators inside the tent |
A beer tap with plastic cups was
positioned between the soda and the water.
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| Beer tap inside the tent |
Located just outside of the tent, in the sun, were rows of
chairs set for viewing. We were still early enough that we were able to secure seats in the front row.
We still
had sufficient time to wander through the static aircraft display before the
National Anthem, scheduled for 11:30am. A large variety of aircraft were open for viewing. A
Fighting Falcon, an Osprey, a Hornet, a Blackjack, a Super Stallion, a Venom
and many, many more. Each aircraft had
ample staff citing stats and answering the myriad of questions being presented
to them.
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| Viewing Area just outside the tent |
The beginning of the air portion did not start until 11:30am
with everyone singing the National Anthem. Before we were ready for lunch we were able to
view an F-35B Lightning II demonstration and an MV-22B Osprey
demonstration. Between these two
demonstrations they placed the aerobatic talent of Greg Koontz
in a bright yellow Piper J-3 Cub.
I began to hear the rumble grow in the distance. I couldn’t see it yet but as it moved closer
and closer I knew that whatever it was – it was going to be one bad boy. As it finally came into view it
was truly an assault on all of my senses with huge flames coming out of the 3
after burning jet engines, fire shooting out of the smoke stacks, intense heat,
deafening noise, and SPEED!  |
| Greg Koontz and his yellow Piper J-3 Cub |
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| Shockwave Jet Truck |
Lunch was open buffet and served from 11:30am-1:30pm. Seating was non existence by the time I
decided to eat. Seems that the next tent
over was the “Tun Tavern Chalet”. They
oversold tickets and with inadequate seating in that tent, they were directed
to send their overflow to our tent.
Lunch was listed as salad, lasagna, spaghetti with marinara sauce and
breadsticks. I did not eat any of the
spaghetti but the lasagna was quite good as was the salad and house
dressing. I never could find any
breadsticks. I found it a little
awkward eating off of my lap but managed to finish everything without dropping
it on the ground.
I wanted to have a beer with lunch so headed over to the
corner of the tent where the beer tap was located. Unfortunately, they were out of beer but I
was told they had placed a call 5 minutes earlier for another keg. Three separate times over the course of the
next 45 minutes I made my way back to the beer tap but each time was told they
were out. This was very disappointing,
especially considering the cost of the tickets for this special tent. With no beer available that left my choices
at soda or water so water it was. About
an hour before conclusion of the show, they finally brought in 3 boxes of
Franzia wine – a red, a white and a rose.
As the afternoon ticked by we were introduced to an AH-1W
Super Cobra and a VH-1Y Venom flyby, as well as a HH-1N Huey Search and Rescue
Demonstration. There was also an F-22
Raptor and P-51 Mustang Heritage Fight,
and a demonstration of a SubSonix Microjet by pilot Bob Carlton.
If you have ever had a dream of driving a Ferrari or a
Lamborghini, this was your chance.
Precision Exotics brought in a black Ferrari and a silver Lamborghini. At a cost of $149 you had your choice for a
quick spin down the runway. If you were
18 or older you could drive. If you were
under 18, you could only ride along. I
was shocked at the number of folks who took the challenge to fulfill their
childhood dream.
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| Precision Exotics Photo: Public Domain |
The last display was the Patriots Jet Team. The team is a civilian aerobatic
formation team, based in Byron, California, that performs in air shows across
the western United States. The team operates as a six-ship team, flying
the Czech-built Aero L-39 Albatros.
Leaving the base grounds proved to be
much easier than getting in. With no
traffic delays at all we were home in less than 20 minutes.
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