With close to 25 pilots and 15 types of aircrafts involved, this year’s Miramar Air Show is a way for those at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Miramar to show off, said 1st Lt. Jasmine Templeton.
“It’s morale building,” she boasted by phone from the air station. “I know at our office we get pumped up because it’s a big, well-known, widely seen event. It’s a way to show you our best and greatest in a three-day period, and then we can relax and say ‘Wow, we did a great job.'”
The show has garnered awards such as Best Air Show from the International Council of Air Shows, Cal Fest and the International Festival Event Association for its Blue Angels, a U.S. Navy demonstration squadron that performs fast-paced, intricately choreographed flying maneuvers.
At MCAS Miramar, the show attracts a larger crowd each year, and this one will be no exception, Templeton said. The base predicts 700,000 spectators will attend the three-day event, called “The Sound of Freedom,” this weekend.
A simulated combat demonstration between the Blue Angels and the Marine Air Ground Task Force is one of many performances.
The Blue Angels fly F/A-18 Hornet aircraft, which are 56 feet long, 40 feet from wingtip to wingtip and can reach 1,200 miles per hour. Pilots cruise inches apart from each other in the Hornets, forming four-plane diamond and six-jet delta formations.
“I really did enjoy the Blue Angels last time because of the multiple formations they do in a group and to see how close they get to each other,” Templeton said, when asked about her favorite performers. “They’ve been practicing for years and years for perfection, and to watch them is wonderful.”
Other performances include the U.S. Army Golden Knights Parachute Team and the “Wing Walker,” a civilian act featuring a woman who does gymnastics on the wing of an in-flight aircraft.
The MV-22 Osprey, a tilt-rotor aircraft, is new to this year’s show and of particular interest because of its vertical landing and takeoff, similar to a helicopter, according to Templeton.
“It’s a bridge builder for us and the people in San Diego,” she said. “They can come on base and see what we do. It’s another way for us to gain exposure. People look at us and don’t really understand, and this kind of opens up that barrier.”
The air show will be held Friday, Oct. 13 through Sunday, Oct. 15, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. for daytime performances, and 5:30 to 9 p.m. for the Saturday twilight show. Doors open at 8 a.m. daily.
Ground seating is free; grandstand seating is $4 to $13 pre-paid, $6 to $16 at the door. Semper Fi Chalet tickets ($85) include admission, preferred seating, continental breakfast, buffet lunch, beverages and preferred parking.
For more information about the show or tickets, visit www.miramarairshow.com.