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 year will be no exception, according to Templeton. The base predicts 700,000 spectators will attend the three-day event next weekend.
A simulated combat demonstration between the Blue Angels and the Marine Air Ground Task Force is one of the many scheduled 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 backbends and other 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.
While the air show is free and open to the public, it still benefits the Miramar Air Station by giving the community a chance to become familiar with the Marine Corps and have fun at the same time, Templeton said.
“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 prepaid, $6 to $16 at the door. Semper Fi Chalet tickets, which are $85, include admission, preferred seating, continental breakfast, buffet lunch, beverages and preferred parking.
For information about the show or for tickets, visit www.miramarairshow.com.