Behind the Scenes at Pacific Airshow in Huntington Beach

It’s golden hour, and I’m flying 1,200 ft over Huntington Beach in the backseat of a T-33 Shooting Star subsonic jet coach. Former commanding officer and workforce lead for the Canadian Snowbirds Air Demonstration Squadron Rob “Scratch” Mitchell is in the cockpit. “Sorry I’m not very chatty, but there is a lot going on at the moment,” he says over the headset. Alongside our fellow Ace Maker T-33, a B-25 Mitchell Bomber is in lead, and there are 5 plane to our proper, together with a jet-powered Waco biplane. As Thursday evenings go, this one is way from common. 

I inform him no worries and say “wow” for the tenth time. The smile behind my oxygen masks is very large. I’ve been in helicopters and seaplanes, however flying in formation with world-class pilots blows these experiences out of the water. The shoreline is bathed in end-of-day Southern California daylight, and we make a number of passes over ‘Show Center’ for a Pacific Airshow picture flight. I’m awestruck. It’s a complete “holy shit, this is so cool,” second, but additionally surprisingly emotional. I can’t say when it hits, however up there, I completely get why folks fall in love with flying. 

Admittedly, a simple sentiment once you’re solely alongside for the journey. Chatter from the air visitors management tower relating to air house, being requested to drop ten ft or hold tempo with the slower planes, comes over the headset with no motion required on my half. “We’re flying slow at our lowest range to match their max,” Scratch tells me. “This thing can do 600 miles an hour and is barely idling at 200.” Produced by Lockheed in the Forties, the T-33 Shooting Star was the first operational army jet coach and used to coach pilots round the world earlier than being retired in 2017. While it will have been cool to style a little bit extra pace, as we break free from the bomber on our return to John Wayne Airport, there’s a touch of the T-33’s latent capabilities.

A 20-year veteran of the Royal Canadian Air Force, third-generation army pilot (his grandfather flew Spitfires in World War II, dad jets throughout the Cold War), and movie pilot with over 6,000 hours of flight time, Scratch is form of a legend. Back on deck at Lyon Air Museum, he talks about the two-ship act he’ll fly with Greg “Wired” Colyer (proprietor of the T-33s) at the Pacific Airshow that weekend. “I’ve always wanted to do Huntington because I love flying over big beaches, but the point of being here is to share my passion for aviation and give people an insight into what I love about flying. And when you can do that for a million people on the beach, it’s huge.” 

No stranger to airshows, throughout his army profession, Scratch spent three years as a CF-18 solo act and three seasons with the Snowbirds as quantity seven pilot on the outer left wing earlier than returning as workforce commander and lead for 2 years. When I ask what his T-33 efficiency with “Wired” may entail, “formation loops, rolls and head-on passes at 800-900 hundred miles per hour” are casually talked about. “We aim to make it exciting,” he says.

Redefining the Airshow Experience

And with regards to such high-tempo aerobatics, the Pacific Airshow is America’s largest aviation occasion. Watched by three million folks in particular person over the weekend with extra streaming on Hulu, army and civilian pilots and aerial show groups, together with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, thrill the crowds. A Huntington Beach native, govt director Kevin Elliott says the present is like the Super Bowl, besides with actually cool planes. “With eight miles of beach to sit on, parking lots for R.V. camping plus all the boats out on the water, this is the largest maritime event on the western seaboard. Ocean view rooms at the Hilton and Hyatt across the street go for $1,500 a night, and there are viewing parties over in Newport Beach,” he tells me.

With its sunshine and golden sands, Surf City USA is certainly a advantageous setting for such a spectacle — one which proudly represents all branches of the armed forces and celebrates their service. Into aviation since childhood (constructing mannequin airplanes earned him the nickname “Plane Brain” and, sure, there are nonetheless a couple of hanging up in his storage) Elliott has proudly turned his hometown airshow into what many name the finest in the world, since taking on in 2017.

“After taking a year off for Covid, we came back even bigger in 2021, hosting all three North American jet teams, the Canadian Snowbirds, the U.S. Navy Blue Angels and Thunderbirds — the first time in history it’s been done.” Elliott says whereas the Pacific Airshow is a family-friendly affair, the Thunderbirds are a significant draw card. “We’re close to Nellis Airforce Base in Nevada, so it’s a great location for them to bring their families, but Huntington Beach is also the number one recruiting show for the Air Force, so we help them have a good time and achieve their mission.”

The USAF Thunderbirds: Smoke On

Rock stars of the fighter pilot world, the Thunderbirds’ job is to show the capabilities of the F-16 Fighting Falcon — one in all the world’s finest precision tactical bombers and air-to-air fight plane. And with their extremely tight blue uniforms, aviator sun shades and precision flying expertise, they appear rattling good doing it. After the workforce landed at Joint Forces Training Base Los Alamitos, I’m capable of seize a couple of minutes “planeside” with Squadron Commander Lt. Colonel Justin “Astro” Elliott a day earlier than the present begins. Despite being a USAF Weapons School (mainly the Air Force model of “Top Gun”) and Test Pilot School graduate, Lt. Col. Elliott shares that being a Thunderbird is the most significant job he’s held in the Air Force.

“These red, white and blue airplanes were commissioned back in ’53 to connect the American population to its military, a significantly bigger role to me than recruiting. It’s an inspiration and one that I’m honored to be taking care of.” Lt. Col Elliott’s first season as squadron lead coincided with a landmark USAF birthday and the Thunderbirds’ seventieth subsequent 12 months. An awesome honor that triggered him to refocus the workforce on a dedication to excellence. “What you’ll see in the show is the tightest this team has flown in about 30 years, but we’re going to take it one level tighter to really mark the 75th anniversary of the Air Force.” Show sequences function 30 maneuvers, together with a Trailed Diamond Clover Loop, Delta Rolls and 360s (the Delta is all six jets), a 5-card Flat Loop with finishers like the High Bomb Burst Cross and V-Tron Pass.

He’s flown 30 totally different plane throughout his profession, however it’s Lt. Col Elliott’s first mission in an F-16. “This is an aircraft with infinite power where you can indefinitely sustain 9Gs, which is beyond human limits. So, it’s unforgiving on the G side and just a tiger by the tail you have to manage, making it perfect for this demonstration.” With the potential to achieve three million folks at Huntington, he says that is the huge one. “Our mission is to inspire people to give the best version of themselves to something bigger. When you see us live and feel the thunder, it’s life-changing.”

Flying evaluations decided positions for the first time in a long time, with new pilots flown in the backseat of an F-16D making loops and rolls on Lt. Col. Elliott’s wing. Those capable of preserve character and hold their heads had been chosen. “People fly with different personalities,” he says. “Some are very rigid but precise, and those make good solos. Some are very smooth and willing to accept minor deviations but do so smoothly and those make very good diamond members.”

Feel the Thunder

In the quantity three slot, Major Lauren “Threat” Schlichting will fly as shut as 18 inches from the primary jet’s missile rail throughout formations, together with the signature diamond sample. “Threat” can’t inform me how she got here by her name signal (I’d have to purchase her a beer first) however can share what impressed her to turn out to be a fighter pilot — NASA astronauts who visited her elementary faculty in Stillwater, Minnesota…though she was extra enamored with their pilot credentials. 

Since pinning on her wings she has logged over 420 fight hours in an F-15E Strike Eagle whereas deployed for Operation Inherent Resolve and is now the sixth feminine pilot to fly with the elite squadron in its 69-year historical past. “Being able to fly these jets in America’s colors and meet so many people across the country with a team that feels like family is just a really cool mission,” she says. Currently, solely 7% of pilots in the Air Force are feminine however Maj. Schlichting says if seeing her fly can encourage anybody to comply with their objectives and dream huge — like the fighter pilots who impressed her as an eight-year-old woman — then she considers her mission completed. 

Thunderbird pilots spend 1000’s of hours working towards extremely sustained maneuvers experiencing optimistic and detrimental G-forces — from 4 throughout takeoff to 5 – 6 when in a loop. (Multiply your physique weight per “G” to get an thought of what that may really feel like.) To forestall blood pooling throughout excessive Gs, they put on pressurized Advanced Technology Anti-Gravity Suit (ATAGS). The elite fliers additionally spend round 270 days on the street yearly throughout present season over their two-year task, however for Maj. Schlichting, it’s an honor to put on the patch. Recently revamped, she says teammates “Strobe” and “Gunbone” (Maj. Zane Taylor, Thunderbird Pilot 4, and Maj. Kyle Oliver, Thunderbird Pilot 5) labored with Disney on the new-look present with arcs and pacing on their formation maneuvers and solo routines telling a narrative to music.

I caught up with govt director Kevin Elliott earlier than he spoke at the Joint Forces Training Base Los Alamitos media opener, who tells me everybody has a narrative the place aviation or an airshow means one thing in their life. “From adults who like to take pictures of airplanes and former military members to people who went to shows as a kid. You don’t have to be an enthusiast to love aviation, and know what you’re watching here is absolutely bitching.”

The Pacific Airshow heads to Australia for a global debut on the Gold Coast subsequent August and can return to Huntington Beach the following month for its common hometown programming.