Blue Angels to star in Air Fest

The Navy's famed Blue Angels take to the sky this weekend at MacDill Air Force Base's Air Fest, the annual Department of Defense-sponsored show designed to showcase the country's military services.

Based on turnout in years past, as many as 200,000 people are expected to attend the free event on Saturday and Sunday.

Gates open at 8 a.m. both days, and the air shows begin at 9 a.m. The Blue Angels will fly at 3 p.m. each day.

The 16-member Blue Angel team is stationed in Pensacola during the show season and spends January through March training pilots and new team members at the Naval Air Facility in El Centro, Calif. Two of the pilots are women. The team is celebrating 23 years of flying the F/A-18 Hornet.

In addition to the aerial maneuvers of the six Blue Angel fighter jets, there will be flights by vintage aircraft such as a World War II B-25 bomber, a World War II C-54 cargo plane, the F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet, the World War II T-6 Texan trainer bomber and the P-51 Mustang, arguably the most famous fighter of all time.

Another performer is Herb Baker and his T-28, "Ditto," a former Navy aircraft carrier training plane that has been on the air show circuit since the completion of a four-year restoration in 1998.

Otto the Stunt Helicopter (piloted by Roger Buis) will also entertain the crowd, as will the aerial stunts of pilot John Black and his small "Super Decathlon" airplane. He puts on a 10-minute acrobatic demonstration of rolls, dives and loops.

The U.S. Special Operations Command Parachute Team also will drop in. The team usually jumps from an altitude of 12,500 feet, freefalling about two miles and reaching speeds in excess of 120 miles per hour. This freefall can last up to a minute. During the freefall, members of the team maneuver to form aerial designs in the sky.

There also will be activities and demonstrations on the ground such as the Army's Virtual Army Experience. It allows people to go on a virtual anti-terrorist mission through interactive state-of-the-art military technology. Those who attend also can see "America's Army: Special Forces (Overmatch)," a computer game set in a life-size, networked virtual world.

Visitors also will have the opportunity to meet heroic soldiers featured in "America's Army Real Heroes" program, which tells the stories of soldiers who have earned citations for bravery and valor.

For information on Air Fest 2010, call (813) 828-7569 or visit www.macdill-airfest.com.