Crazy weather continues to affect the Mid Atlantic region this spring.  The JSOH had an on and off weekend due to this.  Saturday had absolutely beautiful blue skies with an estimated crowd of 400,000.  Sunday’s threatening skies and forecast kept the crowd well short of Saturday’s mark.  The rain came around noon on Sunday, and it forced a pause in the show for close to an hour and a half.  Due to constraints in this busy airspace, that meant several acts had to be cancelled to maintain timelines in the schedule.   Everyone in attendance both days were treated to some of the best flying around. 

  This year’s JSOH was headlined by the U.S. Navy Blue Angels. The Blues are in their 62^nd year of demonstrating U.S. Naval aviation to the public.  Although early in the season, the Blue Angels already appeared to be in mid-season form.  The U.S. Army was well represented by their world famous parachute team, the Golden Knights.  The Gold Team of the Golden Knights was unable to perform on Sunday due to the weather, but they were able to do their mass exit jump Saturday which is always a fan favorite.  The U.S. Marine Corps displayed the AV-8B Harrier East Coast Demo Team, leaving everyone shaking their heads as to how an airplane can hover with a variety of sideways maneuvers & pedal turns.  The U.S. Air Force displayed the F-15E Strike Eagle Demo Team that had everyone trying to get to the front of the crowd line fence to see this massive afterburning fighter put through its paces.  Also, the USAF displayed the newest fighter in their inventory, the F-22A Raptor Demo Team.  The Raptor puts on an incredible display of power and maneuverability that never fails to get people in the crowd to break out into spontaneous applause.  The F-4 Phantom East Heritage Flight Team kindled fond memories of past days when the Phantom ruled the skies.  It was very exciting to watch this old bird make three passes before departing to join up for the USAF Heritage Flight that included Dale Snodgrass in the P-51 “Glamorous Gal,” the F-4, the F-15E, and the F-22A.

  Honoring the 60^th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift, a commemorative flight was flown on Saturday featuring an aircraft that participated in the Berlin Airlift, the C-47 Skytrain.  Also in the tribute flight was a Federal Air Force of Germany Transall C-160, and a USAF C-17 Globemaster III.  Andrews AFB was the second stop of 15 stops in a year-long celebration of the 60^th Anniversary of the Berlin Airlift, part of Germany’s “Friends Always” campaign.  Once the Skytrain and Transall landed, the C-17 displayed its agility to the crowd with several passes demonstrating the C-17’s capabilities. 

  Not to be out done, Andrews accumulates the best of the best every year in the civilian aerobatic field.  This year was no different.  A stellar civilian field of performers complemented the military displays.  The Geico Skytypers put on a marvelous display of team work on Saturday, putting their SNJ-2s through various maneuvers to delight the crowd.  They were also able to sky-type Saturday in the gorgeous blue skies over Andrews AFB.  Sunday they had to cancel their performance after taking to the skies for safety reasons due to the rain which had just started to cut visibility to dangerous low levels. Greg Poe in his Fagen ‘Ethanol Kicks Gas’ MX2 excited the crowd each day with his variety of exciting aerobatic maneuvers.  John Klatt in his ANG sponsored Staudacher S-300D executed his precise high energy aerobatics, and even raced the U.S. Air Force Reserve jet car driven by Bill Braack.  Klatt, a Major in the ANG who is currently F-16 qualified, had trouble against Braack’s 350mph jet engine dragster.  The airshow was started each day with a dual father son act performed by Eric & Sean D. Tucker. They executed maneuvers displaying the grace of formation aerobatics before splitting up and taking their show to the extreme by taking turns tumbling across the skies of Andrews AFB.  One lady displayed her aerobatic prowess to the crowd.  Jill ‘Raggz’ Long, a current USAF Lt. Colonel training new pilots in the T-6 Texan II, guided her Pitts S2B through a series of gut wrenching maneuvers hoping to inspire people to live life on the Ragged Edge.  Dale Snodgrass brought everyone to their feet with his exciting low level aerobatics in the P-51 Mustang each day.  One of the main highlights of the 2008 JSOH had to be the Starfighters Demo Team.  Billed as the worlds fastest demo team, the Starfighters blazed through the skies over Andrews AFB on Saturday in their three F-104 Starfighters.  They performed various three ship formations in front of the crowd, splitting up for high speed passes coming from every angle. It was very exciting, and it was very loud.  Due to the weather, the Starfighters were forced to cancel their performance on Sunday.

  One thing you can always count on at Andrews AFB JSOH is a lot of action, a lot of noise from afterburning military aircraft & civilian, and a static display that is second to none.  In spite of the weather, this years JSOH appears to have been a rousing success.