The Joint Service Open House that was held May 16 & 17, 2009, has been an Armed Forces Day weekend tradition for years.  Normally blessed with nice weather, this year’s weather was not so kind.  Saturday May 16, 2009 was one of those airshow days we all dread.  Not because it was cloudy & misting, but because the ceilings were below minimums.  However, the crowd’s enthusiasm could not be curbed. The people came to see flying, and they were going to stay until they saw some flying.

  Early afternoon saw enough of an improvement to start the flying.  Bill Stein, Greg Poe, and the Geico Skytypers showed their professionalism under these adverse conditions.  The Army Golden Knights performed a very low altitude jump followed by the Red Bull Air Force.  Red Bull was in force with Bill Reesman in the Red Bull MiG, the Red Bull Sky Jumpers, and the amazing Red Bull Helicopter. The U.S. Navy’s F/A-18F Super Hornet East Coast Demo Team executed their low show in skies that were slowly starting to clear.

  I have been going to airshows since 1959, and what they did this year at Andrews was something I don’t ever remember seeing before.  With the waiver being in effect until 1800, the shows producers pushed back several of the more anticipated performances until after the Thunderbirds.  I have witnessed performances after a jet team before, but it has always been scheduled that way.  What a smart move that turned out to be, as the skies overhead cleared out considerably as the Thunderbirds manned their F-16 Fighting Falcons.  It wasn’t enough for the Thunderbirds though, and they were forced to perform their low show.  However, by the end of their performance, the skies were mostly blue.  This made for a beautiful setting for the flying circus known as Sean D. Tucker & The Collaborators.  After a short series of formation maneuvers, Sean Tucker, Eric Tucker, Ben Freelove, and Bill Stein split up to execute a performance that made your head spin.  As they made their aircraft tumble & spin in every direction, you couldn’t help but remember back to when you were a kid at a three ring circus.  There appeared to be something going on all over the sky, and you didn’t know which way to look.  Truly an amazing performance.  This was followed by demonstrations by the East Coast A-10 & F-22 Demo Teams, who then joined in a Heritage Flight with Dale “Snort” Snodgrass.  Saturday’s show was capped off in a grand manner.  The E Team Skydivers jumped into Andrews AFB the POW/MIA flag, and Paul McCowan’s world famous 5000 square foot American flag.  There is nothing in this world that can make you feel more proud to be an American, than to watch that huge flag jumped into Andrews AFB on Armed Forces Day weekend.