Date: March 31 - April 1, 2007
Location: McDill AFB, Florida
Story by: Shawn Yost
Photography by: Shawn Yost and Adam Haley

MacDill AFB opened its doors to the public March 31 and April 1 for AirFest 2007 after a one year absence. The event was hosted by the 6th Air Mobility Wing and headlined by the U.S.N. Blue Angels.

A large military static display of was on hand, with many of the aircraft open for spectators to walk through or visit up close, including a CV-22 Osprey (one of only 3 operational with the USAF), an AC-130U Spectre gunship, EC-130J (an electronic countermeasures aircraft), and LC-130H (equipped with skis to land on ice/snow).

Aside from the Blue Angels, crowd favorites included the USAF Heritage Flight, Herb Baker’s T-28 “Ditto” and the Starfighter’s F-104. The Heritage flight was a rare 4-ship formation that included an F-15, F-16, F-86 (Dale Snodgrass), and P-51 Mustang (Lee Lauderback). Baker’s performance seemed to generate a great deal of attention due to his aircraft’s unique wingtip smoke system. The Starfighter is popular at every event it attends, but especially this one, since the Starfighters team is based in nearby Clearwater, Florida.

Photo captions left to right: (1) The Blue Angel diamond (photo by Adam Haley). (2) The Viper East ground show (photo by Adam Haley). (3) Four of America’s greatest fighter aircraft included in the USAF Heritage Flight (photo by Shawn Yost). (4) Herb Baker and and the uniquely equipped “Ditto” T-28 (photo by Shawn Yost). (5) The USN Blue Angels and their impressive echelon pass (photo by Shawn Yost).