As you drive east on Highway 198 toward the town of Lemoore it is difficult to see signs of the Navy's prime West Coast Tactical Naval Air Station. Even as you pass through the South Gate of the base the few airplanes mounted on poles give little indication of what lies in the Operations Area 5 miles to the north.

Lemoore Naval Air Station sits in the middle of California's Central Valley. The base serves as the Master Training Center for the carrier-based strike fighter squadrons of the Pacific Fleet. Its two 13,500 foot runways are used by the 20 fleet squadrons that call Lemoore home. Officially Lemoore is called Reeves Field after Rear Admiral Joseph M. Reeves whose foresight laid the the foundation for modern aircraft carrier strike forces.

My airshow partner for the day, as it has been for the last 5 years, was my 10 year old son. This was our first airshow of the 2004 season and I had some concerns about the March date. The Fresno/Visalia area of California's Central Valley can be a tricky place to predict the weather in the late winter and early spring months. The biggest threat during this time of the year can be the low lying tule fog that the Central Valley is known for. During the summer months temperatures regularly exceed 100 degrees. Luck was with us this day and it was shaping up to be a good spring day with clear skies, a slight breeze, and temperatures in the comfortable 80 degree range.

We arrived in the parking area, in actuality the ramp area for the VFA-125 Rough Raiders, shortly after 8:00 A.M. We quickly grabbed our hats, lawn chairs, camera bag, and Camelback from the trunk and headed into the flow of people heading toward the airshow area. To the north of the parking area was a large number of F/A-18 Hornet fighters, maybe a few hundred in all. I told my son to figure out how many there were by counting the number of tails he saw and dividing it by two.

Because the gates had opened an hour earlier we were too late to get the prime seating spot in front of the Blue Angels. Those spots were packed 4 deep already and would only get deeper as the morning wore on. After walking the show line for a few minutes we opted instead to purchase the box seats. At $10 per seat, and less than 50 feet away from the announcer's platform, it gave us the least obstructed view and guaranteed that we would be close to show center. Since entrance into the airshow was free the added expense of seating was not too great of a burden.

We now had two hours to spend while we were waiting for the opening ceremonies and the first flying acts. I walked the static displays which had a B-25 Mitchell, T-28 Trojan, T-34 Mentor, Hawker Sea Fury, Hawker Hunter, the Yak 11 "Blyack Moose", the Commemerative Air Force's C-46 "China Doll", as well as a number of other private and military airplanes. Also on display was the Navy version of the Joint Strike Fighter. I wasn't sure if it was a mockup or the real thing. If it was a mockup they had me fooled.

After our walk among the static displays we still had time to burn waiting for the 10:50 a.m. start time. The downside of arriving early to get a good spot is that it also means waiting a long time for the flying to start. The plus side is you get a chance to meet some of the people sitting around you. I spent the time talking with the retired Army Sergeant sitting next to me. Tom had joined the Navy in 1946 and after 4 years at sea he transferred to the Army because he wanted his feet on solid ground. The army promptly placed him on a tugboat in the Aleutians. He had also seen combat in the Korean war as an infantryman. Tom retired from the Army in 1972 when he no longer had room on his sleeves for more hash marks.

On our right side was Doris and Glen. Glen was a retired Naval Aviator who served as an SNJ instructor pilot in the Second World War. During his career he taught many pilots how to survive a carrier landing. During John Collver's performance later in the morning you could see the wave of nostalgia washing over his face as he watched the SNJ go through it's aerobatic routine.

At precisely 10:50 the show started. Leaving the ground first was Chuck Wentworth's FG1-D Corsair accompanied by an F/A-18 Super Hornet and an F-16 Falcon. Chuck left the airspace briefly as the F-16 and F-18 made a high speed pass after the national anthem which was followed by the F-16 aerial demonstration. At the conclusion of the F-16 Demo the F-18 returned, along with Corsair, for the Navy Heritage Flight demonstration. The two Navy fighters from different eras made a number of passes before breaking off for landing.

The next act on the morning agenda was John Collver in his SNJ "War Dog." John's SNJ is not the most glamorous plane on the ramp but he flies his routine with skill and precision. His routine was dedicated to all the veterans that were in attendance that day, which were quite a few.

John's performance was followed by the OK3 Airshow team of Nadim AbuHaidar and Greg Peterson in the Edge 540 and Extra 300L. Both men were former Navy F-18 pilots with Nadim accumulating over 1400 hours in the F/A-18 before leaving active duty in 1999. Greg Peterson was stationed at Lemoore for eleven years with the 3 years as an F/A-18 Tactics Instructor and his final three years as an F/A-18 Primary Flight Instructor.

Next it was the Navy's turn to take to the air with a pair of F/A-18E Super Hornet's and an aerial refueling demonstration. Both planes simultaneously took to the air and rendesvous off to the north of the airfield. When they returned they were connected by a drogue hose trailing from the lead plane. After the two Hornets landed yet another F/A-18 started the Hornet Flight Demonstration with a slow roll on take off and then orbited the field with it's gear down. It turned out that a landing gear warning light had come on during the start of the routine. Another F/A-18 was sent up to do a visual inspection.

While they brought the Hornet down for a landing gear inspection Jon Melby took off in his Pitts S2B which was followed by Bill Reesman and his Red Bull Mig-17F. The irony in Bill's performance is that he spent 24 years as a Air Force and Air Guard fighter pilot training to fight the very aircraft he now owns & flies. Bill's 600 mph, 8g performance, did an excellent job of demonstrating the adversary that American fighter pilots faced during the Vietnam War.

The F/A-18 Flight Demonstration once again took to the air, this time without incident, to complete its performance. The Navy demonstration was followed by Chuck Lischer in his Newgold F-260, the NAS Lemoore Search and Rescue demonstration, and Eric Beard in his Yak 54 "Russian Thunder".

It was now time for the Air Force to get back into the action with an A-10 Thunderbolt II flight demonstration. After the Air Force pilot put the Warthog through it's paces demonstrating why it is such an excellent ground attach aircraft it was joined by the Planes of Fame P-51 Mustang "Spam Can" for the Air Force Heritage Flight. Steve Hinton, flying the Mustang, lead the pair of aircraft past the crowd a number of times before finishing with a pass from behind and crossover break.

After the A-10 and P-51 broke formation the Warthog was brought back to earth while Steve Hinton took the Mustang through a number of high speed passes and aerobatic maneuvers. I couldn't remember the last time I had seen a Mustang perform an aerobatic routine and judging by the expression on my son's face he had never seen one in the 15+ airshows that he has been to in the last 5 years.

By now it was getting close to 3:00 in the afternoon and you could feel the anticipation building within the crowd. Before the Blue Angels started their show Fat Albert demonstrated the RATO take-off followed by a high speed pass (if a C-130 can make a high speed pass) and ending with a short field landing with a reverse taxi.

Now the crowd was ready for the stars of the show. As the Blue Angels began their march down the flight line, climbing into their jets, the spectators pushed their way forward to get a better look.

This was the second show of the Blue Angel's 2004 season with the first performance occurring one week prior in El Centro. As they flew their routine all the excitement and noise was present but my son started to point out some of the flaws in their routine. "Number 3 didn't have his smoke on, Number 2 was low,..." I only wish he was that critical about his own schoolwork. The Blues have a long airshow season ahead and plenty of shows to achieve their usual level of perfection.

One ritual that my son and I have after any airshow we go to is to ask each other what we liked best about the flying that day. From my perspective I always include the Heritage Flights at the top of the list. Being a fan of the warbirds I'm always in awe of the contrast between whatever modern day jet is in formation with a piston powered fighter from 60 years ago.

My son's answer surprised me. I was expecting of course the Blue Angels to be at the top of his list, the F/A-18 demo, or anything loud and fast. Instead his favorite part of the show was the Steve Hinton's P-51 demonstration. He has seen Mustang's fly before, he's seen them round the pylons at Reno, but he had never before had the opportunity to see one perform aerobatics. I wondered when he would get to see one again.

As we headed back north on our three hour drive back to the Bay Area, reflecting on our first airshow of the 2004 season, my son and I looked forward to the next airshow. Where would that be and when? All in all it was a good day.