Raptor, Patriots Jet Team awe 350,000 at air show

  • Published
  • By Megan Just
  • 452 AMW Public Affairs
MARCH AIR RESERVE BASE, CALIF. --  With three state of the art military fighters, a civilian jet team and 90 other aircraft performances and demonstrations on the program, March Field AirFest '10 kept the Inland Empire thundering for five hours on May 1 and 2. A 75-person air show planning committee and hundreds of other Team March workers made the biannual event a success with an estimated crowd of 350,000 people traveling to the base for the show.

"The Air Force holds air shows as a way for citizens to come on base to see the aircraft and meet the Airmen their tax dollars fund," said Maj. Don Traud, 452nd Air Mobility Wing public affairs officer. "The air show at March is always a popular event and this year was no exception."

Air show planning began in July, when Chris Davis, March Air Reserve Base airfield manager and air show air boss, began coordinating with the Federal Aviation Administration and soliciting air show performers. The air show committee began meeting in January and, soon after, Davis was submitting the final waivers and request forms to the FAA and Air Force Reserve Command.

"From my perspective as an air boss, I thought the show ran very well," said Davis, who has been organizing and marshalling air shows since 1986.

"Everybody I talked to was enthralled," said Nancy Driscoll, air show steering committee chair. "The crowd favorites were the F-22 Raptor and the Patriots Jet Team. Overall, it was a great show."

To help fund the show, Driscoll coordinated dozens of sponsorships with primarily local businesses and organizations.

"Air shows can't happen without sponsors," said Driscoll. "We had fantastic sponsors and community support from all levels."

Col. Mary Aldrian, 452nd Air Mobility vice wing commander, hosted the distinguished visitors at the air show, a group that included California state Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, Moreno Valley Mayor pro-tem Robin Hastings and Diane Leaman from Gov. Arnold Schwartzenegger's office.

"The community leaders and the distinguished visitors in the commander's tent had nothing but wonderful things to say about the air show," said Colonel Aldrian. "The air show planning committee did a phenomenal job."

When designing this year's air show, one of Davis' priorities was to invite a good mixture of types of aircraft and performers, and he ordered the performance schedule to maximize variety. Once the order was set, Davis arranged performance start times, a task which requires precision, based on his years of experience working with many different types of aircraft.

"It's all conceptual, based on knowing these guys [aircraft and performers] and knowing what they do--everything from them starting their engines to taxiing, launching, recovering and getting the next aircraft ready," Davis said. "We try to cue it all off to where it's all choreographed and it all works together and it all finishes together at the end."

As the air boss, Davis is listed as the responsible person on the FAA waiver for the base. According to Davis, the air show plan is the most crucial element to the safety and success of the show.

"If everything's planned out and we're able to go by that plan, it's pretty easy once we get to the tower. We've briefed it, we've thought it out, we've planned it and we execute it," Davis said. "Typically, the hardest part is when we can't go by the plan and we have to improvise and make on-the-spot decisions."

In addition to executing the show, Davis must be ready to respond to a crash or other emergency situation.

"One of the things I'm watching out for are air space violators. I'm making sure nobody flies into the air space and endangers the performers who are doing aerobatics. I'm providing constant surveillance," Davis said.

Although Davis always has his eyes on the performing aircraft, the bulk of his interactions with the pilots are during approach, launch and recovery.

"Ideally, when they're in the air, the airspace and the aerobatics box belong to them. I try never to talk to them, because they're pulling Gs and they're doing a lot of things in the cockpit where they don't want to be distracted," Davis said.

With the acts during both days of AirFest '10 staying within minutes of the scheduled finish time, the atmosphere in the aircraft control tower remained calm and the crowds enjoyed constant entertainment.

Henry Kim, 452nd Force Support Squadron marketing director, said proceeds earned from contracted concessionaires were in line with what the squadron expected. He said a large portion of the money earned will go toward supporting Force Support Squadron events, activities and facilities available to Team March members and their families. The members of base organizations who staffed the concession stands were able to earn $50 per day for their organization's booster funds.

This year, the 452nd Public Affairs and 452nd Marketing offices used social media to spread the word about the air show and encourage a two-way conversation between the base and air show guests.

"We created a Facebook fan page for the base two months ago and by the first day of the air show, we had over one thousand fans," said Major Traud. "Our Facebook fans were posting positive comments about the air show, answering each other's questions, sharing advice and posting links to pictures and videos they took while they were at the show."

The public affairs office used Twitter to extend the range of the air show audience. By posting tweets at every change in air show performers, local residents in areas such as Orangecrest and Mission Grove were able to identify which aircraft they were observing. Residents as far as Hemet tuned into Twitter to share stories of seeing air show aircraft fly over their homes.

The March Field Air Museum drew a crowd of 2,800 over the weekend. Thousands of drivers pulled to the side of I-215, Cactus Ave. and Alessandro Blvd. to watch the show from their cars.

Together with the San Diego Chargers cheerleaders, the 452nd Recruiting Squadron drew crowds at their Air Force Reserve RV. On Saturday, they hosted a meet and greet with MTV personality Rob Dyrdek, who filmed an episode of "Fantasy Factory" reality TV show at March ARB last fall. Likewise, the Army drew crowds at Virtual Army Experience, giving participants clear insight into today's high-tech Army and immersing them in the operational roles of Soldiers.