Airshow in your backyard?

benb172

benb172

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Benb172
My house is right in the entrance pattern to Foxboro Stadium flyovers, the Home of the Patriots. I have seen F-15's, F-18's, V-22's, and even B-2's. Anyone else have an airshow going on in there backyard? What is the most interesting thing you have seen?
 
I'm wedged between two MTRs. In my backyard is the Air Force. Ive seen mostly T-1s and T-6s. F-16s every now and then. In the front yard is the Navy. Seen mostly T-45s and F-18s on rare occasions. Anytime I go flying around my house I make sure I'm at least 1,500 agl to stay out of their way.
 
Not really an airshow, but I grew up about 1 mile due west of runway 9/27 at the former Glenview (IL) Naval Air Station. My dad and I would sit on the patio and watch A-4s, C-130's, and P-3s coming in on the weekends. It was great.
 
I live just inside the OM for 29 at KBED. Occasionally we could see portions of the airshows at KBED, watching the thunderbirds forming up, etc...back when they had at KBED. iirc, the last airshow at KBED was 2002. :-(
 
I grew up in the 60's living about two hundred yards from the west boundary of Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque. Almost every day I would see Century Series fighters doing overhead breaks, and bombers like the B-58, B-47, and B-52. Helicopters: Jolly Greens, Kamans, Piaseckis, Hueys...it was a constant parade of awesome proportions.

I still run outside when I hear something interesting...airplane geek for sure.
 
I'm west of the assembly plant for the F-16. Each time a new block comes off the line, they fly it right over my place and do a few dipsy doodles. I few years back, I saw one going away from me doing rolls. It kept doing rolls and I could hear the engine power reduced but was still doing rolls. After about 10 rolls they kinda turned into barrel rolls as if the pilot pulled back on the stick, and then the power came up again and it went the other way a few rolls. It looked like some kind of fault, but it was straightened out and turning gently north when I lost sight of it.
 
3 years in Dayton, Two just outside of Wright Pat, saw numerous landings of all sorts of fighters, bombers, and transports. Then moved to Vandalia about two miles away from the airport and saw the Airshow from my frontyard.

Now live in Florida, about three miles from PGD and see the airshow from my Lanai. In fact, went to the airshow this past year and the views from my lanai were as good as the views from the airfield.
 
Lived next to Miramar for a year, got to do the Tom Cruise thing racing jets on my motorcycle. These days we see the Goodyear Blimp on game days through the trees.
 
That's awesome, except you are in NE.... It's to cold for me... but I would take the fly over's in a heart beat.... but can they do it here in TX, where it is 77 outside right now.... We just left the DC area (which is not your area) and miss the taller trees, changing of the leaves, things like that....
 
I get a couple "free" airshows a year. The Dayton Air show is held not far from my house. One of my former co-workers was a budding aerobatic pilot, and he applied to the have the FAA sanction an aerobatic practice box right next to our little airport. The performers from the airshow can't really practice around the busy Dayton airport, so they fly down to Piqua and use the box. The jets don't come down, but guys like Sean Tucker, Mike Goulian, etc. come down to practice before, during, and after the show.

Also, when they are in the "neighborhood" for one reason or another, they will stop by and fly.

My company also has their own free air show every other year.
 
I was up at my school on the day of the Air Force Memorial dedication, and we were right in the flight path of all the cool planes. A B-2 did a pretty low 180 degree turn over our campus, and I distinctly remember looking up to see a line in the sky. We also had a bunch of older WWII era bombers etc fly over. We also had a group of A-10s that liked to fly by from time to time.
 
I live inside the pattern for Dobbins ARB in Marietta, GA. I've seen everything from B-2's to C-5's and F-22's. And a LOT of C-130's.

When the Blue Angels or Thunderbirds are in town, I can watch a decent portion of the show from our yard.

Right now (8:30 PM), two or three C-130's are practicing tactical landings and are turning base to final over the house at ~400.
 
Im within 30 minutes of 3 AFB's. From them I have seen: F-15s F-16s C-130s AC-130s V-22s F-35s F-22s Pavelows and A-10s. Im an hour away from NAS Pensacola so I see T-6s and Navy Helos a lot. A few hours further is Fort Rucker and I see Apaches, Blackhawks, Chinooks, the lot.
 
We live on a bluff overlooking our local airport (KPSC). There's a P3 Orion that practices a lot, and of course the commercial carriers (Delta, Horizon and Allegiant) come and go.

Whenever there's an air show, we have a good view, if different from those on the ground ... sometimes the angles of flight (in relation to us) are pretty scary as the jets make their turns in formation. The Snowbirds were very impressive, and we have F-16's that show up occasionally for an over-the-river airshow once a year. They are so extremely loud that things in the house rattle and it feels like the jet is IN the house.

Once in a while the local FBO brings in a traveling collection of WWII warbirds, and I always cry reading the great stories in the local paper about vets whose kids chip in to buy them a ride. I am sad when I think of that generation being lost.

We have a lot of bizjets coming and going, and of course lots of GA. I like to think I'm watching my husband when goes out to do practice or checkrides, but there are enough 172's buzzing around out there that I really can't tell if it's him unless I'm expecting him to come in from a trip, in which case he has called me so I know when he'll be arriving.

Medstar has a helicopter service based near here, and they come and go too, so we have a nice variation of aircraft around.

I still wish we could just be watchers of planes and not fliers of/in them, but am doing well at trusting my husband's judgement and letting this whole thing unfold.
 
Becky said:
We live on a bluff overlooking our local airport (KPSC). There's a P3 Orion that practices a lot,.....I still wish we could just be watchers of planes and not fliers of/in them, but am doing well at trusting my husband's judgement and letting this whole thing unfold.
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Sheeeeeeee's back...:D..

And she knows what a P-3 Orion is too.. I am IMPRESSED....

And... congrats on trusting your husbands judgement... You have come a long way ma'am. :yes::thumbsup:
 
HerrGruyere said:
Hahaha nice!

I think I would consider a house more if it were located near the approach path of a major airport.
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When we were shopping, we looked at a house (in Clinton IIRC) that we really liked. I then went outside thinking about the offer we'd make until I saw the huge transport overhead on low approach to Joint Base Andrews. We didn't make an offer.
jpower said:
I was up at my school on the day of the Air Force Memorial dedication, and we were right in the flight path of all the cool planes. A B-2 did a pretty low 180 degree turn over our campus, and I distinctly remember looking up to see a line in the sky. We also had a bunch of older WWII era bombers etc fly over. We also had a group of A-10s that liked to fly by from time to time.
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I was there that day

benb172 said:
Anyone else have an airshow going on in there backyard? What is the most interesting thing you have seen?
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I just couldn't resist:lol:: But my backyard neighbor has a really large window and nothing blocking it. Thankfully, I haven't seen the old man streaking yet and wouldn't want that image in my head.:hairraise:
 
I used to live on the approach to Moffett Field. P-3 and C-130 all day long, occasional C-5, An-124, F-18, T-38, Air Force One. NASA used to fly the ER-2 (U-2) in. For the real oddball ones, I've seen the SOFIA 747 and a YO-3A. Airship Eureka (RIP) used to be frequent visitor.
 
I lived next to two neat airports for different reason on Cape Cod.
The first 2B1 Cape Cod Airfield was literally right down the road from the house I first lived in. It was great because there were a lot of vintage planes there - DC3s, Steermans, Beech 18, every taildragger under the sun, and gliders.
The other was Otis AFB. Nothing like a C130 low and slow over you!
 
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