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Over 140,000 people came
over the 2- day weekend to Aviation Nation 2011 held on November
11 and 12 at Nellis Air force Base, Nevada. This year the Nellis
AFB Open House celebrated 70 years of airpower in Las Vegas. There
was something for everyone to enjoy, with more than 100 aircraft
on static display, 24 different aircraft flying throughout the
day, children playing area and souvenir & food
vendors. |
The gates opened at 9 am, but the only way
to get into the base is by parking the car at the Las Vegas Motor
Speedway nearby and take a shuttle bus to the base but not before
going through security. Plan to arrive at the parking lot by 7:30
a.m. to secure a good spot on the line for the shuttle bus and a
early arrival at the base. By 8:30 a.m. the lines are much longer
and it seems that the buses are fewer in between. This puts you in
the base by 10 a.m., one hour and half later! |
The big surprise this year was the deployment of flares during air
combat demonstration by F-15s and F-16s. This is something only seen
at air shows in Europe, and it is nice to see it in an US air show.
On Sunday, spectators had a rare opportunity to see a B-2 Spirit fly-by
over another B-2 on static display. Also on static display were a B-52
and a B-1. Therefore all three US Air Force bomber types were represented
at the show. There was also a fly-by from a B-1, from Dyess AFB, on
both days. |
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One of the highlight of
the aerial display was the USAF Heritage flight. This year three
jet aircraft flew in formation: F-4E Phantom, A-10C Thunderbolt
II of the A-10 West Demo Team and the F-86 Sabre. The Heritage
flight program started in 1997 and it has been a great success
since. This was Joe “Rifle” Shetterly’s,
pilot of the A-10, last show as the Pilot and Commanding Officer
of the West Coast Demo Team. We would like to thank Rifle for his
outstanding cooperation and help for the past two years, and we
wish him well in his new assignment. |
On the Warbird side, there was the appearance
of a rare original Mitsubishi A6M Zero flying over Nellis. It flew
together with a North American B-25 and a North American AT-6. A
Lockheed T-33 and a Douglas A-1E Skyraider also flew. It was very
interesting to see a mock dogfight between 2 Korean War veterans,
the F-86 and the Mig-15. The Patriots Jet Team was the only civilian
team present. Flying their L-39s, they perform beautifully crossovers,
tight formations, high speed passes and other exciting manoeuvres. |
Among the aircraft on static display was the
F-22 which had a great flying display last year, but did not fly
at the show this time due to problems affecting the entire fleet
for most of the year. The fleet is not grounded anymore, but the
F-22 Demonstration Team cancelled its 2011 appearances. |
The show closed with the USAF Thunderbirds
flying their red, white and Blue F-16s. Nellis is their home base
and this was their last show of their spectacular season. For the
Thunderbirds, the 2011 show schedule featured more than 60 demonstrations
at 37 locations, which included a six-week, eight-stop European tour. |
Overall this was another great event put together
by the organizers. As usual there were plenty of food vendors. Parking
was off base at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway with buses shuttling
the public back and forth all day. |
We would like to thank Kenneth D. Lustig, 2d
Lt, USAF, Chief, Media 99 ABW Public Affairs for his assistance. |
Some of the Teams and warbirds participating were:
- The Thunderbirds
- A-10 West Demo Team
- F-86
- F-18C
- F-4E Phantom
- The Patriots
- CAF P-51C “Tuskegee Airmen” / “By
ReQuest”
- B-52
- B-1
- B-2
- Hispano HA-200 Saeta
- F-15 from the 65th AS
- F-16 from the 64th AS
- Mil Mi-24 Hind
- General Motors TBM-3 Avenger
- and many others.
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| Rating: 9.0 out of 10 |
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