Has anyone here ever been to an air show? Is it worth to get front row tickets?

>tfw too far to see mcas miramar airshow
Last show I went to I missed out on the F22 demo because the traffic was atrocious.
I think to enjoy the show you're better off getting there super earlier and bringing a lawnchair, then camp out as close as you can get.

Air shows still aren't as good as they used to be. There used to be way more military jets flying, now it's mostly the same show with a lot of stunt performers and the same F15 and a few other military displays. I remember seeing an F117 yeeears ago.
But go to a show where they fly some old WW2 planes, my fucking god the sound is amazing.

I went to a small rural airshow once... Turns out they had a B-17 there. I got to go inside it, and then later they actually flew it. Was pretty fucking awesome.

Yes but only because I was voluntold to work a goddamn food stand over the weekend. People really love shitty cheeseburgers that have been soaking in beef broth and stale chips drenched in cheese soup.

It's kind of sad how little WW2 planes really survived. They built 18.5k B-24s yet there are only two airworthy. They're so rare people melted through 270ft of ice to save one P-38

Fuck yeah. If you can get to a Blue Angels show it will be amazing. I've been to a few airshows and anytime they show up its fucking packed for good reason.

Bring ear protection too (plugs are fine). Jets be loud as fuck yo'.

>airshows still arn't as good as they used to be

Ain't that the fucking truth. They used to have mock bomb drops from B-52s and Mig-29s fucking around at the ones near me. Now its stunt planes and A-10s.

At least the after show fireworks are still bitching.

Airshows are pretty sick
Lots of old ww2 planes about in the uk
Not been to one in a while, pretty sure they've been cucked in the UK now due to that Shoreham crash a year or so back

I actually find the bleachers to be great because you have a better view of both the landing, takeoff, maneuvers. Specifically with the Blue Angels you can see them walk out to their planes.

I had a VIP ticket for one of the acrobatic pilots though, Mike Goulian, that was awesome, free Outback and a tent with a great view of the whole airfield. This was at NAS Oceana.

Also they will play this song...always:
youtu.be/AGMwmY_RaRI

Those things give me the chills/feels every time I get near one. They had one at an air show at Holloman AFB that I got to go up to and look inside the bomb bay doors... It was signed by crewmen who had flown in that aircraft in combat and also by various other WWII Veterans.

The Blue Angels kick ass; the Thunderchickens have nothing on them. I say that as a guy who grew up occasionally getting to go see the Blues on Pensacola Beach, and one who later joined the Air Force. I have beef with F-16 pukes, though.

Hey military fag should I join the air force or navy

...

>They're so rare people melted through 270ft of ice to save one P-38

It was worth it.

youtu.be/eXh4Q5jwg78

coast guard

Airshows are fucking lit but honestly this is more of a /k/ thread

>be aspiring flight officer in Navy or Air Force
>be leaning Air Force
>read this

welp

Navyfag here. What is it you want to do in the military?

Air Force retired here. AF maintenance is fun if you are a gearhead. Standing next to an aircraft (or engine running on a test stand) in full afterburner is neat. You can feel the vibration in your entire body. Aircraft are much more enjoyable to work on than cars, trucks or pretty much anything else.

Navy has some outstanding tech schools but the lifestyle is why they have a very young force with high attrition. The Air Force has lower attrition because better working environment.

...well.

Both of my parents were USAF colonels and jet pilots, I worked at NAS Pensacola for several years (Blue Angels practicing overhead while driving to work), and my mother (now retired, but working as a civilian for the AF) is currently the head of organizing a large air show that takes place a month from now which could be the very one OP is considering going to.

They are pretty cool, but it's really a bunch of people and families standing around a runway and the novelty wears off fairly quickly. I guess it's not terrible for an "IRL" experience, but then again I did grow up hanging around USAF hangars waiting for my goddamn parents to land so I could go play A Link to the Past or watch Swat Cats or some shit like the unappreciative brat I was.

Navy again, I will agree that quality of life in the Navy is nowhere near AF, but yes, your training in the Navy will likely be better depending on your field.

why work maintenance? why not something more useful in the world like some computer network crap? a lot more high paying jobs for that.

Nigga, do you know how much money an airline/plane mechanic makes? Hint: it's not chump change.

Aircraft maintenance is actually a pretty decent paying field.

>The Blue Angels kick ass

When I was a kid, I got to watch the Blue Angels take off from Boeing airfield in Seattle. We were a few hundred feet away, but it was an unforgettable experience. That jet engine roar, man. Pure beauty.

You literally had the childhood I wish I did/want to bestow upon my children

>tfw you will never wear dad's flight/peaked cap
>tfw your son will wear yours

really? near me is this one
jobs.soais.com/candidates/myjobs/openjob_outside.jsp?a=qijdnwzm1nnmfnyrwj67egbwwmxrsh04bc02hozsjp7hykd5cf44ulgl5ufcd6hf

Smart money: Go ANG, get your desired airplane mech certs, make bank, get drill pay. If you want to work manually anyhow.

Totally depends on what you like. Do what you like! You'll be better at what you do if you enjoy it.

The maintenance track taken to its conclusion can lead to overseas contract jobs (the rich Gulf states outsource a lot of maintenance and repair), domestic Depot, contract, AFETS and manufacturer jobs and more. The military-industrial complex is enormous and hiring is very much a human network thing. It's also rarely outsourced overseas. If you choose an airframe with a long service life you can get multiple careers out of it. I met an engine tech rep at Pope AFB who began his Navy career in the 1950s, retired at thirty years after working Orions, then basically switched suits and worked similar engines in Singapore supporting C-130s. If my sleep cycle wasn't destroyed by chronic neck/back pain I'd be doing something like that, but I retired at 47 and never have to work again. It's nice having the last ~half or third of your life free.

Computers are cool too. My bro retired after a career working aircraft ECM during which he got into computers and now is a DoD civilian working for the Air Force. He's not poor and he won't get replaced by some remote pajeet.

Think careers which lead to more careers. Once retired, you can job hop and not give a shit. One biker I know was a nuke tech of some sort in the Navy and now works conventional steam powerplant installations. He's not poor either.

If you pick a system which will outlive you, you are golden. Airlifters qualify. C-17 and C-130 variants will be around for many decades. UAS have rapid development and replacement cycles but my bro who got into them early retired and is now working them as a civilian. Comfy as fuck.

The post-retirement military career world is not a secret, but few people consider it early on. Do what you like, learn way more than the minimum, and make friends who can help you.

Avionics techs are in more demand in some areas because there are fewer of them than mechanics. Avionics is fun too.

i was in pensacola for tech school (a school)

>tfw blue angels were flying everyday for trainning purposes

then i saw them in socal

it totally worthed

its kinda meh for me, because im more interested in less common planes.

i want to see the angry crop dusters. NEVER SEE THEM AT ANY AIRSHOWS

>Is it worth to get front row tickets?

if you have a girl with you yes

trust me

if not no

What's the best one left in the US?

>I still remember the annual El Toro show...

I'm not really sure that's why I'd like to get some insight on it from different people

I lived in Corpus Christi when I was a kid (total shithole BTW) and we always went to the Navy base across the bay for air shows. The Blue Angels were there every year and there was always a bunch of new and old planes you could walk in and what not. Shit now I want to go again, haven't been in like 10 years.

If you managed to get an AGR position somewhere, that'd be the seller for the Air Force. The Navy seems a lot less corporate though.

I don't mind it in here, but I'm not staying in for more than my contract just because I enjoyed not having to put up with micromanaging and other bullshit. The political dog and pony shit gets old.

I deployed right after tech school though. It was fun, the middle east is a shithole and the tax free money was nice.

I don't make enough in here personally, but it's not bad.

F16s are sweet, they're slowly leaving where I'm stationed for the F35.

Seeing those fuckers loaded and off with long range tanks at full afterburner was cool as fuck for the first couple of days.

Definitely. The airshow comes to town every year and I remember when I was in highschool my school was right next to the airport, so we could hear their jets blaring overhead.

The problem is that they 99% of aircraft weren't airworthy by the time the war ended, and what WERE got sold to Israel and south america.
Then they got sold on to africa, where they died.

Spitrifes, on the other hand, tended to get belly-landed in shallow water and abandoned because it wasn't worth getting them out with rationed fuel, and they were being churned out constantly to replace the losses anyway. Now they can just haul them out of the silt and restore them with modern metallurgy.

Honestly, though, I prefer tanks. The tank museum has their equivalent of an airshow, which is full of rumbling diesel engines and clanking tracks, and they give lectures on the vehicles as they roll around the arena at 5MPH.
But they also open the show with modern tanks, and have the british army bring their latest gear from next door, and let you wander around and get right up to stuff during the lunch break for photos, and finish off with a big mock battle with re-enactors and pyrotechnics and aircraft.
It's not everywhere you get to see people fast-rope out of a Sea King, or see a Lynx doing it's tank-hunting thing in the terrain it was designed to do it in.
It's more a case of going sooner rather than later these days, though; the WW2 tanks are breaking original parts every time they're moved or started up, and the Tiger doesn't have long left at all.
But the action's slow enough that you can