2005
Atlantic City Thunder Over the Boardwalk Airshow, Atlantic City, NJ
31 August 2005
While other locations
around the area were socked in with low clouds and miserable weather, the 2005
Atlantic City Thunder Over the Boardwalk Airshow lucked out as strong ocean
winds provided for a
moderately clear sky at the oceanfront for the Wednesday event on 31 August
2005.
Hurricane Katrina
prevented a few aircraft from attending and also helped to provide some of the
roughest surf ever seen off the coast of Atlantic City.
The morning and afternoon
flybys from the Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield Blimp of New Jersey were
cancelled due to the high winds as were both parachute jumps by the US Army
Golden Knights and US Army Black Daggers. While
they were unable to perform, both parachute teams greeted the airshow patrons at
Florida Avenue and the Boardwalk for nearly 2 hours answering questions and
signing autographs.
The morning started out with a flyby from the 177th Fighter Wing’s F-16C Falcon aircraft at the end of the National Anthem followed by a flyby from another New Jersey Air National Guard aircraft, the McGuire AFB based KC-135E Stratotanker. Following the solo flyby of the tanker, two F-16s formed up on the wings of the KC-135 for a wonderful New Jersey Air National Guard photo pass.
The William J. Hughes FAA
Technical Center provided flybys from their Convair 580 and their 727.
Both of these flybys were conducted at 200 ft. above the rough surf and
provided by a wonderful backdrop for these rarely seen aircraft.
Other flybys from the
military included two passes from the 305th AMW KC-10A Extender from
McGuire AFB and VX-1 in their P-3C Orion from NAS Patuxent River.
Due to weather conditions farther inland, the scheduled flybys from the
Dover C-5B Galaxy and the Connecticut Air National Guard A-10s were unable to
occur. The flyby from the
Coast Guard HU-25 Falcon was canceled due to a rapid deployment to the gulf
coast in support of Hurricane Katrina rescue efforts.
Helicopter demonstrations
included the New Jersey State Police in their S-76A+ and Bell 206.
Each one of these aircraft were configured for the anti-terrorism role
and provided two flybys during the afternoon.
The US Coast Guard also provided a two ship HH-65C Dauphin Search and
Rescue Demonstrations including sending rescue swimmers into the choppy waters
off of the coast. Our
friends from 427 Squadron, CFB Petawawa, Ontario demonstrated the versatility of
the CH-146 Griffon with some wonderful hoverwork and low level passes.
Much like in previous
years there were a host of military tactical demonstrations.
The USAF F-15C Eagle West Coast Demonstration Team from Eglin AFB and the
A-10A Thunderbolt II East Coast Demonstrations Team from Pope AFB both provided
tactical demonstrations during the event. Unfortunately
the scheduled Heritage Flight with Dale Snodgrass in the F-86 and Jim Beasley
Jr. in his P-51D Mustang did not occur due to weather problems in route to the
showsite. 
One of the most talked
about military demonstrations of the day was by the US Marine Corps AV-8B
Harrier II. This was the first time that this aircraft had
performed at the Atlantic City Thunder Over the Boardwalk and everyone will be
talking about this performance for a long time.
A memorial missing man
formation was flown by a 5-ship of the Vultures Formation team in honor of their
two fallen team members Jay Blum and Ralph Morgan.
The 2004 Atlantic City Airshow was the debut of the team and during the
2005 flyby, we saw the final flight of the Vultures Formation Team in honor of
these two great men that were lost in a training accident on 10 July 2005.
Civilian aerobatics
included two of the finest folks to ever fly above Atlantic City, Kirby
Chambliss and John Klatt. If
you missed Kirby’s performance just above the 12 to 16 ft high waves, then you
missed the performance of a lifetime.
Kirby and the Red Bull Edge 540 stole the show during their afternoon
performance as Kirby put on a display of aerobatics that wowed the over 250,000
in attendance. John Klatt,
sponsored by the Air National Guard, also performed a great routine in
tremendous winds. Each one of
these performances wowed the crowd and continued the tradition of the Thunder
Over the Boardwalk to bring new and exciting demonstrations each year to the
event.
Michael Hunter from Flight
for Diabetes was in attendance but was unable to perform due to his aircraft
being weathered in. While
unable to perform, Mr. Hunter was in attendance to provide insight into the
Flight for Diabetes and we expect to see him fly for us during the 2006 Thunder
Over the Boardwalk.
Closing out the show were
the USAF Thunderbirds. Due to
high seas and battering surf, the boats for show center and the lines needed for
the USAF Thunderbirds could not be placed as they were for the practice show on
Tuesday however it must be noted that the great folks with US Tow provided two
boats at the last minute so that the Thunderbirds could perform.
While not being able to drop anchor, these boats struggled for 40 minutes
to maintain the showline and did a fantastic and commendable job thus allowing
the Thunderbirds to perform for the 250,000+ along the beach and Boardwalk.
The USAF Thunderbirds
performed their high show for the conclusion of the Thunder Over the Boardwalk
much to the satisfaction of the airshow patrons.