After a rainy washout of a year, the 2007 Rhode Island ANG Open House & Airshow was meant to be a year of recovery, and this year's show was just that.  Several performers made their Rhode Island debut, including Matt Chapman, the F-15E Strike Eagle Demo Team, the F/A-18F Super Hornet Demo Team (from VFA-106), and the F-22 Raptor, which was only appearing on the Saturday show.  The weather this year was the complete opposite of last year - beautiful, but cool and breezy.

The static display this year was a lot smaller than in past shows, as a result of a smaller airshow budget because of the rainout of 2006.  The unusual Rhode Island static displays included two Super Hornets from VFA-22 and an LC-130 from Schenectady (the complete static list, minus the Quonset Air Museum display aircraft, is listed below).  The weather was beautiful all day, with a typical summer's blue sky becoming scattered cumulus as the day grew on, and dissipating towards the evening and night.  That relegated SH8 and Jitta of the Super Hornet Demo Team from flying their high show, but they still put on a great demo nonetheless.  Michael Goulian and John Klatt both flew twice (actually Goulian flew three times, if you count his performance that got knocked off) and Shockwave raced Klatt and Matt Chapman and Michael Mancuso after they flew their formation aerobatic act.

This was also the first time that I got to appreciate the Strike Eagle demonstration.  I barely heard the narration at Andrews AFB last year as well as at Atlantic City, but getting to see it up close at a place like North Kingstown, RI makes the demo much more exciting.  Jewel and Woody are such class acts and appreciate how much people enjoy the demonstration.  They formed up with Jim Beasley (who brought his P-51D Mustang Bald Eagle) and Major Paul "Max" Moga in the F-22 to fly one heck of a Heritage Flight.  Following the Heritage Flight, we were treated to an extra flyby by all three aircraft (in addition to the one flyby they all do after the Heritage Flight) and a spectacular go-around by Jewel and Woody - spectacular in the sense that the Strike Eagle's afterburners were applied almost in front of my position on the show line.

The most anticipated performance of the day was by the F-22 Raptor.  Major Paul "Max" Moga was only scheduled to fly one day, and flew the demo straight from Langley AFB.  The demo aircraft was a brand new F-22 that is slated to go to Elmendorf AFB in Alaska.  Unfortunately, Max experienced problems with an engine from the start of the demonstration, which limited him from flying the aircraft in afterburner.  However, another problem cropped up and it was decided to knock off the demonstration.  The staged demonstration profile for the F-22 is a very unique one, with the aircraft approaching from in front of the crowd and climbing and rolling before starting the normal routine.  I believe the clouds and the engine problems forced Max to cancel any maneuvers that required thrust vectoring.  Even with the problems that Max faced, it was worth seeing the F-22 in the air, as it is becoming one of my favorite aircraft!

Supporting Max's demonstration was a KC-135E Stratotanker from the New Jersey Air National Guard.  The KC-135 flew into the airshow, landed at Quonset State Airport, and parked down at show right.  Several photographers boarded the aircraft (including two that met up with the crew at McGuire AFB) and the aircraft departed to refuel the F-22.  Following the Heritage Flight, the KC-135 returned, dropped off the photographers, and stayed until after the show ended, where it departed back to McGuire.  I had always wanted to see a KC-135 take off in front of me (rather than the setup at McGuire AFB) for many, many, many years, and I finally got to see that!  It sounds weird, but the honest truth is that the Stratotanker is one of my favorite aircraft.  Don't ask me why - I guess it has to do with not having to see them flying since I'm so close to McGuire and they never fly over here, since I've got the Philadelphia traffic over my place.

I had only planned on attending the Saturday show, as Max would be flying on that day only.  That required my usual RI trip schedule - leave home at 4 am for a drive that took four and a half hours (it actually took around three hours and forty minutes because traffic was moving exceptionally well in New York and Connecticut) and then drive back home after the show.  I did just that, only leaving the show site around 7:15 in the evening and not feeling 100% at the time, which was a result of being awake for sixteen hours, eating very little and drinking very little.  I ended up grabbing dinner and gas in two stops off one exit in Rhode Island and hit the road, when I realized that, yeah, I could not complete the drive safely without taking a nap.  I took a rest stop in CT and took a short nap, which helped immensely, and got back on the road feeling much better.

Overall, it was a great show and you know I will be back for 2008!

Military Demonstration Teams

• US Navy Blue Angels
  
• US Army SOC Black Daggers
  
• British Red Devils
  

Tentative Military Demonstrations

• C-130J-30 Hercules Demonstration
  
• Combined Arms Demonstration
  
• F-15E Strike Eagle Demo Team
  
• F/A-18F Super Hornet Demonstration
  
• F-22 Raptor Demo Team (Saturday only)
  

Civillian Demonstrations

• Sean Tucker
  
• Michael Goulian
  
• Matt Chapman
  
• Michael Mancuso
  
• Michael Hunter
  
• John Klatt
  
• Jim Beasley Jr.
  
• USAF Heritage Flight
  

Participating Organizations

Announcer: Larry Rutt

Gates Open: 9:00 AM Saturday and Sunday

Showtime: 9:45 AM - 4:30 PM Saturday and Sunday