MILAVIA > Air Shows > Rhode Island Air Show 2014 Last updated: 1 June 2014
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Air Show Report : Rhode Island Air Show 2014

Rhode Island National Guard Air Show 2014

The Rhode Island National Guard at Quonset State Airport, North Kingstown, hosted its annual Open House Air Show again on May 17-18, 2014.
Report and photos by Dave O'Brien



The Blue Angels brought the only air show to the New England region after a year hiatus thanks to the Government. Rhode Island’s Quonset State Airport grabbed the Blue Angels when May 17-18th opened up after Cherry Point initially canceled their air show. With Quonset being a former Navy air base the US Navy’s Blue Angels is a crowd favorite and was sure to attract thousands. Mother Nature tried to throw a wet damper on this show where all week long it was calling for showers all weekend. Thankfully the showers ended by 7:15am and the clouds were pulling away by 11am.

This year’s show not only brought in the Blue Angels, but the USAF was represented by the F-22 Raptor Demo and the US Marines were sure to please the crowd with the MV-22 Osprey Demo. The other military single ship demo’s haven’t stepped up yet, hopefully next year we’ll see the F-16 and F/A-18 solo demonstration teams up and running again.

For civilian acts we had Sean D. Tucker in his Oracle Challenger III bi-plane and John Klatt not only in his Air National Guard aerobatic plane, but also debuting his “Screamin’ Sasquatch”. His Jack Link’s jet-powered Waco aircraft was awesome. An act you really have to hear just as much as see. To hear a jet engine come off a bi-plane just didn’t sound right. Local Rob Holland stunned the crowd in his Cox MX-S stunt plane.

The Collins Foundation brought their A-1E Skyraider to open the show, and the P-51D Mustang, the Geico Skytypers along with the T-34 “Free Spirit” flown by Julie Clark took their performances to the skies. A new act for me was seeing The Horsemen’s formation of two F8F Bearcats and the F7F Tigercat, two vintage navy fighter types. Due to the storm that came up Friday, the Horsemen didn’t arrive till late morning on Saturday but took to the air in the afternoon.

The Blue Angels as always were the closing act, Fat Albert starting their show and then the Blues taking to the blue skies. There was no Combined Arms, C-130J Hercules, UH-60 Black Hawk demo from the home RI National Guard units this year which was a disappointment. Still, I’d like to thank the RI Air National Guard for organizing their 23rd annual air show and I’m looking forward to next year’s on Memorial Day.

U.S. Navy Blue Angels F/A-18C Hornet as the clouds pulls away after the morning rain
Quonset Air Museum's A-4M 158148, as the first production A-4M Skyhawk II it was first delivered in 1970 to the Naval Air Test Center (NATC) at NAS Patuxent River, MD, starting its career as Test & Evaluation aircraft.
U.S. Air Force F-22A Raptor with all bay doors opened head-on shot
U.S. Air Force F-22A Raptor, note the extended rails for launching AIM-9X SRAAMs
F-22A tail planes move testing the pitch control input
Resident RI National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk used for a photo flight
The F-22 Raptor Demo Team ground crew
U.S. Coast Guard M-60J Jay Hawk coming in to land
U.S. Coast Guard M-60J Jay Hawk touching down in the grass
The Air Force Reserve Command sent one of it’s A-10C Thunderbolt IIs to Rhode Island
AFRC A-10C Thunderbolt II, better known as Warthog, on its way to the static display
The U.S. Air Force FY15 plan calls for the retirement of the A-10, but some ANG and AFRC units will be able to hold onto their planes for a few more years
Sean D. Tucker performing his aerobatic  display
Sean D. Tucker and his Oracle Challenger III bi-plane
Collins Foundation A-1E Skyraider restored in VAQ-33 markings
A-1E Skyraider retracting its landing gear, note the deployed air brake
The Collins Foundation's Skyraider used to be an EA-1E equipped with radome before being reverted to basic A-1E for the training role
A-1E Skyraider landing, providing a nice view of its rocket hardpoints and pylons
John Klatt's single-seat MX-S of the Air National Guard aerobatic team
The two-seat Extra 300L  of the Air National Guard aerobatic team
Surviving P-51D Mustang 44-73275 'Never Miss' was again present at the 2014 RI air show
Julie Clark's T-34 Mentor 'Free Spirit' reflecting the sunlight
Julie Clark performing in her smokin' T-34 Mentor 'Free Spirit'
Raptor Demo 2014 pilot Captain John Cummings climbing into the F-22
The F-22A Raptor taxies out for its demo
P-51D Mustang 'Never Miss' landing roll
F-22 Raptor Demo 2014 gets underway with a dramatic take-off
The fifth generation F-22 stealth fighter overhead while it closes the last doors
The F119 engine's nozzles conceal the afterburners as much as possible to reduce the heat signature
F-22 high angle climb for altitude producing vapor clouds
F-22 with opened weapon bays, showing the six hardpoints in the main bay for its main config of six AIM-120 AMRAAMs
The F-22 in a high-rate turn with afterburners
To enhance its stealth properties the F-22 has a special coating and the leading edges are of radar-absorbing material
Another dramatic rapid increase of the angle-of-attack
F-22 Raptor Demo captured during its high speed pass
The F-22 Raptor Demo finalizing its solo demonstration
U.S. Air Force Heritage Flight of the F-22, being joined by the P-51D Mustang 'Bald Eagle'
The F-22A's length of 62 ft 1 in (18.90 m) is almost twice that of the P-51D's 32 ft 3 in (9.83 m)
The F-22A's wingspan is 44 ft 6 in (13.56 m) compared to 37 ft 0 in (11.28 m) for the P-51D, but the wing area of the F-22 is over 3.5 times larger
Beautiful shot of the F-22 Raptor's topside showing the position of its in-flight refueling receptable, APU exhaust and layout of panels and control surfaces
The F-22A Raptor back on the ground at Quonset State Airport
GEICO Skytypers' classic T-6 trainers taking off
The F7F Tigercat's delayed arrival at the show
TF-51D Mustang 'Bum Steer'
TF-51D Mustang 'Bum Steer'
The GEICO Skytypers five-ship formation
GEICO Skytypers two-ship overhead
GEICO Skytypers T-6 in nearly 90 degrees roll
GEICO Skytypers formation break
U.S. Marine Corps sent their MV-22 Osprey Demo
Just like on the larger helicopters, the crew assists the pilot in making sure the aircraft is clear before taking off
MV-22 Osprey on the runway as it prepared for vertical take-off
MV-22 Osprey vertical lift-off
MV-22 Osprey making a pass in 'helicopter mode'
Loadmaster waiving to the crowd
MV-22 Osprey approach for landing
Rob Holland's aerobatic performance
Rob Holland barely visible in the streamline MXS
Rob Holland putting the MXS into a controlled spin
Sean D. Tucker's Oracle Challenger III custom-built bi-plane
John Klatt's Air National Guard MXS knife-edge pass
John Klatt's Air National Guard MXS performance
The jet-powered Waco bi-plane making its debut
Seeing a prop-driven bi-plane while hearing the screaming jet noise
Assisted by the jet engine, a climb like this is no problem
Better view of the Sasquatch artwork and suspended jet engine and exhaust
The Horsemen flight team new formation of classic Navy fighters
The Horsemen formation consisting of bi-engined F7F Tigercat and two single-engine F8F Bearcat fighters
Another shot of the Horsemen warbirds in their legacy Navy blue paint schemes
The beautifully restored F7F Tigercat back on the runway
F8F-2 Bearcat s/n 121748 coded 224/D
F8F-2 Bearcat s/n 122637 coded 225/F
Representing the Marines, the Blue Angels C-130 'Fat Albert' waiving the flag
Fat Albert taking off from Quonset State Airport
Fat Albert against the Rhode Island background
Although no longer using JATO, Fat Albert is still able to do a steep climb
Fat Albert's topside nicely lit by the sun
Fat Albert as it comes in for a pass
Note the crew member looking out from the roof window
Fat Albert showing off the C-130 Hercules' short runway landing capability
Cdr Tom Frosh leading the Blue Angels formation to the runway threshold
Blue Angels leader Cdr Tom Frosh waiving to the crowd
Blue Angels Lcdr Nate Barton as he taxies by
Blue Angels main formation take-off
Blue Angels #4 leaving the runway
Blue Angels steep take-off
Nice view of the F/A-18C Hornet gear bays
Blue Angels #6 solo retracting the gear on its flat take-off
Blue Angels #6 solo flat take-off with full afterburner
Blue Angels four-ship in minimum separation diamond formation
Blue Angels opposing solos crossing
Blue Angels solos inverted mirror pass
Blue Angels main formation performing their next element
Blue Angels four-ship nicely stacked
Blue Angels precision flying
Blue Angels opposing solos	knife edge crossing
Blue Angels main formation break
Blue Angels synchro pair
Blue Angels main formation break
Blue Angels LERX induced vapor trails
Blue Angels reset
Blue Angels six-ship delta formation fly-over
Blue Angels #1 back on the runway at Quonset State Airport
Blue Angels #5 immaculate paint job causing some reflections


Report and photos by Dave O'Brien ( view portfolio )

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First Published: 1 June 2014
Last Modified: 1 June 2014


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