"Wings Over South Texas" Air Show a Hit

[wackychick]

The U.S. Navy's flight demonstration team, the Blue Angels, and parachute team, the Leap Frogs, headlined an all-star cast at the 2008 "Wings Over South Texas" air show at Naval Air Station (NAS) Kingsville April 4-6.

Nearly 50,000 people attended the event over the three day period, and NAS Kingsville Commanding Officer Capt. Phil Waddingham was pleased with the way Kingsville personnel dedicated themselves to making the show the very best it could be.

"I am extremely proud of my entire command today because of their outstanding support of the 'Wings Over South Texas' air show," Waddingham said. "I lost count of how many times a performer, a static display participant or a guest came up to me personally to say that they have never observed such a well-organized air show event as the one here in Kingsville. In short, team Kingsville simply blew them away!"

In addition to the Navy's top demonstration teams, the show featured additional military acts like the U.S. Air Force Air Combat Command's Viper West F-16 demonstration team and Heritage Flight, a U.S. Coast Guard Search and Rescue demonstration, and an F/A-18E/F Super Hornet demonstration by Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 122 from NAS Lemoore, Calif.

Civilian acts included air show legends Rob Holland, Jan Collmer, Dr. Rich Sugden, Tim Weber and Corpus Christi, Texas native Paul Fiala.

The NAS Kingsville air show was the first of 24 events for the Leap Frogs in 2008. The Blue Angels, who started their 2008 season off with a flyover at the Super Bowl in Arizona in February, will perform 34 shows this year.

The weather coope***** with clear blue south Texas skies the first two days and just a few clouds on Sunday with temperatures in the upper 70s. The spectator turnout for the weekend was more than double the size of the 2006 NAS Kingsville show.

"We opened our gates to nearly 50,000 people over the three-day period, and that's twice the population of the city of Kingsville," Waddingham said. "With that many people on board, it's not uncommon to have some sort of medical emergency occur, or even a security problem. But we had zero incidents that would have otherwise detracted from the show's schedule.

"Every department played a critical role in the success of this weekend. We like to say that naval aviation is a team sport and that NAS Kingsville is 'The Saddle of Naval Aviation.' I'm pleased to say that what team Kingsville did this weekend – and all of the months leading up to this unqualified success – was indeed a team effort," he said.

With the 2008 event behind them, "Team Kingsville" will now turn its focus to ***isting NAS Corpus Christi with the 2009 show, and begin making early plans for the 2010 event at NAS Kingsville.


story courtesy The U.S. Navy