Air Show Will Go On Without the Big Teams : Point Mugu: Precision groups bow out due to scheduling conflicts. Navy's annual event this weekend will shift focus to solo aerobatic acts and flight demonstrations.

By J. E. MITCHELL

Sept. 26, 1994 12 AM PT

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

Scheduling problems will keep such big-name aerial acts as the Navy’s Blue Angels and the Air Force’s Thunderbirds out of this year’s Point Mugu Air Show, but Navy officials say they have enough warplanes and other acts to keep the crowds happy.

Instead of the precision wingtip-to-wingtip flying of such acts as the Blue Angels, the weekend’s decidedly downsized show will feature a host of individual aerobatic acts and flight demonstrations by military and civilian pilots, base officials said.

“Every couple of years, it works out where the big teams can’t make it,” Navy spokesman Alan Alpers said. “So, this year we get the chance to show off our fleet workhorses--the Tomcat and the Hornet. We’re confident that people who come out will have a good time.”

Alpers said scheduling problems this year stood in the way of booking one of the major flight demonstration teams such as the Blue Angels, the Thunderbirds or the Canadian Air Force’s Snowbirds into the 32nd annual show.

The yearly show, which costs the Navy an estimated $100,000 to stage, is Point Mugu’s major community outreach and public relations event. Last year’s show featured both the Navy’s Blue Angels and the Canadian Snowbirds.

With Navy meteorologists forecasting good weather for the weekend, officials estimate that more than 100,000 people will turn out for the two-day event.

The absence of the razzle-dazzle flash of the demonstration teams does not concern Capt. Selwyn Laughter, commander of the Naval Air Weapons Station, a veteran F-14 Tomcat fighter pilot and the host of this year’s air show.

“The way the F-14 is built allows for the pilot to do slower maneuvers at lower altitudes,” Laughter said. “I think this is going to be definitely more of an operational air show than what people may have seen in years past. It’s a different change of pace.”

Point Mugu Navy pilots flying Tomcats and Hornets will demonstrate classic pursuit, bombing and strafing runs, Laughter said.

Another demonstration will feature the unique firefighting abilities of the Air National Guard’s hulking C-130 Hercules--aircraft normally reserved by the military to move troops and equipment, but which have been modified to fight forest fires.

During the show, Air National Guard officials will set ablaze a strip of grass in the infield adjacent to Point Mugu’s main runway, then call for one of their 146th Airlift Group Hercules to fly in and snuff it out.

During the summer, Air National Guard crews from the Channel Islands base flew nearly 600 firefighting missions over California, Arizona and Idaho, dropping an estimated 1.6-million gallons of fire retardant, said Staff Sgt. Michael Drake, an Air National Guard spokesman.

“We were happy to make ourselves available,” Drake said. “There’s been so much news about the fires this summer, we thought this show would be an opportunity for the public to see exactly how we do our jobs.”

Other military aviation demonstrations include a solo performance by an Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon, a lightweight single-seat fighter plane. The show will also feature a rare appearance by a Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier, a fighter jet capable of vertical take-offs and landings that was prominently featured in the recent Arnold Schwarzenegger movie “True Lies.”

Civilian acts include a variety of aerobatic demonstrations by both jet and propeller-driven aircraft. Such acts include a rare World War II-era Grumman F8-F Bearcat and Russian-built Sukhoi-29 and MiG-17 jet fighters.

Along with the airborne acts, show-goers will have a chance to closely inspect dozens of military and civilian aircraft on display.

On Saturday and Sunday, events will be kicked off by “missing man” flyovers by the Southern California Wing of the Confederate Air Force, an organization that restores and flies World War II-era aircraft.

Air Show Schedule

Officials of the 32nd Point Mugu Air Show will open the gates to the Naval Air Weapons Station starting at 8 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. Admission and parking are free. Grandstand seats are $4 in advance and $5 at the gate. Box seats are $15 in advance and $20 at the gate. For information on the show or tickets, call 989-7628. This is the schedule for both Saturday and Sunday:

8 a.m.: Radio-controlled airplane demonstrations

9:30 a.m.: Flyby of the Southern California Wing of the Confederate Air Force

10 a.m.: Don Johnson’s Toyota aerobatic monoplane

10:15 a.m.: Bill Reesman’s Learjet aerobatic flight demonstration

10:35 a.m.: John Collver AT-6 aerobatic monoplane demonstration

10:55 a.m.: Smoke-N-Thunder jet-propelled dragster

11 a.m. to noon: Intermission

Noon: Welcoming ceremonies by Navy and local dignitaries, Missing-man flyover by the Southern California Wing of the Confederate Air Force, invocation, flag presentation by the Misty Blues all-female parachute team, Grumman World War II fighters flyby

12:25 p.m.: Mike O’Hearn and his AT-6 aerobatic monoplane demonstration

12:35 p.m.: Jack Ekl and his Bud Light Micro Jet

12:55 p.m.: Eric Newman and his aerobatic Stearman biplane

1:10 p.m.: Navy Squadron VX-9 performing tail chases, bombing and strafing demonstrations with the F-14 Tomcat and F/A-18 Hornet fighters

1:25 p.m.: Air National Guard’s 146th Airlift Wing C-130 Hercules aerial firefighting demonstration

1:35 p.m.: John Piggot’s Sukhoi-29 Russian fighter demonstration

1:50 p.m.: U.S. Air Force’s F-16 Fighting Falcon demonstration

2:05 p.m.: Wayne Handley’s aerobatic Raven monoplane demonstration

2:25 p.m.: Jim Cheatham’s Verticare Robinson R-22 helicopter aerobatic demonstration

2:40 p.m.: Misty Blues Parachute Team demonstration

2:55 p.m.: Navy Squadron VFA-125 F/A-18 Hornet demonstration

3:10 p.m.: Norwest Mortgage Wild Thing jet-powered car demonstration