Look, Up in the Sky!
November 15, 2009
Aviation Nation 2009 was once again on display at Nellis Air Force Base north of Las Vegas, and anyone looking skyward at any point over the last two days no doubt noticed some unusual goings on overhead.
Aviation Nation, billed as “America’s Air Show”, is a major yearly event that draws large crowds from all over the country. The show is free to all comers, and it remains the largest free public event in Nevada.
Aviation Nation at Nellis Air Force Base
Aviation Nation at Nellis Air Force Base
Aviation Nation at Nellis Air Force Base
Aviation Nation at Nellis Air Force Base
Aviation Nation at Nellis Air Force Base
In all of the years that AN has been taking place in Vegas, I’ve never been directly to the Air Force Base to witness the event up-close.
There are a few reasons for this.
First of all, attending the air show is very time consuming and somewhat remote. Attendance requires that you park at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and hop a shuttle bus to the base. This is fine if you can devote an entire day to the event (as most people do), but I usually don’t have quite that much time.
Second, I went to a show like this once before in Virginia, and it was kind of like attending church. Everyone was really, really, really patriotic … and like religion … I find massive doses of it to be overwhelming. Patriotism requires the acceptance of certain premises to be true without exception or question, and I don’t feel particularly welcome in a military environment.
Nellis Air Force Base Neighborhood
Nellis Air Force Base Neighborhood
Nellis Air Force Base Neighborhood
Nellis Air Force Base Neighborhood
Ironically, much of the area surrounding Nellis Air Force Base is spanish-speaking. Some of the businesses even accept the Mexican Peso as currency. When you can’t even communicate with half of the people that live in your town, it’s hard to feel any kind of practical cohesion. It’s even harder to cheer the flag while watching fighter jets zoom over rows of signs in languages that you can’t even read.
I have no doubt that we as a nation are doing our best to steal from our citizens in order to keep our large corporations solvent, but I am not convinced that anyone is actually, you know, protecting the sovereignty of the USA.
Third, they ban illegal drugs, and I refuse to attend any event at which crack is not readily available for purchase or consumption.
Last, and most importantly, you don’t really need to be at the Air Force Base to see many of the cool maneuvers. Las Vegas is in a gigantic bowl, and every hillside is a set of bleachers.
Aviation Nation Jets from Sunrise Mountain
Aviation Nation Jets from Sunrise Mountain
Aviation Nation Jets from Sunrise Mountain
Aviation Nation Jets from Sunrise Mountain
Aviation Nation Jets from Sunrise Mountain Neighborhood
Aviation Nation Jets from Sunrise Mountain Neighborhood
I’ve covered every square inch of this Valley in the past decade, and I’ve kept track of my favorite spots. Sunrise Mountain is my favorite place for views of the county, and there is a particular spot at the far north side that overlooks Nellis AFB from about two miles away. Not surprisingly, this is where I went to observe the air show for a couple of hours yesterday.
There were at least a dozen car loads of other local residents watching from the same vantage point, so I was not the only one with the same bright idea. I rarely am.
Aviation Nation spectators on mountainside
Aviation Nation spectators on mountainside
Aviation Nation spectator on mountainside
Aviation Nation spectators on mountainside
Aviation Nation at Nellis Air Force Base
Aviation Nation at Nellis Air Force Base
Aviation Nation at Nellis Air Force Base
We sat for about an hour and watched aircrafts take off, maneuver, tear from one side of the valley to the other, and land. The planes ranged from small and agile single-seaters to huge and lumbering cargo crafts. One of the cool parts about being a couple of miles from the airport was watching the planes pull a maneuver, and then hearing the sounds from the move a few seconds later due to the speed of sound lag.
Also surprising was that the pilots proceeded to fly their routines despite the strong, gusty, variable wind that was prevalent the entirety of the day.
While I may not get into the whole “rah, rah, look at all the shiny shit our tax dollars buy because we is number one and we will kick yo’ ass if you look at us wrong” thing, I am a fan of aviation, and I have to admit that our tax dollars buys some pretty shiny and fast things.
Given its metrosexually perverted overuse for everything from food to casino carpet, I am reticent to use the word “amazing” … but at certain points yesterday, I was indeed amazed. Especially when a pilot pulled back the stick and completely disappeared into the clear sky above as he was flying perpendicular to the ground.
Pulling 12g’s to a 60,000ft climb is amazing. Unless you are as easily amused as a newborn baby … your dinner at Sinatra last night was not.
Frankly, I am not sure if the folks on the ground near the base had as much of a field of view as did those of us slumming it on the side of the mountain. If you’ve been to the show in the past and have seen it from the ground, but would like to get a side-view that allows you to see what the planes do 10-20 miles outside of the show area, you may want to consider spending a day observing from one of the adjacent hillside. I doubt it’s a better perspective, but it is a different one.
Aviation Nation at Nellis Air Force Base
Aviation Nation at Nellis Air Force Base
Aviation Nation at Nellis Air Force Base
Aviation Nation Jets from North Las Vegas
Aviation Nation Jet from Central Las Vegas
Aviation Nation Jets from Central Las Vegas
Long after I left the mountain, I continued to see and hear aircrafts splitting the sky overhead throughout all points in the Vegas Valley, and it was not uncommon for people to stop in their tracks and look overhead in a state of awe.
The sky over Las Vegas during Aviation Nation is something to behold, and even if you don’t attend it directly, you know it’s here.
Whether you love the patriotic angle of it all, or just don’t care … it’s hard to deny that the USA has some of the most skilled pilots in the world, and arguably the most incredible flying machines on the planet.
To kick yo’ ass with.
Written by tully on November 15, 2009 at 7:38 pm
Nice vantage point! Did you shoot all stills, or some video as well? Always interesting to watch what the pilots do at shows like this—amazing stuff.
Kinda surprising to me that Nellis still opens the base to the public for this, given all the post 9/11 terrorist concerns. Guessing people have to at least show photo ID to enter the base for the show?
Written by Rex on November 15, 2009 at 7:47 pm
Thanks Tully,
I got video as well but I am not pleased with it.
The wind was very strong and blowing into the dual mics so that it overpowers the engine roars (which is an important effect for an air show). Basically, the wind is in stereo. Also, some of the planes move so fast in the videos that they look ants running across the browser in a YouTube-sized window. It does the show injustice.
I decided to omit it for these reasons.
Written by ColinFromLasVegas on November 15, 2009 at 9:06 pm
Because I’m a retired veteran, and I live closeby to Nellis AFB, I go shopping at Nellis AFB all the time. To help defray costs of groceries and other stuff. And yes, Rex, that is a good view from Sunrise Mountain (otherwise known as Frenchman’s Hat, the original name). I live in the shadow of Sunrise Mountain just west of it. Good view of the Strip too. And I did witness some of that air show, but I didn’t follow it too close. To tell the truth, from time on aircraft carriers, I am not particularly interested in any of that leading edge flap shit anymore. I guess I’m burned out on it. Don’t get me wrong, I guess it’s still amazing, but it just don’t do anything for me anymore.
In somewhat of an answer to tully’s question… They do open up the base every once in awhile. For special occasions like this. But they allow access to only areas that aren’t close to the flight line or any other area they consider to be of intrinsic military value. That’s understandable. After 9/11, it’s a brave new world. It used to be anyone with a military ID card could bring someone on base if they wanted. After 9/11, because of new security requirements, that benefit has been discarded due to security. Only those with ID cards are allowed in. And that’s not only on Nellis AFB. It’s anywhere.
For Rex: Because you’re an aviation geekoid, here’s something that might be of interest to you. I don’t think you can get access, but if you were to go in the back gate, located on North Nellis Boulevard (just south of the Las Vegas Boulevard intersection), right to the left as you drive past the guard shack there is a recreational park for Air Force personnel. And in this park facing that back road are all kinds of original airframes of decommissioned Air Force planes mounted on huge pedestals, a lot of them are old and not in use anymore, even obsolete (because they have been replaced by newer stuff).
In the back part along the road, behind a few other displays in this park, there is an original dark black stealth aircraft mounted on a large pedestal. And I have read that this particular one is actually the very first original stealth fighter made and came off the production line. The actual original “A” model. In other words, this is the very first airframe of the actual very first model of stealth fighter aircraft. And, if memory serves me correct, this particular aircraft saw service in the first Iraq War in 1991, the first time it flew in any type of combat. Nellis AFB is fortunate to have acquired it and put it out for display in their recreational park.
On another part of the base, further along that back road, there are original vintage Russian MIG aircraft airframes set out for display too. I always laugh when I drive past them because they really are cheaply made and look like pieces of shit compared to Navy/Air Force fighter aircraft; look more like throwaway stuff. Use it once and discard it. I am amazed that any emphasis was put on finding more and more ways of defending against their threat. Back then, the Russians couldn’t even figure out how to make stainless steel.
As an aside, there was an account way back when (1960s or so) of a MIG-19 flying at so many incredible mach speeds over the Sinai Desert and witnessed by astounded Israeli Defense Force personnel. This caused American assessment of the MIG-19 to change to say that particular aircraft had a max speed of such and such. When in actuality, after the Cold War was over, the Russians related that was a stunt to fly that MIG-19 balls to wall as fast as it could so it could be seen, so NATO would think it was some kind of aircraft of Russian manufacture to be feared. What wasn’t said by them then was that after that flight over the desert, the plane barely landed on its own and the engine was burnt up to a crisp, rendered total garbage and useless. That plane clearly couldn’t manage that speed with any regularity at all. It was all a show.
But anyways… Because of security regulations post 9/11, most parts of the base, particular there because it is so close to the flight line, are not for public visitation.
Written by greatoz99 on November 16, 2009 at 7:40 pm
Picture is worth a 1,000 word, here is a map link to what the above poster is talking about:
http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2
Written by BigRedDogATL on November 16, 2009 at 9:35 pm
I just returned to Atlanta from spending four days in Las Vegas to attend the Aviation Nation Open House. Rex, before you trash the show and claim it drums up false patriotism, maybe you ought to come onto the base and see the show up close.
The show is an international event. This year’s show included an F-16 demonstration by the Royal Netherlands Air Force. The show doesn’t drum up any false patriotism as you suggest. It does allow people to see historic military aircraft that still fly, as well as modern day planes. There are plenty of static displays, so you can get an up close look at everything from a C-5 Galaxy (largest cargo plane) to a Predator unmaned aircraft to a CV-22 Osprey and all sorts of different fighters.
If you don’t wish to come onto base, then watch the show from Cheyenne Ave, just outside the fence and across the golf course. I can understand why you wouldn’t want to come onto the base, because the drug dogs would rat you out big time and you are right, druggies aren’t welcome.
Written by Rex on November 16, 2009 at 9:58 pm
I don’t think I trashed the event at all. I think I actually checked my balls and used the word, um, “amazing”.
The only complaint I have is that Randy Snow was not somehow involved. Aviation Nation was missing a good slogan, and I’m pretty that he could have come up with some really good ones.
Such as “What Happens at Aviation Nation Stays at Aviation Nation”.
And …
Well, that’s really all he’s got, but it would have been great I tell you.
If Nellis shells out $87 million, maybe he’ll let them use it next year.
Written by ColinFromLasVegas on November 17, 2009 at 12:17 am
I checked that overhead aerial map, greatoz99.
Very cool. You can zoom down and see what I was talking about set back from the road by the 1st Street Gate. And if you continue on down Duffer Road towards the AAFES Post Exchange and the Commissary, you’ll see a sharp left bend in the road. It’s there you see the all white MIG-19 and close to it across the street is the airframe of a Russian stolen plans version of a mixture of a Navy F-14/Air Force F-16. Serious reverse engineering by looking at one is how they made it back then.
Sorry. I got fascinated. My knowledge of internet stuff is not so vast. That was pretty cool. Thanks for the link. Now I got another geekoid thing to play around with.
I was somewhat amazed that is on the internet. Gosh. If this was the height of the Cold War, I would think that would be yanked off so fast it would make someone’s head spin. Different world nowadays.
Makes you wonder about this computer stuff in the future. Maybe in the future, you won’t need a keyboard. You plug somethin’ into your forehead and think and the computer will do it. Wait. Yikes! That’s a scary thought. I get one of those and it will automatically switch over to some porn site or somethin’. I better stick to the old way.