[Gerry-Semola]

Hello Blue Family,

Just wanted to give everyone an update on the truly AWESOME air-show I attended yesterday (Sunday June 1st) of at McGuire. Boy was that a blast! Weather was perfect too! Middle to upper 70s but the constant breeze made it feel like 65 at times. Sunny with a few cotton-candy-like clouds but nothing to interfere with the air show stunts etc However the previous day was a wash due to rain, so the turnout was double the normal size for the second day!

I really was amazed how much cool stuff there is to do on the ground at these shows! Its so high tech now! Virtual this and virtual that everywhere you look! The displays and mobile movie theatres and virtual combat zones etc. Are really awesome! Nice to see the Army and the Air Force working together too! Their stuff is just amazing! I can't even describe it in words! Whoever dreamed that up is a genius! I hope we get something like that perhaps with virtual dogfights or maybe virtual aerial ground support missions etc. Its so realistic and the whole thing from orientation to exit debriefing is so cool that you really feel like you've just completed a mission! And your progress is all digitized and recorded for the entire team (of 50 in each unit) to see on like a gazillion big-scrren Tvs! Neat! But the 3-D surround digital video footage (game) is very lifelike! Except that you stand and sit in REAL military vehicles, using REAL weapons, with really loud sound effects and motion devices which bounce you around like the real thing! crazy! It does seem real!

Anyhoot, the T-birds were AWESOME as usual! So were the other stuntplanes and the short takeoffs from the newest cargo/transport planes! The Army and Navy had all their helicopters there (both tactical and rescue). Air Cav and the Blackhawk were by far the best two! The pilots were awesome to talk to! Maybe in another lifetime! LOL!

Lastly, I would say that the only thing missing was some good live music. They had the piped in stuff over the flightline PA systemn, which is not the same as the Blue! So my question is, do the current casts 2000s have any opportunities to do air shows? Seems like a no-brainer that we'd be there if the itinerary permitted? I'm sure we must have done many in past! I ask because I was on two overseas tours back when the Blue was split into two casts! And we (the os cast) never got to do one on my tours.
If we do play at any air shows (stateside especially) does anyone know when and where????? I would LOVE to go if TIB were performing. That would just put the finishing touch (that is missing) on shows like the one at McGuire! Especially when the T-Birds are up in the air! The Air Force song would sound much better from us live rather than from a recording through a PA! Know what I mean Blue? And the event tents etc. Were like a half mile long! Musta been 10k+ people there easily over the course of the day. Not to mention how many would have showed Sat. Had it not rained etc. Just a thought! I'd love to know if we ever represent there. Anybody know?
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Yoda G (AKA: Gerry)
86/87 Drummer/Loadmaster
--Blue unto others...and ask not what the Blue can do for u, but what U can do for the Blue! And if it snores LOUD, its probably a member of the staging crew! LOL!  Cheers 2U Chief! Godspeed!