Miramar Air Show 2023 – America’s Airshow

Welcome to Fighter Town. I am sure every one of you will know the famous tower where Maverick does a fly-by. This tower is located right here on MCAS Miramar. MCAS Miramar used to be NAS Miramar and the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School, also known as TOPGUN, was established here on March 3rd, 1969. The school was merged into the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center at Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada. Today the U.S. Marine Corp operates the station and is host of the Miramar Air Show 2023 – America’s Airshow.

Gear

Because the air show was on an active military base, there were lots of restrictions on what you could bring onsite. You had to go through a metal detector and also have your bag searched. Your bag had to be a clear, see-through bag with the except for camera bags. You were able to bring your camera backpack or sling back on site. Why? I have no idea. I read the rules ahead of time and knew about the clear bag rule, but I also assumed that it was for all bags you would bring on site. I carried my cameras in hand with a carry bag for my tripods on my shoulder.

I got there as one of the first ones every day to pick a good spot on the flight line fencing as I was to late for media accreditation and lots of the chalets were already sold out and it also saved me a ton of money as the basic admission to the show is free.

Besides my 70-200 with the 2x extender, I also rented a 600mm lens at a local camera place for even better pictures.

I used PlanIt to get familiar with the location and lighting ahead of time. The location is great but unfortunately the airshow is backlit as you are facing south from the viewing area. 

Unfortunately, scanners where not allowed on base. That would have allowed me to listen in to the conversation between the Airboss and performers.

Performers

Static Displays

Besides the performances there was a bunch of static displays to explore. My highlights were B-29 “DOC” and the PBY-5A CATALINA.

Both rather rare aircraft. Unfortunately, static displays are a nightmare if it comes to a photographic standpoint. It is hard to get a clear photo with all the people at the show. That’s why I focused mainly on the performers and the in-air action. However, it was nice to see all the static aircraft and get up close with them. It is also great to talk with the pilots and crews of the aircraft.

One of the static displays was supposed to be the Airbus A400M of the Royal Air Force. Yes, the one at the beginning of the Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation movie.

I haven’t been able to capture that plane. It was supposed to be a static display during the show. But it seems there was some scheduling issue, and the plane didn’t arrive until Friday evening. Thankfully I went to the air show all three days and was able to capture the A400M land after the Blue Angels finished their performance.

This was perfect, as I was able to capture the plane in flight and not just as a static display with lots of people around it. For the rest of the days, it became a static display at the show and people were able to tour it. Heck, it would be a dream for me to get on the plane while flying.

Besides the regular static displays there was even more to explore. Monster had a motocross arena set up, where you could see them doing crazy jumps.

Innovation and Tech Expo

Additionally, to the static displays and performers, there was also the Innovation and Tech Expo which show cases the technology being used on base, with the equipment and on the battlefield. Some of the exhibitors here were Amazon (AWS), Verizon, and many others. One interesting item on display was the DeLorean Aerospace DR-7.

The DR-7 is a two passenger eVTOL concept design aircraft. Tandem seating provides space for one pilot and one passenger.

Bonus Mini Air Show

On Saturday, the second day of the air show, a wildfire broke out at the East-end of the runway.

The air show had to be put on hold and Mike Goulian’s performance got cancelled on that day to keep up with the schedule and have the main act, the Blue Angels, come in and perform their show.  

We were able to see the fire department fighting a wildfire live. Besides the ground units, they had two helicopters fighting the fire. One observed the fire while the other one was used to drop water from a nearby lake onto the fire.

Unfortunately, it was still quite a bit away and the hot temperatures caused heat distortion. That’s why the pictures didn’t turn out as well. I always wanted to photograph the fire department using aerial firefighting equipment.  

Wildfire outside of Base

San Diego Fire-Rescue Department Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk

MAGTF Demonstration

My personal highlight was the Marine Air Ground Task Force Demonstration. Usually at airshows the Blue Angels or Thunderbirds are the highlight and final act. For me it was the MAGTF Demo and for so many reasons. First of all, they combined a lot of different aircraft types into the demonstration and you didn’t only see air action, as the name suggests, there was also ground action going on.

A demo like this wouldn’t be complete without explosions and we got lots of them during this demonstration. Firewalls shot up in the air and I could even feel the heat of them.

Blue Angels

Of course you have the Navy’s Blue Angels as show headliner for an airshow on a Marine Corp Air Station. The viewing area was packed every day when it was time for the Blue Angels doing their demonstration.

People just pushed in without respect for anybody. They even tried to sneak between my two tripods and kept kicking it. I know the Blue Angels are cool to see, but I have been sitting out there every day from early morning until mid-afternoon and now people show up five minutes before the show starts and hope to get front-line seating and not even paying for reserved seats. That’s not how it works. Unfortunately, lots of people don’t care and are rude and push their way to the front. Below a few of my best shots of the Blue Angels which you will also find in the gallery at the end of the post.

Gallery

Below are the photos from my Flickr gallery. You can view the photos here or just open the album directly, which makes it easier to view with almost 600 photos from the event.

Miramar Air Show 2023 – America's Airshow

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