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Air Power over Hampton Roads
May 5-7, 2006

The most attractive reason for attending Air Power over Hampton Roads (APOHR) this year was to see the USAF newest fighter, the F-22 Raptor. APOHR is Langley AFB annual airshow. From classic warbirds to modern military demos and even a 300mph jet semi truck, APOHR offers something for everybody. The show’s headliners were the USAF Thunderbirds. New to the team this year is Lt. Col. Kevin J. Robbins, Thunderbird no# 1, He has logged more than 3,200 hours, with more than 2,900 hours in the F-15 and F-16. Another noteworthy member of the Thunderbirds is Captain Nicole Malachowski, flying Thunderbird no# 3. Nicole is the first female to fly with the Thunderbirds. The Captain served as an F-15E Instructor Pilot and Flight Commander with the 494th Fighter Squadron and lodged more than 1,000 hours in the F-15E.

Canadian CF-18 which started it demo season at Langley. Flown be Captain William “Fat Daddy” Radiff, He performed a very powerful as well as fast pace display. In past years, the CF-18 demo aircraft sported colorful paint scheme from nose to tail. The past two show seasons, the paint scheme has been limited to just the tails. With three large and colorful Maple leaves (green, red and orange) on a deep blue background, there’s no mistaking that Hornet is Canadian.

Another crowd pleaser, East Coast F-15, sadly will stand down at the end of the year. But until that Jason “Bondo” Costello puts the Eagle through it paces, showing off its power and maneuverability. Once the Bondo is finish tearing up the sky, he joins up with Ed Shipley in his F-86, Michael “Dozer” Shower in the F-22, and Capt. Jeff “Roadie” Yost of the East Coast A-10, for an all jet Heritage flight.

The star of the show was Michael “Dozer” Shower in the Raptor. Even though the demo is not to start until 2008, Dozer showed the audience a glimpse of what’s to come. If you go to Airshow to hear the noise and to see the glow of the afterburner, the F-22 is the plane to see. Can hardy wait to see its full Demonstration.

With a Shark mouth painted on a face only a mother can love, the East Coast A-10 is a performance I do not get tired of seeing. The “Warthog”, nicknamed by its pilots and crew, may not be the prettiest aircraft to look at but it is one of the most lethal tank killers in the world today. Flew by Capt. Jeff “Roadie” Yost, The hog makes quick work of hit simulated target on the air field. With mock gun and bomb runs, the slow yet nimble A-10 knows how to entertain.

During the show the local boys from the 71st Fighter squadron, the Ironmen, and the 27th Fighter squadron, the Fighting Eagles, got a chance to show off in front of the home crowd. In past years each squadrons put up a pair of F-15s. This year the Ironmen flew a pair of F-15s, but 27th flew a pair of the new kid on the block, the F-22A Raptor. The 27th is the first squadron to transition into the new aircraft. The Raptor is so advanced and so far ahead of all the other 5th generation fighters, the USAF came up with a new class of fighter for it. The Raptor is an Air Dominance Fighter. Stealth, Super Cruise, First look -First shoot- First kill, Beware of Raptors with open doors!

The US Navy was represented by East Coast Legacy Hornet, Piloted by Mark “Pack” Sand from VFA-106 Gladiators. The Gladiators is the East Coast replacement squadron and is based at NAS Oceana. Even though APHOR is mainly an Air Force show, Pack performed a formidable display of Naval aviation. After Pack was done tearing it up, Dan McCue joins him in the Collings Foundations’ F4U-5NL Corsair to fly in the US Navy Legacy Flight. Together the Hornet and Corsair has over 60 years of US Naval history.

With his bright orange, yellow and red biplane with Teresa Stokes waving to onlookers, Gene Soucy loops and barrel roll his show cat above the blue skies of Hampton roads. Gene has flown in over 3000 airshow and in 14 different types of aircraft. He also won the Bill Barber award for Showmanship (twice) as well as being the first person to win the US National Aerobatic Championship three times in a row. To say He is “One Hell of a Pilot”, is an understatement.

With over 50 years of flying experience, Bill Ressman is a joy to talk to as well as being an amazing pilot. As with most pilots, he loves to fly. During his Demo, he normally pulls 8 G’s and reaches speeds up to 600mph. After his first MiG exploded shortly after takeoff, week later Bill bought the MiG you see today, a 1959 polish built MiG-17. Lets not forget about US Army Golden Knights, Jim LeRoy, Manfred Radius, John Mohr and Geico Skytypers, all performed amazing display in the blue skies above Langley AFB.

The show’s headliners, The USAF Thunderbirds.

I would like to thank the Men and Women of the 1st Fighter Wing’s Public Affair office for their professionalism as well as their outstanding work for making this coverage possible.

Thank You!

Equipment use:
Canon EOS 20D
Canon EF-S 17-85 mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
Canon Telephoto EF 400 mm f/5.6L USM
All pictures were resized for the web.
All pictures taken by: Steven Far148 Lewis
All pictures are protected by US copyright.

To see more Airshow pictures, Look here