New York Air Show – 2018
The 4th annual New York Air Show was held the weekend of 15th & 16th of September 2018. The headliner was the World famous United States Air Force Thunderbirds.
The show is held at New York Stewart International Airport (SWF), a joint civilian / military airport, located about 60 miles north of New York City in the Hudson Valley. The airport is located in the town of Newburgh.
Logistically, it is a one tank trip for millions of people located right off Interstates 84 and 87. We drove 130 miles each way from outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the trip was very manageable. It was decided that my 12 y/o son and myself would attend, we bought our general admission tickets and parking pass online a few days prior.
We left around 5:30 AM and arrived a little after 8 AM. We were staged outside the main parking area till the authorities arrived and then it was game on. The line outside the secure area moved rather quickly. We were parked like 5 rows from the beginning of organized parking. Actually we were parked right across from fire station. We could see C-17’s and the Thunderbirds behind a secure fence.
We grabbed our backpacks, and our folding chairs and we started trekking to the the main entrance to the New York Air Show. Now there were shuttles, but we were too eager to get going. So we took the walkway / taxiway to the main entrance. There was a box office for those who didn’t have passes, a quick security stop. Then there was another stroll to the actual show grounds. There was a long line of food vendors mixed in with beverage and Civil Air Patrol and others to include cell phones and Flex Seal. But let’s face it, we came here for the planes, so let’s bring it on!
New York Air Show Static Displays
A-10 Warthog
T-38C Trainer
F-16 Fighting Falcon
F-18 Hornet
C-130 Hercules
Note: I was told the big crack in the nose was from a lighting strike. It definitely gives the plane character!
C-17 Globemaster III
C-5M SuperGalaxy
The Air Show of the 2018 New York Air Show
There was a wide variety of military and civilian aircraft displayed during the New York Air Show. The start of the aerial show was kicked off with The National Anthem and a West Point parachutist jumping from a UH-72 Mighty Lakota Helicopter with an American flag; all the while, Mike Wiskus’ Pitts aircraft circled around with smoke.
Mike Wiskus Opener
Aircraft: Pitts S-1-11B “The Super Stinker”
Who is Chuck Dramamine?
Kent Pietsch in his Interstate Cadet
C-17 GlobeMaster III
C-5M Super Galaxy
Air Tractor Demo with an AT-504
KC-135 Stratotanker
Kent Pietsch – How to Land on an RV with a 800 lb Interstate Cadet
B-17 Flying Fortress “Memphis Belle” Movie version
B-25 Mitchell “Panchito”
B-17/B-25/P-40 “formation”
It was awesome to see these warbirds in a “formation” that wasn’t a true formation. Unfortunately on Saturday, the P-40 was unable to safely join the group of bombers. The two bombers together was still very impressive. Later the P-40 gave a brilliant performance.
P-40 Warhawk Demo
Matt Chapman in the Embry Riddle Extra 330/LC
West Point Parachute Team
Mike Wiskus in the Lucas Oil Pitts S-1-11B “The Super Stinker”
Kent Pietsch – Let’s turn the motor off and try to land in a basic 6 instrument prop start 800 pound Interstate Cadet airplane.
U.S.A.F Thunderbirds Team
The headliner and finale of the 2018 New York Air Show was the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds flying the F-16 C/D Block 52 Fighting Falcons.
The airport was still in service during the New York Air Show, there were a few incoming and outbound flights. Some interesting ones were:
Norwegian Air going to Dublin
A private Boeing 747 belonging to a person from the UAE
All in all it was a good time. It was bright and sunny, there was plenty to eat, and drink from the vendors. The only negative I would say was the wait to leave the complex was a little long. Though, there probably isn’t too much organizers can do to help when everyone wants to leave at the same time.
