The American Heroes Airshow is actually a series of shows held at seven venues across the United States, with the show at Los Angeles being the largest. The shows are designed to give the public a closer understanding of the equipment used by various military, law enforcement and public safety organisations, and to meet the people responsible for operating this equipment.
The first American Heroes Show was held in 1992 in Los Angeles and the show has now been held at its current location for the last ten years. The Hansen Dam Recreation Area, a large area of parkland adjacent to a reservoir, in the Northern suburbs of LA. The event consists of a static display of helicopters and a brief flying demonstration. The static helicopters are displayed on a large football field, with the flying display taking place in a natural bowl nearby.
The show takes place over the course of one day, with the helicopters for the display arriving in the morning before the event opens to the public, then departing at the end of the day. Recognising the level of interest in the arriving and departing helicopters, the organisers allowed access to a pre-registered group of photographers to shoot the movements. This extra access was available at no cost, and I was rather surprised that only around 50 photographers took advantage of this scheme. Organisation on arrival was very good, as we signed in and headed to the designated photographers' enclosure, which offered superb views and favourable light, for the first hour of arrivals at least.
Arrivals began at just after 0700, with the appearance of three Robinson helicopters from Adventure Helicopter Tours which were to provide experience flights during the day. There was then a steady stream of arriving helicopters from a variety of different agencies, in some contrasting colour schemes.
Local law enforcement helicopters were represented by the appearance of several police and sheriff's department aircraft. These included a smart Bell Jet Ranger from the Pasadena Police department and a Eurocopter AS352 Ecureuil from the Los Angeles Police Department, the famous LAPD. The Ecureuil has recently been painted in an unusual black and white colour scheme, reflecting the colours of the LAPD squad cars.
Representing the LA County Sheriff's Department (LACSD), an early arrival for the static area was another Ecureuil, carrying the very smart green, yellow and gold colour scheme adopted by all the LACSD Aero Bureau aircraft. Also operated by the Aero Bureau and arriving later in the day, was one of the famous “Rescue 5” helicopters, a former US Navy SH-3 Sea King. Further Sheriff’s Dept participation came in the form of the Golden Stars Skydiving Team, who gave a precision skydiving demonstration, complete with smoke trails, streamers and flags, which was very well received by the crowd.
The Sea King is one of three operated on search and rescue (SAR) and general transport duties, which are a familiar sight in the mountains around LA, where they are often called upon to rescue hikers who have got into difficulties in the hills. The aircraft on display was recently seen on TV screens throughout the world, with the sad duty of carrying the body of the recently deceased Michael Jackson from the clinic where he died to the Medical Examiner's office for autopsy
Arriving during the early afternoon, the Sea King crew gave a brief winching demonstration, lowering a crewman and stretcher down in the centre of the arena, flying an orbit and then winching a casualty up into the helicopter. After its demonstration, the Sea King took its place in the static park, although it wasn’t to remain there for too long. Many of the crews and helicopters on display remain on duty while visiting the show, and after being on the ground for only just over an hour, the crew received a call out, and the display field was cleared so they could depart.
More shadowy law enforcement agencies were also represented at the show. Perhaps most interesting was a Bell Jet Ranger belonging to the FBI. Painted gloss black and bearing a civilian registration, the helicopter was fairly anonymous, or would have been if it wasn’t for the large imaging sensor on the nose, and the fitting of “blues and twos” lights on the skids! The crew of the helicopter are all FBI Special Agents, and the main role is support of fellow agents on the ground, including using the imaging sensors to assist in operations, and also acting as a transport. The helicopters are also used for duties such as evidence and prisoner transport, and no doubt the crew would have many fascinating stories to tell, if only they could!
Another shadowy visitor was a Hughes 500, operated by the Department of Justice. The crew weren’t giving a whole lot away about its role, but again, its anonymous appearance and low visibility registration allow it to quietly operate into any location required.
All five branches of the US military were represented at the show, with the US Marine Corps sending an AH-1W Cobra attack helicopter. Feared by the insurgents in Iraq, the Cobra is getting rather long in the tooth these days and is currently due for replacement… by another Cobra variant, the AH-1Y Venom helicopter. Despite deliveries of the Venom beginning, the Cobra will remain in service for many years to come. The example visiting the show came from HMLA/T-303, based at Camp Pendleton, near San Diego and responsible for training new Cobra crews.
The other four services sent different varieties of the same airframe - the ubiquitous Sikorsky S-70/H-60 Blackhawk. From the US Army came a basic model UH-60 Blackhawk support helicopter, the type which is to recent conflicts such as Iraq and Afghanistan what the UH-1 Huey was to Vietnam - a rugged, reliable transport produced and deployed in large numbers.
The USAF operates a smaller number of H-60 airframes for special missions. Representing these aircraft was a HH-60G Pave Hawk from the 66th RQS at Nellis AFB, Nevada. As in previous years, the unit brought a “tooled up” aircraft, fitted with some serious fire power in the form of a Browning .50 Cal machine gun and a Minigun, and proved a very popular exhibit with large crowds around it all day.
The US Navy also operates a series of versions of the H-60, referred to as the SH-60 Seahawk. On display was an SH-60F, the most numerous version which is tasked with anti-submarine warfare, although other versions are used for special forces transport and SAR. The cab on display was the HS-10 “Warhawks” commander’s aircraft, featuring a large full colour badge and a specially painted tail. Arriving from NAS North Island, San Diego, the aircraft was to have been joined by a second Seahawk from NAS Fallon, Nevada, but this was a late cancellation due operational requirements. This was a big loss to the show, as it would have been a rare public outing for a type which has recently replaced the venerable HH-1N in the SAR role at Fallon.
Closely related to the Seahawk is the version operated by the US Coast Guard, the HH-60J Jayhawk. The Jayhawk is well suited to long ranger SAR operations - external fuel tanks give it an endurance of up to six hours! The USCG has a major presence in Southern California, with aircraft stationed at San Diego and Los Angeles Air Stations. The station at San Diego operates three Jayhawks, with the LA station being equipped with the older HH-65 Dolphin helicopters, and both of these types attended the show. The Los Angeles based Dolphins are tasked with the patrol of the largest port facility in the US, the combined Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
There were actually five S-70 derivatives on display, with the fifth airframe being a rare civilian registered version, operated by the LA County Fire Department. This helicopter is one of three S-70 Firehawks operated by the Fire Dept, the only civilian operator of this advanced fire fighting helicopter. The Firehawk won the award for the shortest distance travelled to reach the show - based at Whiteman Airport/Pacoima Heliport, flight time to Hansen Dam was less than two minutes!
The County Fire Dept also operates the more familiar Bell 412 helicopter, which is widely used in the fire fighting role. Another local operator of the type is the Los Angeles City Fire Department Air Ops unit, based at Van Nuys Airport. The Air Ops unit traditionally performs a partiotic three ship water drop at the Heroes show, and this year was no exception. The difference this year was the appearance of one of the units new Agusta Westland AW139 helicopters in the formation, with the helicopter’s larger size and great water carrying ability being apparent during the demo. After the water drop, all three helicopters headed off to reload their water tanks, before one of the Bell 412s returned to the static display. Once again, despite being on display, the helicopter was still ready to get airborne and react to a call out if necessary.
With the Bell 412 representing a modern version of the legendary Huey helicopter, it was interesting to be able to compare it with a very early version, the UH-1B Iroquois. Restored and operated by the Wings and Rotors Air Museum of French Valley Airport, CA, the UH-1B has recently been repainted from its familiar US Army colour scheme into a very smart US Navy scheme, representing HAL-3 Seawolves. Riding in the door gunners position was “Wild” Bill Rutledge, a door gunner who served on the Seawolves during the Vietnam War.
Whilst the helicopters are the biggest draw to the show, there were also plenty of ground displays from all manner of agencies, with highlights being the FBI SWAT team’s display of firearms and an armoured vehicle. There was also a collection of preserved, historic vehicles, which arrived as a noisy convoy, with sirens blaring.
Once again, the organisers of the airshow managed to put together a winning line-up of air and ground displays, which was warmly appreciated by the crowd. Attendance was good and the show was busy, but seldom felt too crowded. The impression I got was that the public was grateful for the opportunity to see how their tax dollars are spent, and they were also keen to meet and thank some of those men and women who put themselves in harm’s way in order to keep the ordinary citizens safe.
The American Heroes Airshow Network is a non-profit organisation with limited resources, but manages to put on an excellent show thanks to the support of many people. Air Operations Director Tom paid tribute to all involved, saying "The producers of the American Heroes Air Show would like to thank all of the military, law enforcement, fire service, and civilian units that were featured in this years event. I would additionally like to thank our all volunteer staff for keeping everything apart in the air, and together on the ground."
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