It's not just a major airshow in its own right, Aviation Nation is Nevada's biggest free event, there's added significance as it coincides with Veterans Day on November 11th, also a public holiday in the USA. In addition, Aviation Nation is also the homecoming show for the United States Air Force’s Air Demonstration Squadron, the Thunderbirds, which is based at Nellis. Just to complete what has been a big commemorative year for the base, 2011 also sees Nellis celebrating the 70th anniversary of military operations at the site; it first became operational as Las Vegas Army Air Field in 1941, initially being used as a gunnery training base with a small fleet of AT-6A Texans and Martin B-10s.
Today Nellis is the home of the United States Air Force Warfare Center (USAFWC), which oversees all operations, with flying conducted under the auspices of the 57th Wing which itself is made up of a mix of squadrons. One such unit is the USAF Weapons School, which trains weapons and tactics instructors for all of the aircraft types in the USAF's front line inventory. The Nellis-based squadrons train students on their respective types and there are several other squadrons at other locations, such as Dyess AFB, Texas, and Whiteman AFB, Missouri, which train weapons instructors on their based types. Each course lasts around six months and, prior to graduation, ends with a large force exercise known as Mission Employment (ME), which brings all the squadrons together at Nellis.
However, Nellis is probably best known for another role, that of hosting the Red Flag and Green Flag series of exercises which, like most of its operational flying, take place over the vast Nevada Test and Training Range; “the largest air and ground space available for military operations in the free world” and also controlled by the USAFWC.
The flying squadrons of the 57th Wing are the 16th Weapons Squadron (WPS) operating the F-16C/D Fighting Falcon, the 17th WPS with the F-15E Strike Eagle, the 34th WPS with the HH-60G Pave Hawk, the 66th WPS with the A-10C Thunderbolt II and the 433rd WPS with both the F-15C/D Eagle and the F-22A Raptor. There are also two aggressor squadrons, the 64th Aggressor Squadron (AGRS) with F-16Cs and the 65th AGRS with F-15C/Ds. Nellis is home to the Thunderbirds, of course, with their F-16C/Ds, and the team also forms part of the 57th Wing. Another resident on what is an incredibly busy base is the 66th Rescue Squadron (RQS) operating the HH-60G, which provides worldwide combat rescue support. Its secondary mission is to provide rescue support over the Nellis ranges and backup support for local civilian agencies.
That's not quite all, for the 53rd Test and Evaluation Group (TEG), which is part of the 53rd Wing based at Eglin AFB, Florida, also calls Nellis home. The 53rd TEG comprises a composite squadron, the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron (TES), which operates the A-10C, F-15C/D, F-15E, F-16C/D and the F-22A, plus the 88th TES operating the HH-60G and, in total, there are currently around 140 aircraft based on-site.
Being only a few miles from the bright lights of Las Vegas and, with a large and diverse mix of based aircraft, Nellis is naturally a superb venue for an airshow. This year’s show featured a selection of current military aircraft, a number of which were already deployed to Nellis for the Integrated Tactics phase of the Weapons School course, as well as a mix of warbirds plus a few general aviation items. These included a Learjet which was for sale – presumably for anyone who’d done well in the Vegas casinos and bought their winnings to the show!
There were a number of interesting aircraft, both military and civilian, with most of the aircraft types in the USAF's inventory being represented. There aren’t too many airshows that see a B-2A Spirit in the static display alongside both a B-1B Lancer and a B-52H Stratofortress. The B-1B carried 77th WPS markings, which is one of the aforementioned Weapons School squadrons. Examples of all the Nellis based aircraft types were on display and included an F-15C and an F-16C from the two based aggressor squadrons. Both these aircraft were in new colour schemes, the F-15 having been painted a month before and the F-16 just a few days before (the dates are painted on the aircraft!) Other aircraft in the static display included a C-5B Galaxy, a pair of C-130 Hercules, an H model and a J, an E-3B Sentry, an E-8C JSTARS and an RC-135W Rivet Joint.
The US Navy was also represented and provided a pair of F/A-18F Super Hornets from VFA-154 at NAS Lemoore, California, and a T-45C Goshawk from Training Wing 2 at NAS Kingsville, Texas. However, there was nothing on display from either the US Army or the Coast Guard, or indeed from any foreign air arms.
Notable warbirds included an airworthy Mil Mi-24D Hind, one of two former Bulgarian machines operated by the Cold War Air Museum in Dallas, Texas. There were two P-51 Mustangs, the privately owned P-51D “Section Eight”, which is based at the Legacy Flight Museum at Rexburg, Idaho, and the Commemorative Air Force’s Red Tail Squadron P-51C “By ReQuest”, dedicated to the Tuskegee airmen. Other unusual aircraft included a Hispano HA-200 Saeta and a pair of former RAF aircraft in the shape of a Tucano T.1 and a Jet Provost T.3A, the latter from the Western Sky Aviation Warbird Museum at St George, Utah.
The flying display lasted for three hours, leading up to the Thunderbirds who closed the show. It began with a parachute drop from a Ramstein, Germany, based C-130J Hercules of the 86th Airlift Wing and the parachutists were all USAF personnel, one of whom flew the POW/MIA flag, while the last man down flew the Stars and Stripes. This was followed by a heritage aerial gunnery and bomber demonstration which featured the Van Nuys, California, based TB-25N Mitchell “Heavenly Body”, a Beech C-45 Expeditor from the Arizona Wing of the Commemorative Air Force and, appropriately, an AT-6A Texan (which was actually an SNJ-5 variant!). These were chased by the Commemorative Air Force’s Mitsubishi A6M3 Zero and each aircraft performed numerous flypasts, providing plenty of photo opportunities.
A present-day bomber demonstration followed, consisting of one fast flypast by a B-1B that was operating from Nellis and, on Saturday, it took several attempts to get airborne. Twice it lined up, the power came on, it started to roll and then the power came off and it taxied off the runway! The sighs from the crowd, especially the second time it happened, were audible! However, it did get airborne at the third attempt, and there were no further problems on Sunday.
Next up was the C-130J again which this time dropped members of the based 820th Red Horse Squadron of civil engineers. Staying with the air mobility theme this was followed by a spirited display by a C-17A Globemaster III from the 452 Air Mobility Wing at March ARB, California and, by way of contrast, the C-17A was followed by the Patriots Jet Team with their five L-39s performing with their usual gusto!
They were followed by Greg Colyer in his Canadair built T-33 “Ace Maker” and an A-1E Skyraider, teamed with the Chino, California, based Planes of Fame Air Museum’s F-86F Sabre and MiG-15. The A-1E was previously owned by Danny Summers, who tragically lost his life in his other Skyraider earlier in the year and it is now part of Jim Slatterly's collection (as was the Cessna A-37A in the static display) and was flown by John Muszala Jr from Pacific Fighters at Idaho Falls, Idaho. This was billed as a heritage air-to-air demonstration and was combined with a Vietnam air-to-ground demonstration. Whilst the A-1E and the T-33 did plenty of low passes, "attacking" the airfield, the F-86F and MiG tussled in the overhead. This was followed by a present-day air-to-air demonstration, which started with a pair of aggressor F-16Cs performing their own airfield attack which resulted in a pair of F-15Cs being scrambled to intercept them; cue a sky full of flares, both from the F-15s as they launched and the F-16s when the Eagles caught up with them!
Next up was the present-day air-to-ground demo, with the Nellis squadrons demonstrating their close air support skills. This started with a pair of A-10Cs “attacking” a target on the airfield and was followed up with attacks from a pair of F-16Cs and a pair of F-15Es; the result - lots of explosions on the airfield and even more flares! Additionally, on the Sunday, this sequence commenced with an “attack” by a B-2A, which actually flew several passes before departing. Once the “attacks” were over this sequence concluded with a pair of HH-60Gs. It was good to see the based squadrons getting in on the action and excellent to see the flares being used, quite unusual for an American airshow.
The last sequence started with a Holloman, New Mexico, based QF-4E Phantom II from Detachment 1 of the 82nd Aerial Targets Squadron, which performed several passes, followed by Capt Joe “Rifle” Shetterly of the Davis Monthan, Arizona, based 355th Fighter Wing in the A-10C, who performed a full display routine. When “Rifle” had finished he joined up with the QF-4E and the F-86F to perform the Heritage Flight, a routine that had started at Nellis in 1997 as part of the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the USAF.
All that was left then was for the Thunderbirds to perform to their home crowd, which they did with their usual impeccable precision. This was the last display for their outgoing Commander, Lt Col Case Cunningham, and brought to an end not just his time leading the Thunderbirds, but Aviation Nation 2011 itself.
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