EL TORO : Crowd of 800,000 Is Likely for Air Show

Jimmy Freeman, a 41-year-old Garden Grove resident who has attended the El Toro Air Show every year since 1954, considers himself a first-rate Blue Angels junkie.

“I wouldn’t miss one for the world,” Freeman said as he tried to gain the attention of the pilots of the Navy precision flying team as they prepared to climb into their F/A-18 Hornets on Friday afternoon.

To get to the all-day show Friday morning, Freeman pedaled a two-wheeled replica of a Blue Angels fighter jet, complete with a blue and gold paint job, a double tail assembly and a nose cone, for two hours.

“The Blue Angels mean everything to Jimmy,” said his mother, Norma, as her son stood next to his customized bicycle-plane.

Jimmy Freeman and his mother were among the 15,000 people who were offered a sneak preview of the 40th Annual El Toro Air Show, a three-day event that draws more than 800,000 people from around the Southland.

The show begins at 8 a.m. today and lasts through Sunday.

Each year, the Marine Corps invites senior citizens, mentally and physically disabled people, schoolchildren and other special guests to come Friday to watch the maneuvers by the Blue Angels, Marine Corps aviation units and other aerobatic groups.

Although billed as a dress rehearsal, Friday’s show lacked nothing but the throngs of visitors who are expected to crowd onto the runway of the Marine Corps Air Station this morning.

“These people don’t have to fight the crowds,” said Maj. J.V. (Ace) McClain. “I’m a big man, and I have a hard time getting through the crowds on Saturday.”

To make the show more comfortable for the 8,000 “special needs” people who attended Friday’s rehearsal, about 200 Marines were recruited to help unload buses, escort people to their seats and pass out thousands of free lunches.

As four units of Marines launched a noisy assault on the grassy field in front of the runway, the crowd oohed and aahed and clapped heartily each time a 600-m.p.h. jet strafed the ground or parachutists jumped fearlessly out of the back of planes.

“We’re looking for a bargain,” chimed in Pat Mathesin. “Today we certainly got one.”

Actor Gerald McRaney, who plays the lead role in the television sitcom “Major Dad,” had his day in the sun when he was given two rides in a Blue Angels jet before the show started.

“I can explain it and you can simulate it six ways till Sunday,” McRaney said after he landed. “But you won’t know what it’s really like until you’re up there.”