Crowd Turns Out for Final Maneuvers of Air Show ’93 : Point Mugu: More than 125,000 visitors gather for the Blue Angels’ performance and to shop for souvenirs.

The closing-day crowd at Point Mugu on Sunday had swelled to more than 125,000 by the time the Blue Angels took to the skies.

By then, Moorpark College students Scott Lunde and Natalie Carlz had found a not-too-crowded spot near the airstrip to plant their lawn chairs and slurp on cherry-colored snow cones.

“It’s just a mess,” said Carlz, who paid extra to get a closer look at the precision pilots and their crafts. “People walking back and forth, all the vendors. . . . It’s worth five bucks to come in here.”

The official Navy crowd estimate did not include the hundreds of sky-gazers who parked along Las Posas Road, Hueneme Road and other streets bordering the airfield.

Screams from the navy-blue fighter jets--spinning and whirling, flying upside down and climbing as high as eight miles straight toward the sun in the famed diamond formation--didn’t phase Lunde.

“My dad’s a pilot, so he got me into coming to the air show a long time ago,” he said.

But others were not so fortunate. Children and old veterans alike covered their ears, wore ear plugs or donned sporty muffs to protect their eardrums from the piercing thunder that accompanied each pass made by the deep-blue Hornets.

“That is tight flying,” marveled Ruben Munoz, a Santa Barbara carpenter who attended the closing day of Air Show ’93 on Sunday. “You can’t even get a football through them.”

Ashley, Munoz’s 7-year-old daughter, closed her eyes as the Blue Angels loomed above her. “They’re loud and they’re fast,” she yelled as the pilots raced overhead.

Although the aerobatic maneuvers by the Blue Angels were undoubtedly the main attraction for the crowd, numerous other displays of piloting prowess were performed Sunday.

Biplanes, Tomcats, Russian MiG fighter jets and others all competed for air time in the hours leading up to the Blue Angels curtain call in the late afternoon.

“It’s fantastic,” said John Stassinos of La Crescenta, a retired Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department lieutenant who brought his wife, Irma, to Sunday’s show. “We got here about noon, so we’ve seen all the performances so far.”

Stassinos said he was a pilot in the Air Force for more than three years during World War II.

“There’s a tremendous exhilaration in flying with this type of skill,” he said moments before the Blue Angels began their show. “The skill becomes second nature, but you have to have confidence in the plane and your ability.”

Mike Walker of Goleta brought a video camera to record Air Show ’93 for posterity.

“I’ll watch it, show it to friends who have never been to an air show or use it for footage for future videos I might make,” he said of the videotape.

“Point Mugu has the best air shows I’ve ever been to,” he added. “As soon as one act ends, another one starts.”

Along with the aerial demonstrations, visitors to Point Mugu could choose from airplane pins, Desert Storm commemorative coins, inflatable Tomcat fighters, and dozens of other gift souvenirs and collectibles.

“I’ve been to many places scouting them out and this is one of the best prices around,” said David Alexander, a private pilot from North Hollywood who charged a $165 leather jacket to his credit card. “It’s a great jacket.”

Navy Master Chief Michael Selke said each vendor pays a portion of the receipts into a fund that supports the station’s recreation department.

“All the bills are paid, then the concessionaire gets his cut and any leftovers go to MWR (morale, welfare and recreation),” he said.

Electronics technician Mark Myland volunteered to staff a souvenir booth offering Blue Angels jigsaw puzzles and model stealth fighters.

“The kids love it and the prices are right,” he said.