FLYBYS AND DOLLS : At the 44th El Toro Air Show, Sky-Diving G.I. Joes Are Just a Few of the Action Heroes

Boy, do kids have it great these days or what?

A generation ago, playing with “army men” meant taking a few cheap molded plastic figures, splitting them into opposing forces and, after some cursory gunplay (with appropriate mouth noises), wiping out the whole lot with an aerial dirt clod attack.

“Ka-pow!” “Boom!” End of story.

Olive-green army men have long since been routed by “action figures” outfitted with battery-operated weaponry (sold separately), complete biographies and more accessories than Imelda Marcos. And lately, they’ve taken to becoming human, coming to life at your local mall in the form of costumed actors dispensing autographs and tips on clean living.

Now they’re jumping out of airplanes.

On Saturday and Sunday, the G.I. Joe Heroes Skydiving Team drops into the 44th annual air show at the Marine Corps Air Station El Toro. (For a complete air show schedule, see Page 11). But these are no actors. Comprised of four top-rated sky-divers portraying G.I. Joe characters Snakeyes, Zap, Duke and Scarlett (yes, she’s a she), the act is among more than two dozen military and non-military performances scheduled at the free show.

The air shows begin at 9 a.m. and end about 4 p.m. both days. They include such performers as Jim Franklin, who flies a modified World War II UPF-7 WACO upside down at 185 m.p.h., and Lori Lynn Ross, a professional stuntwoman who walks the wing of Franklin’s plane, as well as airborne demonstrations of military aircraft such as the USAF F-16 Fighting Falcon, USMC AV-8B Harrier and the Canadian CF-5 Freedom Fighter. Other performers include Sean D. Tucker, who plummets his Pitts S-2S biplane tail first, rights it at the last minute and flies backward at 100 m.p.h., and ground displays of 150 vintage and state-of-the-art military aircraft.

The finale on both days is by the Blue Angels, the flight demonstration team launched in 1946 on the orders of Adm. Chester Nimitz to keep public interest in naval aviation alive after World War II. Known for their spectacular formations, the Blue Angels have performed for 257 million spectators worldwide. The team now flies the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet, a fighter-attack aircraft currently used by the U.S. military.

The El Toro show marks the debut of the G.I. Joe Skydiving Team, assembled by the toy’s manufacturer, Hasbro Inc., as part of the 30th anniversary celebration of G.I. Joe. After El Toro, the team will travel to air shows in nine U.S. and Canadian cities, including a show this August at Miramar Naval Air Station in San Diego.

The team will perform in El Toro once daily, jumping from a height of 15,000 to 20,000 feet. Before and after the jump, team members can be found at their “ground-based headquarters,” marked by a 25-foot-tall G.I. Joe Balloon, where they will greet visitors, sign autographs and pose for photos.

The area will also include a “G.I. Joe Hall of Fame,” which will trace the big guys (and gals; there are a half dozen female characters in all) from the dolls’ debut in 1964 to its 1990s role as defender of the environment and drug-free living. G.I. Joe went on hiatus from 1978 to ‘82, when the price of petroleum stopped production of the plastic toy.

There have been 300 million G.I. Joe dolls sold, said Gary Serby, Hasbro’s director of public relations and marketing. He said the sky-diving team, which represents the first time Hasbro has “brought to life” the G.I. Joe character, is a natural choice to celebrate the toy’s anniversary.

“The sky-diving concept encompasses the (spirit of) heroism and adventure that kids express when they talk about G.I. Joe,” said Serby in a phone interview from the company’s Rhode Island headquarters. “Also, we wanted to reach a lot of children, and air shows are very family oriented.”

While in this area, the team will visit patients at Memorial-Miller Children’s Hospital in Long Beach and appear at selected Target stores in Santa Ana, Irvine, Mission Viejo and Laguna Hills. They will also perform along with the rest of Saturday’s and Sunday’s acts during an invitation-only dress rehearsal Friday for disabled children, senior citizens and military personnel.

The El Toro Air Show, which last year attracted more than a million viewers, is billed as the largest air show of its kind in the country. Many consider it as much a part of the Orange County experience as a trip to Disneyland or the Big A, but not everyone is wild about it. More than one family I know in Irvine refer wryly to the Marine base as “our neighbors with a mission,” and avoid the tremendous crowds and noise by leaving town every year during the event.

Tragedy has also left its mark on the air show. Since 1985, three crashes have occurred at the event, killing three performers and seriously injuring another. At last year’s show, an F-86 Mk 6 crashed in a fiery explosion during an aerobatic display, killing the civilian pilot.

But such tragedies are exceptions and should not discourage families from attending air shows, says Bret Willat, the Warner Springs sailplane pilot who completed his act just before last year’s fatal crash. Willat, aided by his 12- and 2-year-old sons and his wife, Karen, will return to perform in this year’s air show.

“In the U.S., air shows are set up with the audience safety foremost,” said Willat, who uses his older son, and occasionally his younger son, in ground activities for his act. “What (pilots) do looks difficult, but with the level of expertise we’re dealing with, it’s really very safe.”

In this show, Willat and his 900-pound fiberglass plane (popularly known as a glider) will be towed by his wife to an altitude of about 4,500 feet. After the towline is released, he performs a series of maneuvers to music, trailing colored smoke and winding up with a 150 m.p.h. flyby 10 feet above the runway.

“Families seem to like my act the best,” Willat said. “It’s so different from the rest of the show (because) it’s not noisy, and most people have never even seen a sail plane before. It’s really very peaceful.”

What: 44th Annual El Toro Air Show.

When: Saturday, April 30 and Sunday, May 1. Gates open at 7 a.m. both days; shows run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Where: Marine Corps Air Station, Sand Canyon Avenue at Trabuco Road, El Toro.

Whereabouts: From the San Diego (405) Freeway, exit at Sand Canyon Avenue and drive east. (Note: The northbound and southbound Sand Canyon exits of the Santa Ana (5) Freeway will be closed during the event.)

Wherewithal: Admission and parking are free. Grandstand seating ($6), center-field reserved seats ($8) and box seats ($10), as well as a flightline seating package that includes lunch and beverages ($30) can be purchased in advance by calling TicketMaster.

Where to call: Information, (714) 726-2932; TicketMaster, 740-2000.