Clouds, Fog Keep Some Aviation Acts on Ground : Air show: Weather and missing favorites combine to keep attendance the lowest in recent years. But for many braving the drizzle, the Point Mugu event proves a big hit.

First came the scheduling problems that prevented Point Mugu Air Show officials from booking big-name aerial acts such as the Blue Angels for this year’s event.

Then, after a low turnout Saturday, came the clouds and foggy weather that knocked some acts out of Sunday’s air show and forced others to play it safe.

The combination had the effect of a one-two punch on the weekend show’s attendance, which registered the lowest in recent years.

But despite the loss Sunday of some of the most spectacular aerial tricks, many of those who braved the drizzle and dreary skies said the show was well worth the trip to the Point Mugu Naval Air Weapons Station south of Oxnard.

“I thought today’s show was great,” said Mo Hasan, 28, of Oxnard. “When I heard they were going to fly the Harrier, I knew I had to come out,” he said of the attack jet that thrilled onlookers with its vertical takeoffs and landings. “The teams (such as the Blue Angels) are OK, but nothing beats that Harrier--it’s so cool.”

The lack of a big military flight demonstration at first disappointed Phil Whitman, 41, of Canoga Park.

“I came out thinking the Blue Angels were flying today,” Whitman said. “But even without them, the other acts have been a lot of fun to watch. I’m a student pilot, so I can really appreciate the skills they have.”

Navy officials said about 86,000 people watched this year’s two-day show, with about 45,000 turning out Sunday. The weekend drew far fewer than the 200,000 who attended last year’s program, which featured the Blue Angels and and the Canadian Air Force’s Snowbirds.

Sunday’s low clouds and foggy weather sent Navy air show producers scrambling to reschedule acts--canceling some altogether for safety reasons and abbreviating others.

A demonstration by the Air Force’s F-16 Fighting Falcon, a single-seat supersonic fighter known for its ability to climb vertically while accelerating, was canceled because of the weather.

Another act, in which a parachutist with the all-female Misty Blues Parachute Team was scheduled to jump at high altitude with a large American flag unfurling behind her, was also canceled.

And Point Mugu’s F-14 Tomcat and F/A-18 Hornet fighters had to curtail their high-altitude loops, figure-eights and other aerobatics.

But the sleek and ear-piercing loud jets simulated dogfights, bombing and strafing runs at lower altitudes, said Cmdr. Robert E. Noziglia, a Point Mugu air show official.

“Military aircraft, because of their performance capabilities, have to have a lot of sky to operate safely,” Noziglia said. “The civilian acts have much more generous rules under which they can fly.”

Several civilian aerobatic acts helped fill the gap by dazzling spectators with twists, turns, dives and loops--but even those pilots had to hold back on some of their best tricks due to the thick marine layer.

“I don’t have the same restrictions as my military colleagues do,” said Steve Stavarakis, who pilots the aerobatic stunt plane named Wild Thing. “But if I can’t see the fans when I’m up there, I know they can’t see me--there’s no point to it.”

Keeping the fans interested between aerial acts was a ground-based performance by Smoke-N-Thunder--a jet engine-powered dragster that won races with stunt planes along the base’s main runway.

Optimistic event organizers had hoped the Sunday morning clouds would clear as they did Saturday. Instead, they shuffled acts and hoped the crowds would understand.

“What can you say?” Navy spokesman Alan Alpers said. “Our meteorologists are good but they’re not perfect. I think people who came out had a good time. I think we still pulled a good show out of our hat.”