Despite Fog, 50,000 Turn Out for Point Mugu Air Show

While his mother plugged her ears in mock horror, Michael Moretti locked his eyes on the F-14 Tomcat fighter planes that thundered across the airfield at Saturday’s Point Mugu Air Show.

“I want to fly one of those when I grow up,” said the 12-year-old from Camarillo. “Ever since I saw the movie ‘Top Gun,’ I’ve been obsessed with them.”

Nearly 50,000 spectators crowded the Tarmac for the Navy base’s 33rd annual air spectacle. Though the now-you-see-it, now-you-don’t fog at times marred visibility, many said they didn’t mind craning their necks once in a while.

“It’s interesting to see our jets fly and to see our military in action,” said Rexford Leong, a 38-year-old custodian from Simi Valley. “It’s like a pilgrimage every year.”

The show ended slightly early when some wayward birds crashed into two planes flown by the Canadian Snowbirds during the elite jet demonstration team’s last pass.

No pilots were injured, but the nine fliers quickly landed their CT-114 Tutors to assess the damage. They found that the birds cracked one plane’s windshield and struck the fuselage of another.

Air show officials said the Snowbirds, who got to perform nearly all of their 33-minute routine crammed with razzle-dazzle passes and ballet-like formations before the accident, will be airborne again today when the show continues.

“They have extra planes if they can’t get the [airplane’s windshield] fixed,” said Alan Alpers, a Navy base spokesman.

For the first time in the air show’s history, organizers dedicated the spectacle. Shortly after noon, four jets in Navy Squadron VX-9 blasted over the airfield in the missing-man formation in memory of Rick Fessenden, a former Navy pilot killed while performing aerobatics over Santa Paula last month.

“We are going to pay tribute to a great American,” said air show coordinator Don Lewis, a retired lieutenant commander at Point Mugu Naval Air Weapons Station. “He was a tremendous individual.”

Aviation officials still have not determined the reason for the crash Aug. 12 during the Santa Paula Air Show, when the Berkut plane Fessenden was piloting smashed into a riverbed.

But Fessenden’s father said the air show dedication had helped lift the family’s spirits.

“When you know that other people are proud of him and what he accomplished, that makes it easier,” said Tad Fessenden, a 74-year-old former Navy pilot, who lives in Indian Wells. “That gives us some strength.”

Amid the howl of jets and the buzz of propeller planes Saturday, a little international diplomacy also took place. Senior Ukrainian military and civil-defense officials--visiting to learn more about U.S. civil-defense operations--experienced an American air show that included a ride in a hot air balloon.

“If we knew each other better, maybe we would not have targeted our missiles against each other,” said Lt. Gen. Igor V. Pustovoy, the third highest-ranking official in the Ukrainian air force, referring to the Cold War. “We have had a great experience with everyone here.”

Less welcome was the fog that hovered above the runway throughout most of the morning.

Torrance pilot John Collver said the weather cramped his style, so he stuck with horizontal rolls and high-speed passes and avoided higher-altitude maneuvers in his World War II propeller plane.

“Flying those maneuvers is like driving 100 m.p.h. in the fog,” Collver, 40, said. “You just don’t do that.”

But the marine layer burned off in the afternoon and the planes soared, along with the organizers’ optimism.

“This is . . . prime air show conditions,” Lewis said shortly after 1 p.m.

Soon enough, the black, triangular-shaped F-117A Stealth fighter swooped down over the airfield looking more like a giant bat than the U.S. Air Force’s newest jet.

And at 3 p.m., the Snowbirds crisscrossed before the spectators, leaving an ornate lattice of smoke trails imprinted on the blue sky.

Known for their precision maneuvers, during which planes are often no more than three feet apart, Snowbird pilots said it just takes time to get used to the coziness.

“The really hard part about it is you get a lot of interference and air flow from the other wings,” said Capt. William McEwan, 30, of Toronto. “You just have to get used to it.”

Today, gates open at 8 a.m. and air demonstrations are set to begin at 9:30 a.m. The Canadian Snowbirds are scheduled to lift off at 2:42 p.m.

Admission is free.