It was a warm and sunny day along the California Coast for the last day of the California International Air Show, in Salinas CA. Only 45 minutes south of my friend’s hose in Santa Cruz, CA. it was easy to plug this event into the last day of my vacation.

After 2 weeks in the sun, I needed some shade. Another full day in the sun and I’d likely return home with a burn, so I lobbied to purchase the VIP Flight Deck tickets. It was an easy sell. The flight demonstration teams always work in a couple of extra tricks right in front of the VIP seating areas, and we’re at an air show after all. Accommodations where good. Food, snacks, soft drinks and a fully bar were all at our disposal, and the first round of drinks were included in the price.

The performances were great. Plenty of jet action in the air.

One of the highlights of the show was the TORA TORA TORA performance. It’s a 10 minute show using aircraft from the original 1970 movie TORA TORA TORA. It’s a sight to see, so I’ve uploaded video shot with my little Canon camera set on the fence (it get’s bumped a few times so the framing missed the final WALL of FIRE, which I found unfortunate).

When the SnowCones took to the air, we decided to move onto the static displays. I’ve seen the very polite and nearly silent (and I’m sure very environmentally conscious) SnowCones enough times to fall asleep during their show. I had a 900 mile drive ahead of me that night, and I needed to remain alert. Oddly the couple of times I looked up into the sky, they always seemed to be speedily (albiet quietly) flying away… hm… I wonder if they are all French Canadians…).

So off to more interesting things likes Cessnas and Piper Cubs.