Return of the Air Expo at Joint Base Charleston!

It was neat to be back at the Charleston Air Force Base on April 10 for the 2020 Air Expo. 

This is the first such open house event here since 2018. Check out my post from four years ago. 

Here we are pictured in front of a fierce A-10 Thunderbolt, better known as the Warthog. 

In the wars in Iraq, the A-10 gained fame as a tank killer. Armaments include the seven-barrel Gatling gun (or air cannon) seen just above Alesia’s lovely head. 

Charleston AFB is home to the massive
C-17 Globemaster. 

Air Expo visitors got to see fly-bys of the military transport workhorse. 

Early in the show, a C-17 flew by accompanied by a World War II transport plane. The size difference is something! 

A Globemaster on the flight line was open for visitors to explore. Talk about spacious! I remarked to Alesia when we sat down for a rest that I felt like I was in a hotel lobby. 

This is the plane we were in. Pretty cool seeing “Team Charleston” on the huge engines. 

The expo culminated in a brilliant performance by the U.S. Navy’s  Blue Angels. See my post a few days ago about this amazing display of aerial maneuvers! 

This photo isn’t part of my 12 favorite Blue Angels photographs post, but maybe it should have been. Anyway, check out my separate Blue Angels post. 

Another large warplane that people  could enter was this beast of the battlefield, the AC-130 Spectre. It specializes in close air support.  The name Spectre, I suspect, comes from this gunship's ability to attack at night on unsuspecting targets. Like a ghost, it is never, if rarely, seen by the enemy. 

The Spectre is armed to the teeth with  105 mm cannons, Gaitling guns and other lethal fire power. 

The white device in this photo is used to load the cannon shells. 

If the Ukraine armed forces had some AC-130s, those slow-moving Russian armor convoys would be torn to shreds. Just saying. 

Up to 40,000 people were expected on each day of the expo. Air Force planners made changes this time to reduce the logjam of cars coming to and leaving the base. Everyone had to download a pass to attend and that number was limited to 10,000 vehicles each day.

Air Force personnel were out in force to direct traffic and efficiently park all the cars. 

I was so impressed that I wrote a letter to the editor to the Post and Courier newspaper, saluting Joint Base Charleston for a job well done. But someone beat me to the punch. A similar letter ran in the paper the day after I sent in mine. 

To follow, more military hardware that taxpayers rarely get to see in person like this. 

I couldn’t help but wonder how many armored vehicles like this were left behind in Afghanistan last year when the U.S. pulled out so quickly and suddenly. 

Blue Angels crew members pose with youngsters. 

If you didn’t mind waiting in a long line you could see inside the cockpits of fighter planes…

You could chat with the pilots and even sit in cockpit. 

The Marine Corps had one of its F-35B Lightning II fighter planes on display. This is one of the latest and most expensive U.S. warplanes. 

So visitors couldn’t get too close to this one, understandably. 

This F-35 is part of the squadron at Beaufort Marine Air Station. 

Cuts a nice profile doesn’t it! 

The F-35 Lightning and Boeing’s huge Dreamlifter plane behind it. The Dreamlifter brings large sections of 787 Dreamliners to the Boeing assembly plant that borders Charleston’s airport.  

Big crowd for the big event! 

It kind of looks like a model plane like I used to make as a kid. But this is the real deal with a great name. The DH-115 (de Havilland) Vampire is a British RAF jet fighter that took to the skies just after World War II. 

A little fuzzy but another perspective on the Vampire’s unique design. 

This F-16 Fighting Falcon has quite the paint scheme. And during its demonstration flight it took the award for loudness! Louder than all six Blue Angels together believe it or not. 

You can see the red engine thrust a little bit here. 

Looking good upside down too! 

The air expo reinforced my pride in America’s military! Not just the machines but the dedicated people who maintain and operate them as well. 

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