The Cherry Festival Air Show - Part I

 I've been meaning to go the Cherry Festival in Traverse City for a number of years.  They have an air show and it wasn't until this year that I realized I could see it for free because they did it over the bay.  I figured I had to get up early to make it up there to find a spot.  Sadly, I didn't get up there early enough.

The Bristol Bay was serving as show center.  That was pretty cool.

One of the many boats that were there.

A pair of HH-60s that are assigned to the Coast Guard Air Station in Traverse City.

I've wanted to see one of these for a long time.  They are painted to look like old Coast Guard aircraft.

I think they are more capable than the Dolphin that I usually see.

IT was pretty cool to see.

If I had been closer, I could have seen them doing a rescue demonstration.

The Manitou was near where I was watching the air show.  She was just going out on a tour of the bay.

It was pretty cool because they were raising the sails.  I could hear them barking out the orders.

Another shot of the Jayhawk.

The other sail raised.  The Manitou is a schooner.

Next up was a MiG-17.

The MiG-17 is the successor to the MiG-15.  The MiG-15 was made famous by the Korean War.

The MiG-17 was equipped with an afterburner.

A pretty cool shot.

A Huey helicopter that belongs to the State Police.

The Manitou with full sail.

Another shot.

An AV-8 Harrier belonging to the Marine Corps.  This plane was designed by the British and can take off and land vertically.  They did a demonstration of it hovering, that was pretty cool.

This plane is called a Yak-110.  

It has two Yak-55 planes together with a jet engine between them.

It was debuted at Oshkosh.

I need to get there one of these days.

A Mediflight helicopter.

A mallard.

Another shot of the mallard.

Mrs. Mallard and her baby.

An F-16 Fighting Falcon from Shaw Air Force base.

It is painted to look like a snake.

One of the other nicknames for the F-16 is the Viper.

I liked watching this plane.

The paint scheme was pretty cool.

There was just enough moisture in the air.

Turning.

A P-51 Mustang.

This was pretty cool.

The did a heritage flight with the P-51.

A view I wouldn't want to see.

The P-51 is wearing invasion stripes.

They break apart.

One more view of the Falcon.

And of the P-51.

Part II has more pictures.