Tourists, residents alike excited for new Atlantic City airshow as planes practice (copy)
ATLANTIC CITY — Candace Ghion was vacationing in Brigantine when she heard an airshow was taking place in the resort, and her 5-year-old son, Joseph, couldn’t have been more excited to see the planes in flight.
“I know this was something they were doing before, but it wasn’t happening during the time we vacationed here,” said Ghion, of Riverton, Burlington County. “My son was really looking forward to seeing the bomber plane. It’s something that’s fun for everybody, so we’d definitely like to see it every year.”
The Ghion family were one of a few thousand who packed the beach and Boardwalk to watch those participating in the Visit Atlantic City Soar & Shore Festival airshow take to the skies for the first time during a practice day Tuesday.
The main event is scheduled to take off at noon Wednesday.
Outside the airshow, an array of events will take place throughout the city Wednesday, including a car show at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall and a fireworks display in front of Tropicana Atlantic City. Jimmy Johnson’s Atlantic City “Quest for the Ring” fishing tournament is also taking place at Sen. Frank S. Farley State Marina through Saturday.
“I think that’s the one thing the previous airshows were missing,” said Donald Wilson, 41, of Atlantic City. “There’s stuff going on now, and there’ll be more on Wednesday. When I went to them, I felt like you just sat out there, watched all of the acts and then went home. Now, I feel like the airshow is keeping people more engaged.”
This year’s show comes after the Greater Atlantic City Chamber canceled last year’s event before announcing in December it wouldn’t host one this year either.
Visit Atlantic City, the city’s tourism and marketing bureau, then stepped up to host a show featuring civilian acts, including Nathan Hammond’s Super Chipmunk, Third Strike Wingwalking, the Misty Blues Parachute Team, a UH-1H Huey with Smokey Bear, Skip Stewart, Warbird Thunder, the 177th Fighter Wing of the New Jersey Air National Guard, a B-25 Mitchell Bomber and an MiG-17 fighter jet.
Out of all the acts, Ghion enjoyed watching the two aerobatics teams and the parachute team.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen aerobatics before,” Ghion said. “So that was pretty cool. Plus, the parachuters were awesome because they came down with the American flag and the plane was circling around them.”
Military performers like the Navy’s Blue Angels and the Air Force’s Thunderbirds have headlined previous shows. But over the past couple of years, those acts have switched their performance schedules to weekend events.
However, the lack of Blue Angels and Thunderbirds didn’t appear to turn off some longtime airshow attendees.
“This is an annual tradition for me, so I was disappointed when they canceled it last year,” said Carlton Jones, 68, of Philadelphia, who attended his first airshow in the city in 2003. “The one thing I love about this is the bravery of these people. You couldn’t pay me to go up in one of those planes no matter how old or new they are. I respect the pilots that are willing to do it to entertain us. No matter what acts are here, I’ll be cheering them on.”
Mark Boggs, who was on the beach with his great-grandson Tyler, said he’s going to tell his friends to come next year.
“It’s been a lot of fun so far,” Boggs said. “I hope they do this more.”
