When we first heard about the Great Pacific Airshow, I immediately added it to our calendar. We had somehow missed its first three years in Huntington Beach, but we found out just in time to attend the 2019 show.

We knew the beach, roads, and parking areas would be crowded, so we rode our bikes. That turned out to be the perfect way to get there. We brought the bikes onto the sand and settled into a spot south of the Huntington Beach Pier, well beyond the paid seating but still close enough for an excellent view.

We enjoyed the first day so much that we returned the next morning. We moved a little closer to the center of the action, kept our bikes beside us, and spent another day photographing everything that passed overhead.

We are not aircraft experts, but the 2019 lineup gave us an incredible mixture of military demonstration teams, historic aircraft, aerobatic pilots, and firefighting helicopters.

U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds

The Thunderbirds flew their F-16 Fighting Falcons through tightly coordinated passes and formations. The speed was difficult to comprehend until the sound caught up with the jets and rolled across the beach.

Photographing them was a challenge. They crossed the sky so quickly that I had to anticipate where they would appear and hope I could keep them in the frame.

Royal Air Force Red Arrows

The Red Arrows represented the Royal Air Force in their bright red Hawk aircraft. Their formations were precise and easy to follow against the blue sky, often trailing red, white, and blue smoke behind them.

Seeing the British team perform in Huntington Beach was one of the features that made the 2019 show particularly special.

Canadian Forces Snowbirds

The Canadian Forces Snowbirds brought even more aircraft into the sky at once. Their nine-plane formations shifted and separated above the ocean, with white jets and colored smoke standing out sharply over the water.

Having the Snowbirds, Red Arrows, and Thunderbirds at the same airshow gave us three very different demonstration teams to watch and photograph.

U.S. Air Force F-35 Lightning II

The F-35 demonstration was fast, loud, and powerful. It climbed steeply, turned tightly, and seemed to appear over the beach before the sound reached us.

U.S. Air Force A-10C Thunderbolt II

The A-10C Thunderbolt II, better known as the Warthog, had a completely different presence in the sky. Its broad wings and distinctive shape made it easy to recognize during each pass.

The demonstration also included a Heritage Flight, pairing the modern military aircraft with an older warbird in formation.

CAL FIRE

The CAL FIRE helicopters were not listed in our program, but we were thrilled to see them fly along the beach. With fires already burning around California, watching the helicopters pass carried a different feeling from the aerobatic performances.

Yak 110 and Jeff Boerboon

Jeff Boerboon’s Yak 110 may have been the strangest aircraft of the show. It combined two Yak-55 fuselages, two propeller engines, and a jet engine into one experimental aerobatic plane.

It looked unusual sitting still and even more surprising while maneuvering above the ocean.

U.S. Navy F/A-18 Demonstration

The Navy’s F/A-18 demonstration brought another fast, powerful jet over Huntington Beach. The aircraft made several passes along the shoreline, giving us a chance to photograph it against both the sky and the hazy coastline.

T-33 Ace Maker

Greg “Wired” Colyer flew the T-33 Ace Maker, a polished jet trainer with a shape that looked noticeably different from the modern fighters. The aircraft offered a glimpse of an earlier period of jet aviation while still moving impressively fast over the beach.

Mike Wiskus and the Lucas Oil Super Stinker

Mike Wiskus performed in the bright Lucas Oil Super Stinker, a small aerobatic biplane capable of tumbling, rolling, and climbing through maneuvers that looked almost impossible from the ground.

The smaller stunt aircraft felt especially nimble after watching the much larger military jets.

Thunderbirds and Red Arrows Finale

The finale was one of the highlights of the weekend. The Thunderbirds and Red Arrows crossed over Huntington Beach together in a 15-aircraft formation, filling the sky with red, white, and blue jets.

Part of my enjoyment of airshows may come from childhood memories of attending them with my grandpa. Standing on the beach with my camera, I felt some of that same amazement again. The aircraft were unbelievably fast, the engines shook the air around us, and every pass gave me another chance to try to catch one in the frame.

Photographing the 2019 Great Pacific Airshow in Huntington Beach