Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

With Blue Angels' Return, Air and Water Show Thrills

By Mina Bloom | August 16, 2014 4:54pm
  Throngs of people descended onto North Ave. Beach for the 56th annual Air and Water Show Saturday.
Air And Water Show 2014
View Full Caption

LINCOLN PARK — The CTA increased the number of buses serving North Avenue Beach over the weekend to help transport people to and from this year's Air & Water Show, but CTA bus driver Eric Buck had Saturday off.

With astronomy-grade binoculars in tow, Buck, 45, joined gaggles of people at North Avenue Beach for the first day of the 56th annual free show.

Not unlike a CTA bus, Buck said, this year's show was full of people from all different walks of life.

“You have a motley crew of people here: different age groups, demographics and nationalities," said Buck, who has been driving a CTA bus for the past 12 years. "It's always really interesting to see the throngs of people flocking here.”

Buck, who currently drives a Belmont Avenue bus, bought his binoculars on eBay for $15, but he said they're easily worth $200. Using them, he can see up to 100 miles in the distance.

That, and his Sony handy cam, allow him to see the swooping planes much closer and with greater precision.

Because while he admits that part of the reason he came to the show was to relax, he mostly came out to see the planes.

His father is an astrophysicist living in Washington, and he's exposed him to all things aerospace ever since he was a kid, he said.

Still, Buck said he wished this year's show featured more firepower.

"I hate to say it but these planes are kinda antiquated," Buck said. "We have new stuff out there that’ll blow you away," adding that none of the planes have a Scramjet engine, which he described as a "gigantic vacuum cleaner for the air."

The engine, which is "wickedly fast," sucks in a huge amount of air in the front, accelerates in a small chamber and blasts the air out of the rear, he explained.

This year's show saw the return of the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels, a group that did not perform at last year's event due to the government sequester. Their return was the sole reason that Gordon Snook and Debbie Bishop came out.

Snook and Bishop, both 32, said they didn't come last year due to the show's lack of military jets. Snook had been the show 10 times in the past, while this year was Bishop's first one.

"I'm not so much into boats, but I'm into planes," he said.

Kids of all ages came with their parents to this year's show, some building sand castles and running around and those who were too young to play were propped up staring up into the sky like 1-year-old Julia Gilbert.

Julia's mom, Kori Gilbert, 35, who works for Solomon Colors based in Springfield, Ill., brought her two daughters to the show for the first time this year. She said her husband and her father own a Cessna Cardinal plane, so her daughters are always around planes.

Gilbert especially liked the broadcasted commentary from longtime show announcer Herb Hunter.

Jose Vargas, who works in labor protection and lives in Berwyn, brought his two kids to the event after moving from Arizona three months ago.

His daughter Abby said her favorite part of the show was the smoke the planes created, while his son Damien particularly enjoyed the hearts made out of smoke.

"He likes planes and dinosaurs a lot," Vargas said.

For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here: