Aerobatics, history, refreshments wow 300,000 at RAF Mildenhall's Air Fete 2001
By Marni McEntee,
Stars and Stripes
Raymond T. Conway / Stars and Stripes
A pair of Dassault-Breguet/Dornier Alphajets from the French Air Force display team,
Patrouille de France, perform a daring maneuver at RAF Mildenhall, England, during Air
Fete 2001. |
RAF MILDENHALL, England — Air Fete 2001 attendance figures were soaring to new
heights Sunday afternoon, with crowd figures expected to easily top 300,000 people over
the holiday weekend.
"That’s a conservative estimate," RAF Mildenhall spokeswoman Maj.
LeWonnie Belcher said of Saturday’s crowd count of more than 150,000, which many
thought was owed to the near-perfect weather after a rain-out at the 2000 show.
Despite spitting rain Sunday, however, more people streamed through the gates than on
Saturday.
In fact, base private organizations were expected to use all of the 385,000 hamburgers
provided by the 100th Services Squadron for the event.
"We’re used to the rain. We’re prepared for it," said visitor Lorna
Dalton, who with husband Anthony was wrapped in a yellow slicker and hat. "It seems
like it’s a British thing that as soon as it’s a bank holiday it rains. You just
kind of have to get on with it."
A low cloud ceiling didn’t prevent any flights from taking place, although the
noise from the low-flying jets was sometimes overpowering on the flight line.
Agile aerobatics planes might have had the star power at the show, but some of the
hardest-working aircraft in the world were on hand to show what American air power is all
about.
The U.S. Air Force MH-53M Pave Low helicopter on display was the actual aircraft used
in the evacuation of civilians from Saigon, Vietnam, Staff Sgt. Jim Hessick said.
It also fired some of the last shots in that war at Khotang Island, Vietnam.
"During the Gulf War, this aircraft led Apaches in to destroy radar facilities in
Iraq," he said.
Flight engineer Hessick, of the 21st Special Operations Squadron based at Mildenhall,
also was in the aircraft when it swooped into Serbia in 1999 to rescue a downed F-117
Stealth fighter pilot.
Raymond T. Conway / Stars and Stripes
Sgt. Aaron Clark of the U.S. Army's Golden Knights packs his parachute after jumping from
a U.S. Air Force C-141 during Air Fete 2001 at RAF Mildenhall, England. |
Such missions often don’t get talked about until well after the event, though,
given the Special Operations’ insistence on being the "quiet
professionals."
"We put on a good face for the local people. But we don’t divulge
everything," Tech. Sgt. Steve Lemmon said.
Down the flight line, another veteran plane of the Iraq conflict was drawing a crowd.
The B1-B bomber, with nose art proclaiming it "The Reluctant Dragon," took
part in Operation Desert Fox in 1998, after Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein denied United
Nations arms inspectors access.
"This plane is an up-and-coming platform for the Air Force," said Capt. Marc
London, a navigator with the 9th Bomb Squadron out of Dyess, Texas. "It goes faster
and carries more weapons than any other bomber."
By all accounts, this year’s Air Fete has been a success. In addition to the
flying extravaganza, the largely British crowd took full advantage of the typical American
fare sold at concessionaires’ booths.
They downed about 40,000 hot dogs, 25,000 Polish sausages, 106,000 beers, 88,000 sodas
and 20,000 cups of coffee and tea.
The base also supplied all the fuel for the 143 aircraft participating in the show,
pumping nearly 107,000 gallons.
It was a major effort for the 100th Air Refueling Wing, which brought in 600 additional
airmen to augment the 4,000 troops at Mildenhall.
Another 200 British Air Training Corps Cadets helped with parking, and more than 70
local police wrangled traffic and patrolled local streets.
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