I have never been to an Airshow before. My girl and I are going to go to the one in Martinsburg on the weekend of the 24th-25th. Just trying to find out if it is a good one

This is the first show they've had in quite awhile...more than 10 years, I think...

It won't be anything like the Joint Services Open House that happens every
May at Andrews AFB, but I think it will still be pretty cool....I understand that
one of the new C-5s will be on the ground for folks to walk through...

Man....there sure is a lot of stuff happening that weekend:

Mountain Heritage Arts & Crafts Festival in Jefferson County - http://www.jeffersoncounty.com/festival/index.html
Martinsburg Air Show in Berkeley County - http://www.martinsburgairshow.com/
The Suns Chili Cookoff in Hagerstown - http://www.hagerstownsuns.com/chili/

What to do ???

How often do they have the chili cookoff ? sounds like something i would like to get into myself , but already going to the Airshow next weekend

We actually have vip tickets! Hubby's friend is a vendor there this year and he got a tent.cool!
We always went to the one in Fredrick and it was hot,but fun(and I'm not even into planes ),and the shows were good.In Fredrick they always did TORA! TORA! TORA! (minuturized of course) but stuff was blowing up and black smoke was every where and the concussion would go right thru ya! It was great! One year they had Apache Helicopters there! The things those guys did with them.


I know what ya mean by so many things to do that weekend 5car.
The crafts festival is a tourist trap IMO.
And I wanted to go to the chili cook off but we got the good tickets so.....

[QUOTE]What to do ???

Stay home and save gas and money.

Go to the airshow on Sunday, since it is a 2 day event. Go to the chili cookoff on Saturday since it is a one day. Might do that ourselves, in fact. I love airshows, imagine that! I was hooked when I saw the thunderbirds in 6th grade. Went to Frederick a few years back. You're right, WVD. Those Apache guys rock! (Always wanted to add a rotorcraft rating, but it is really expensive.) They had the stealth bomber fly over that year, too.

Speaking of so many things to do, I was extremely disappointed to find out the Catoctin Colorfest was the same weekend as my bro-in-law's wedding in Chicago. Maybe I'll stay home, since I'm not actually in the wedding party.

I've been to the airshow in Frederick also...it was awesome! And yes, HOT!!! I'll never understand why they hold anything in August!

Will it be the Confederate Airforce putting on the show in Martinsburg? I heard they were considering it since they're not performing in Frederick any more.

Okay, did anybody go?
WVD?

How was it? The local news reported over 30,000 people during the 2-day event. It was so successful that they're considering making it a yearly thing.

It sucked.
the shows were ok some.
just a handful of vendors
more food stands than anything.(no surprise there )
they had 10's of thousands of people and only this little area roped off for everyone to drink beer in.stupid.
it wasn't worth what they were charging.
glad we had free tickets and only had to pay for parking.(which I'd like to know what THAT went towards)
no seperate parking for motorcycles
had to hope that our bike didn't get it from a car or suv.it almost was swiped by one of those suv baby buggys
BAD PLANNING ALL AROUND.
had a handwashing station at one end of the porta pottys and the trash can clear down at the other end of them. (even my son who was mentally handicapped knew that the trash can went beside the sink).
no clear exit signs so that we could find it when we left early.had to figure it out for ourselves.
BAD PLANNING ALL AROUND

Its very expensive to host these shows. Grounds, performers, advertising, cleanup, etc etc etc.

It was a terrific show, excellent for a first year show. I thought it was planned very well, for as many people was there everything went very smoothly, especially getting out. They shut down Novak drive and it was very easy to get back to I81, only took a couple minutes.

The performers were good, food was plentiful, and the backdrop was awesome: flat fields as far as you can see and the panoramic view of north mountain was breathtaking. The only drawback was the show could have used more static displays.

All in all I thought it was a success and look forward to it next year.

The main reason I liked it so much was the fact that all I had to do was sit on my back porch and enjoy the show. My little one didn't care to much for the sound of the f-16's afterburners as it screamed over the house though. I felt sorry for the people who had to pay 5 bucks to park!!!!