The Care and Feeding of a Military Single Jet Demo Team
In my short tenure in the air show business it has been my thorough pleasure to host several jet demonstrations at our regional air show in Wendover, Utah.
As an organizer the learning curve has been steep, but if you follow a few simple guidelines I think that many small air shows can benefit from hosting a USAF single ship demonstration. And in turn, your event can help the men and women of the armed forces show the community what they do to protect our country and the opportunities that are part of the Armed Forces. This is by no means the end all beat all of “how to” but hopefully it gives you an idea of what goes into working with a demo flight.
DD2535 – Learn it and Love it
There is one indispensible form you need to know, the DD2535 or Request For Military Aerial Support. Without a completed and approved DD2535 a show cannot host a single ship demo or even a military aircraft static display.
This is a very straight forward form which will require a bit of work on your part but for the most part it is easy to follow and complete. In Section 1 you will need to decide what your event wants – fly-over, static display, single aircraft demo or something a little more exotic like a Search And Rescue demo or parachute team. Don’t forget that you can specify a specific demo such as F-16, F-15 or A-10. The next portion is for a jet team request – we are talking single ship demo here so lets’ skip to section 2. Here you will need to fill out basic information about the host airport – I cannot stress how important it is, in my experience, to fill this out completely and accurately. Don’t forget to make sure that the event site certification is signed by an official from the airport. In section 3 again, the information is straight forward and don’t let anything slip by – the devil is in the details they say!
Section 4 is for the Federal Aviation Administration office to complete. The sooner they have your form to review and fill out the better. This allows you the time to address issues if any come up. Section 5 and 6 are again for you to complete, read everything carefully because you are committing the show to the proper support of the men and women bringing a multimillion dollar asset to your show. One more tip, you need to put the event title and event date at the top of each page after the first page. This way should your paperwork get separated, its lost pages can be easily reunited.
Next, you mail or fax the request in to the appropriate service branch – the critical date is no later than the end of July preceding your event. One thing I have learned is that a follow up email and call never hurt to ensure your event has been received
The best part begins now – depending on your show date, the decision about where the Single Ship Demos will be is not announced until as late as April (8-9 months after you started this process!).
I Got a Demo Jet – Now What?!
When Air Combat Command (ACC), USN TACDEMO or the Marines call you and publishes the schedule with your show’s date, it is THRILLING! As a small show, Wendover is extremely privileged to host a demo when we get one. Now that the event has been selected and approved for the demo, you have some work to do.
Each demo team has a support manual – this is your “bible” for making sure the event is ready and things go smoothly. One key to success is selecting one individual who will have the sole job of working with the team. There is a lot to stay on top of and coordinate, and my experience has been that one focused individual makes a big difference.
One area that I found for our show was a bit of a challenge is the maintenance requirements. For a civilian show many of the jets require a set of specialized service carts. Often, the nearest Air Force base can help you make arrangements to use these items during your show. One item in particular, a Liquid Oxygen (LOX) service cart is almost exclusively available from an Air Force base. On this item, your options include renting a container of LOX, but you need to make sure it is certified for breathing oxygen and that you can get a fitting that will allow the oxygen to be transferred from the container into the aircraft. This is an important piece of support equipment and I know that other shows have had challenges getting a hold of the right set up. My advice is start early and be prepared to fill out more paper work to obtain the right hardware.
Read the manual often and follow the guidelines, if you have a question your demo team point of contact is always happy to answer any questions that arise concerning the team and what needs to be done.
Arrival Day and Practice
Since the maintenance crew is crucial to the success of demo, they will arrive before the jet (s) to prepare and make sure everything is in order for demo portion of the show. Make sure you have accommodations waiting for them! Be prepared to go over the items outlined in the support manual including arrangements and location for the aircraft when they arrive, maintenance equipment and hangar space (if needed). For our show, the maintenance team arrives the same day the jets arrive so the pace is a bit stepped up.
A word about lodging; take good care of your team! The jet demo makes a huge impact for our show and so I do my best to make sure accommodations are the best I can get. Besides, they are really, “road warriors” out there for most of the year and so making sure that they have an excellent room to rest in is important. The rooms must be non-smoking and there is no double bunking with a demo team. I try to put the team as close to the airport as possible. If you get a heritage flight, the heritage pilot should be accorded the same courtesy as the team and have a room at the same location as the team. Also, speak with the hotel in advance about the team arrival time and the need to have the rooms reserved under the team name (i.e. Viper West Demonstration Team) and not individual names.
Rental cars should be ready to go on arrival as well. Sounds simple, but make sure they are clean and have a full tank of gas. I put a “welcome packet” together for each team and include a map of the area and how to get to the hotel. This is perfect place to put any other info that you want the team aware of as well.
At our show arrival day is also the best time for the pilot to run the practice routine, we schedule the practice flight in the afternoon of the same day. Each show is different and your demo team lead will communicate what they want to do at your location. This gives the pilot ample opportunity to get familiar with the show location, ramp area, show center and the landmarks that will help them to set up each maneuver in the demonstration. From my experience you must have all the airfield markers required by the support manual in place for the demo practice. Crucial to the practice flight is that you have arranged waivered airspace and posted NOTAMS – if this has not happened it is a “show stopper” issue.
Other little items that I have found are important include making sure that there is a big cooler full of cold water, small garbage container and some snacks that can be easily eaten on the go. Looking at the air show calendar, most shows seem to be in the warmer months of the year and I know in Wendover it is important to keep hydrated.
Show Day
The day you have been waiting for! This is really the day that your project coordinator for the demo team is put to the test. All the planning and work will be implemented. Working closely with the designated team member do your best to assist with whatever may be needed and, in some cases, stay out of the way. Be sure to keep the pilot and team well informed so if there are any changes, they now about it. Have plenty of water and snacks. Team members will be working hard and most of it in the sun and in full flight uniform so be sure they are taken care of! I try to have an outline of the day and check it as often as need so that I can make sure everything for the team comes off as it should. At our show we try to be sensitive to team requests for their VIP guests and family members. And remember, have fun!!
The Day After
When the show is over be sure to help coordinate departures, the return and packing of the support equipment as well as the rental or courtesy cars the team used. Of special concern is the support equipment the team used – this is a significant investment by the USAF and the show to have on hand. Make sure that it is loaded and handled properly so it makes it back to home base. I do my best to follow up and make sure anything the team needs is taken care of as they get ready for departure. Again, this step can really be helped along with a bit of advance planning.
Hopefully this gives you an idea of what is involved in planning a single jet demo team for your show. Our show in Wendover has not been able to host a Navy Hornet demo team, but I think that the procedures are much the same.