Wildwood Spectators Treated to a Display of Aeronautical Magic
WILDWOOD – Hundreds of people filled the boardwalk and the beach around Spicer Avenue on Saturday to take in the “Thunder Over the Waves” air show – a first for the city – a presentation of 15 aeronautical acts, including a number of military performances.
The show was kicked off by the Army’s Golden Knights Parachute Team, which performed a targeted jump, landing on the beach near Morey’s Ferris wheel.
Following the Army was the Navy VP-30 P-8 Poseidon demonstration. The Poseidon is a large patrol and reconnaissance aircraft used for transport and training purposes for Navy personnel. The large aircraft made three passes for the crowd.
The show continued with an appearance of the Jersey Jerks, pilots from various walks of life who live in the Garden State, including a former Air Force pilot and another who is a recent Rutgers graduate.
All were flying World War II-vintage aircraft, meaning the craft are all more than 80 years old. The pilots flew in a formation of four aircraft and did classic flyover formations, including the “missing man” formation, which honors fallen military pilots.
From that point the aerobatic pilots took over. Participants included Kevin Russo SNJ Aerobatics, Jerry Conley Vampire Airshow’s DH-115 Aerobatics, Mark Meredith DHC-1 Chipmunk Aerobatics and Jim Beasley Jr. P-51 Mustang aerobatic demonstration, as well as others.
The aerobatic flights were accented by smoke trails that helped illustrate how precisely the pilots’ maneuvers were, whether forming a loop or performing a classic barrel roll. The show included a number of low-level passes that allowed viewers a better appreciation of the speed of the aircraft, which included a former Soviet MiG-17 jet.
Jim and Cathy Paulson of Egg Harbor Township came down for the show and said they were glad to deal with traffic and parking to see some of the acts, such as the Golden Knights. Paulson said he was a former Army paratrooper and felt a kinship with the parachute team.
“There is a lot of training and toughness that goes into being a paratrooper, and frankly, it’s a lot of fun,” he said.
For Bill Genicke of Swedesboro, who came for the weekend with his family, the air show was an opportunity to remember his childhood dream of being a pilot, a dream he did not quite realize.
“I guess you would call it more of a hope, but I still love all kinds of aircraft and watching them take off and land,” he said.
The Wildwoods anticipated that as many as 200,000 people might attend the show over its two days, Friday and Saturday Sept. 5 and 6, providing a shot in the arm for the local economy during the shoulder season, but an accurate total was not expected for 72 hours, said Ben Rose of the Greater Wildwood Tourism Investment and Development Authority, which sponsored the show.
Boardwalk merchants took advantage of the crowd to have another big weekend before the season settles down. Air show T-shirts were being sold all around the Spicer Avenue beach area, and shops even put out toy airplanes for anyone interested in a souvenir.
There were also representatives from all the military services with informational tables, likely hoping to enlist some interest in their respective branches.
Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. said the event was a success and that it helped replace the weekend lost to Hurricane Erin. He said he enjoyed the event and heard many positive comments about it. Troiano said there was also good feedback from the merchants he spoke to. He said the beach patrol estimated at least 100,000 people attended.
“I liked it and I think it will become a lot more in the future,” he said. “This was the first year, you know, and we got what we could get.”
Troiano explained that a lot of people hoped to see more jets, such as with the U.S. Air Force’s Thunderbirds or the Navy’s Blue Angels. He said these well-known performance teams are booked several years in advance. However, he said the first show was very entertaining, and he enjoyed its pace.
He said such an event usually takes a year of planning, and this one was organized in only half that time. He said there is already a request in for the Thunderbirds for 2027.
