An F/A-18 Hornet jet descended from a gray sky Monday and touched down at McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base, bringing a Navy Blue Angels representative to meet with organizers of the upcoming Smoky Mountain Air Show.
Meanwhile, a Cyber Monday promotion in connection with the April 16-17 show offered parking tickets at half price. No admission will be charged for the show, but there is a parking fee per car. Becky Huckaby, spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority, said the fee could amount to $40 the day of the show, but tickets were on sale Monday for $25. They were selling briskly, Huckaby said about noon.
“We are very excited,” she said. “This morning we opened up purchase of the tickets available to the public at 5 a.m. and they are going very well. It’s been higher than we expected it would be.”
Organizers of the show — which will be the first air show at McGhee Tyson in about 15 years — are in the middle of selecting and negotiating acts, Huckaby said. Organizers will be attending the International Council of Air Shows convention in Las Vegas Dec. 6-9 to scout possible acts for the Knoxville show. They hope to be able to announce some acts after the first of the year, Huckaby said.
But the headline event of the show will be the Blue Angels, and planning for that act is already underway. Marine Capt. Corrie Mays, events coordinator for the Blue Angels, arrived Monday riding in the back seat of a Hornet piloted by Navy Lt. Tyler Davies, one of the demonstration pilots.
Mays spoke briefly with reporters after landing. She described the Blue Angels performance that crowds will see at the Smoky Mountain Air Show.
“It will range from altitudes of 200 feet up to 15,000 feet and from speeds right at the speed of sound down to 120 miles per hour,” she said.
Mays said her visit with organizers would deal with things from details of the air show to hotel and other accommodations for about 60 people who will arrive as the Blue Angels team.
The April show will be the first at McGhee Tyson since 2000, and is being produced by the airport authority, Tennessee Air National Guard, Knoxville, Knox County and Blount County. Col. Bobby Underwood, operations group commander, said the base is pleased to be putting on an air show, as for years that wasn’t possible because its people were busy supporting the global war on terror.
Story and photo gallery: http://www.knoxnews.com
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