The 2021 Fort Worth Alliance Airshow – Most Excellent!
By Eric K. Renth for Aircraft Tinfeathers

The 2021 and 31^st edition of the EXCELLENT Fort Worth Alliance Airshow was held Oct 21-24 under nice blue skies! And, needless to say, was a heck of a lot of fun. A great team of folks worked to make this a real crowd pleasing event. The big attraction was the North Texas debut of the US Navy Blue Angels as they celebrated 75 years with the new Boeing FA-18E (one seater) and FA-18F (two seater) Super Hornets. With twin General Electric F-414 turbofans in each of the six Rhinos (a cool nickname), there was plenty of power and noise to make you look to the sky. Of course, they are E and F models are new to the Blue Angels but the oldest in the Navy Fleet. Also was the debut of their new Marine Corps C-130J Fat Albert transport (not there on Friday but came in later).

Despite the sun facing toward the east in the afternoon and me using a smaller, simple camera, things turned out just fine. I could sure see long lines of cars coming in to enjoy the festivities. The show’s format was a hybrid where attendees could enjoy the show in their parking lot or a new "Landing Zone" where folks could enjoy exhibits and activities such as sales, military recruiting, and radio station booths. There were no flight line static displays however. While that was a disappointment to many, a lot of it is due to big activity and growth around the airport. And a lot of that is due to the growth of two of the airports biggest tenants, FedEx and Amazon and both have big hubs. Their fleet of cargo planes need the field open to support their 24/7/365 operations.

Still, the thousands who came out still got to take in the sights and sounds of many aircraft types. Hopefully, letting kids see these aircraft in the air will inspire many to go into aviation.

And, yes, there was plenty of flying to go around. The Air Force showed off the Northrup Grumman A-10 Warthog close air support attack bird, beloved by ground troops. A great way I’ve heard it described is "Someone got a big can of Whoop A** and put wings and two jet engines on it"! The civilian line up was outstanding with quite a few award winning airshow acts. These folks have to stay in tip top shape for the g force aeronautics they do. Californian Bill Stein in his Edge 540 dazzled folks. His plane has an unusual paint scheme where you can see different colors per the sun’s position. David Martin flew a Cap 232 plus a twin engine Beech Baron (he also flies a Bucker Jungmeister at shows but not here). Matt Younkin amazed folks in his 1943 Beech 18 (formerly a WW2 C-45 Expiditor). The smoke from the 18 made it easy to follow and the black and red paint job was nice. Show sponsor Fort Worth Bell Helicopter did a fly by of many of the choppers they build. The 505 Jet Ranger was a fine sight to see. From Shaw AFB SC came the Fort Worth made Lockheed Martin F-16C Viper. F-16Cs from the NAS Fort Worth (Carswell Field) based Air Force Reserve 301^st Fighter Wing also did a nice fly by (In 2024, the 301^st will be the first AF Reserve unit to convert to the Fort Worth made F-35A Lightning). I’ve always been awed by Viper’s turn on a dime capability. New ones are still being made now in Greenville, South Carolina. And I can assure the reader that nobody was upset by the last minute addition of a giant Boeing C-17 Globe Master 3 out of McCord AFB, WA. It’s graceful lines almost show the agility of a jet fighter. As a retired Vought Aircraft employee, let me state we built the C-17 tail section, jet engine pods, and refueling receptacle in Grand Prairie TX.

As I said earlier, this was the first year the Blue Angels flew the FA-18E and F Super Hornet. Many of their long time legacy C and D Hornets are now in museums. The Super Bug is bigger and it’s more powerful engines require many to wear ear protection! But they really were a majestic sight to see, with the diamond, two solos and then when they teamed up in the delta formation. A definite thrill!

Alliance isn’t only the world’s first industrial airport, but it’s parent Hillwood Corp. has also made it a multi enterprise industry magnet with many high tech and logistic firms. A driving tour of the whole development will amaze you.