Andrews AFB Open House

Aviation events in the United States and Canada
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docman
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Andrews AFB Open House

Post by docman »

Has anyone any "tips" on attending this show please?

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sylvancatharsis
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Re: Andrews AFB Open House

Post by sylvancatharsis »

All parking is either at FedEx Field (sports stadium) or one of the Metrorail stations. There are security checkpoints before you get on the buses to go to the base (appx. 20-min ride through all the traffic). If you park up early, i.e. 7:30-ish, you'll get through the process fairly quickly and get on one of the first buses. Security rules over here are quite strict, and they usually don't let you take a backpack or any large bag with a lot of compartments. You usually can't bring your own food, either. The static display is usually pretty big, although I'm not sure if budget cuts will have anything to do with the size this year, so be prepared to do some walking. Expect to see most of the major types in the US arsenal in the static park, plus some rarely-seen government aircraft and a nice selection of warbirds. If you're doing photography, don't even bother getting your camera out of the bag until around lunchtime, because you'll literally be shooting directly into the sun all morning. Of course, that means the sun is behind you for the Blue Angels and probably the Raptor. I'm hoping they'll put the Sky Soldiers Cobra Team (star item for me, and finally something new on the civilian/historic front after having more or less the same performers for the past five years) somewhere in the late afternoon as well, but alas, Andrews has a somewhat annoying tendency to let good items fly early in the morning when the lighting is awful and most punters are still plodding about the static display! Expect long lines for food, and expect to pay a lot of money. Quality will depend on the vendor; burgers are usually hit-or-miss, but pizza can usually be counted upon to taste reasonably good. As for vendors selling anything other than food, well, having visited your rainy UK shores last year and being amazed at the shopping malls of model shops, camera stores, etc. that set up for business at air shows, I can reasonably say that you'll have far less temptation to part with any of your hard-earned cash! Overall it's usually a great day out, provided the weather cooperates - and that, again, has been 50/50 over the past few years. Hope this helps.

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croaky
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Re: Andrews AFB Open House

Post by croaky »

If you are staying anywhere near a metro station use it to get to Branch Avenue security etc and buses are all set up there.

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docman
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Re: Andrews AFB Open House

Post by docman »

Thank you both for taking the time to help, and I will use the Metro approach! The problems with the sun are particulary useful to know. Looking forward to the Raptor and Blue Angels. Thanks again.

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