Miramar Air Show 2012 - Celebrating 50 Years of Marines in Space Exploration

For 2012 the Miramar Air Show celebrated 50 years of U.S. Marine Corps involvement in space exploration. On February 20, 1962 Col. John Glenn (USMC) became to first American to orbit the Earth.

I spent two full days at the air show this year. From a photography standpoint Friday was certainly the better of the two days, with lots of fluffy clouds in the sky. It was pretty hot and bright, with no clouds at all, on Saturday. Both days were a lot of fun though, as I was with friends from our local photo group on each.

Here are a few of my favorites from the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California 2012 Air Show. 

There is always a nice selection of older aircraft at Miramar.

This is Executive Sweet, a B-25 Mitchell bomber built in 1944. 

That B-25 is packing 13 .50 caliber machine guns, a Norden bomb sight, and an operable bomb bay. 

And now for something completely different - this sailplane has a wingspan of over 57 feet.

Here's a P-51 Mustang - taken during the Heritage Flight with the F/A-22 Raptor.

Sean Tucker and his "Oracle Challenger" are always one of the crowd favorites.

Here's a really different view of the Third Marine Aircraft Wing Band.

While the band was playing the U.S. Army's Golden Knights Parachute Team "dropped in" with the U.S. flag for the opening ceremonies. 

I spotted this KC-130J Super Hercules aerial refueling tanker on my way back to the car on Friday afternoon. It's job was finished for the day. You can see a shot of it in action, refueling an A/V-8B Harrier, in the MAGTF gallery.

One last shot, looking towards the setting sun through a row of parked USMC F/A-18 Hornets from the Third Marine Aircraft Wing.

Click here to see more images from the 2012 Marine Corps Air Station Miramar Air Show on Friday and Saturday, October 12 and 13, 2012.

I'll follow this post with separate posts for the Blue Angles, the Patriots Jet Team, the USMC MAGTF Demonstration, the F/A-18 and A/V-8B Harrier Tactical Demonstration, and the F/A-22 Raptor Tactical Demonstration.