The Blue Angels dazzle during air show demos

If spontaneous involuntary reaction is any measure of success, the Blue Angels flight demonstration at the Wings Over the Pacific air show on Saturday was a squeal-certified hit.

Even with a public address announcer describing in detail each upcoming formation and maneuver, many among the sun-baked crowd at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam couldn’t help but gasp, flinch, even duck as a sextet of powerful F/A-18 Hornet supersonic combat jets aligned themselves in tight diamond formation, screamed past one another upside down, and executed other stunning feats of precision flying.

"Exciting,"said Miles Eligado of Mililani, grasping for a suitable adjective as his eyes tracked one of the planes ascend perpendicular to the airfield. "I could feel a lot of adrenaline."

Eligado, wife Sandra and their 2-year-old son, Daniel, came early to take in the exhibition of vintage and modern military aircraft and lingered late into the afternoon to see the Blue Angels perform.

"It’s not often you get exposed to this sort of thing," Eligado said.

Saturday’s event kicked off with a National Anthem "flag jump" by the Leap Frogs, the U.S. Navy’s parachute demonstration team. Also performing was the Air Combat Command F-22 Demonstration Team, which demonstrated the unique flying capabilities of the Air Force’s newest fighter aircraft, the Raptor.

The show provided the public a rare opportunity to closely examine a wide variety of military aircraft and equipment, from the Air Force’s C-17 Globemaster transport plane and KC-135 Stratotanker refueling craft to the Army’s Stryker armored vehicles and Howitzer variants, to the Coast Guard’s HH-65 Dolphin helicopter and C-130 rescue plane, to the Marine Corps’ RQ-7 Shadow unmanned aerial vehicle.

"I like that one," said 65-year-old Jerry Clanton as he pointed to a B-52 bomber. "That’s my generation!"

Clanton, a Houston resident in Honolulu for the birth of his granddaughter, said he greatly enjoyed the air show, the first he’s attended in more than 50 years.

Nearby, Syril-Jem Calicdan, 6, committed all his weight to dragging his mother, Miles, toward a line of 50 or so people waiting to board a CH-53E Super Stallion transport helicopter.

"He wants to be a pilot," Miles Calicdan explained. "He loves looking at all the planes."

"But not all the time," Syril-Jem clarified. "Sometimes they’re too loud."

Aircraft enthusiast Ray Kimura of Pearl City stood smiling as his 8-year-old daughter, Rachel, donned a pilot’s helmet twice as big as her head and took her place behind the controls of an OH-58 Kiowa Warrior helicopter.

"I’ve always liked planes," Kimura said, chuckling. "I used to fly radio control models."

With temperatures nearing 90 and not a tree in sight, spectators sought relief wherever they could find it, be it beneath the massive wings of the B-52 or — like Nolan Higa and Elle Bru — in the slender shadow of a light pole.

It was Higa’s first ever air show and the Nanakuli native said he had a blast checking out the Chinook helicopters and stepping aboard the Coast Guard rescue plane.

Bru, whose father repaired aircraft in the Army, had seen it all before. She was most excited about the big bag of logo swag she had accumulated.

"I came for the free stuff," she said, laughing.

Wings Over thePacific resumes Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.