Record numbers attend air show

BRUNSWICK – So many people poured into Brunswick Naval Air Station to see aerial acrobats including the Navy’s Blue Angels over the weekend that the base topped the previous air show record of 205,000 spectators, an official said Sunday.

Organizers believe the Great State of Maine Air Show drew about 119,000 people – nearly double the size of Maine’s biggest city – on Saturday and about 100,000 people on Sunday, said John James, spokesman for the Navy base.

“We were kind of blown away,” James said.

An official estimate won’t be available until later in the week after organizers and law enforcement officials compare notes and review aerial photographs, he said.

Many spectators who crowded the tarmac wanted to be sure to attend what could be the final air show at Brunswick Naval Air Station. An independent commission has recommended closing the base, but it remains to be seen whether the air show was the last.

The two-day event featured the Blue Angels screeching, soaring and looping across the sky along with several of the nation’s top civilian stunt pilots.

“I love ’em. The air shows are just great,” said John Powers of Boston, a retired Navy engine mechanic watched the Blue Angels for the seventh time.

The flight demonstration team’s last show in Brunswick was canceled days after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. The Blues last performed in Maine at the Bangor International Airport in 2000. Their last appearance in Brunswick was in 1999.

The sunny weather was perfect for flying – and for watching.

But not everyone was happy to see the Blue Angels. And not everyone would be sad to see the Brunswick Naval Air Station close.

More than 100 peace activists gathered outside the base Saturday to complain that military aircraft were being used as a recruiting tool. Many of the protesters wore stickers with the slogan, “Real angels don’t drop bombs.”

Cindy Sheehan, the California woman who held a vigil this summer outside the president’s ranch in Texas, had been scheduled to attend the rally. But she canceled earlier in the week so she could attend a peace demonstration in Atlanta.

The fate of Brunswick Naval Air Station is not sealed despite the independent base closing commission’s recommendation to shut down the facility.