"Blue Angels, Thunderbirds — I've been to all of them," said James Oneha, 77, of Waipahu, who brought along his neighbor's two kids to witness their first air show.

"If they've ever come here, I've seen 'em."

What's the attraction?

"It's the jets," said Oneha, a World War II veteran who tried to become a jet pilot after the war. "I took an exam and they said, 'You aren't going to make it,' — just because I had a scratch."

The Blue Angels were the undisputed highlight of the 2004 Kane'ohe Marine Corps-Navy Air Show yesterday at Marine Corps Base Hawai'i. The Navy precision flying team performed in Kane'ohe for the first time in more than two decades. Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser

Throughout the morning and early afternoon, the crowd was treated to nonstop aerial acrobatics, demonstrations and flyovers by military flying machines of every stripe — including screaming F-15 Eagles and a giant B-52 bomber. The B-52, which left Guam yesterday morning specifically to make an appearance at the show, made two passes over the crowd before turning around and returning home.

If the show wasn't in the air, there was plenty on display on the tarmac.

"We've got everything from the biggest military plane in the world, the C-5 Galaxy, to a Marine AH-1 Super Cobra attack helicopter that was brought in from Camp Pendleton, California, to vintage military planes and equipment," said Marine Lt. Col. John Christensen, coordinator of the air show.

"We've got 14 aerial performances each day."

And that number didn't include some of the air demonstrations taking place before the main show got under way shortly before noon. Possibly the smallest spectacular flier to dazzle the spectators was a remote-control Blue Angels jet — a dead ringer for the real thing.

"It is a real jet with real jet engines and it uses real jet fuel," said owner Peter Davidson, vice president of Paradise RC Flyers, a co-military/civilian remote-control flying club. "It's 88 inches long and is capable of speeds of up to 200 miles an hour. It cost about $7,000."

Once the show was under way, some of the finest aerial acrobats anywhere performed breathtaking tailspins, vertical rolls and end-over-end somersaults for the onlookers, many of whom were adding extra G-forces to their own weight by scarfing giant roasted turkey legs that were selling fast for about $5 a limb.

Grace Simon-Gloy of downtown Honolulu watched with her husband, Stefan, as Patty Wagstaff — three-time U.S. Aerobatic Champion and the woman who this year was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame — appeared to defy the limits of human endurance in her airplane, the Goodrich Extra 260.

"She's absolutely awesome!" said Simon-Gloy. "She seems to do a lot more maneuvers and a lot faster. She's the highlight of the show so far. Of course, we're waiting for the main event — the Blue Angels."

And only moments later the undisputed stars of the day took to the air, and everything that preceded them paled in comparison. The six blue F/A-18 Hornets sliced and diced airspace, executing "knife-edge passes," "inverted rolls" and "diamond aelioron spins" in hair-raising tight formation.

But even such a ground-shaking display wasn't enough to hold the attention of one spectator, 3-year-old Travis Wilding. Travis, apparently tuckered by all the goings-on, was out cold in his mother's arms.