KANE'OHE BAY — The exclamations of amazement started early during practice this week, and will only increase in frequency as the Navy's Blue Angels and a host of other aerobatic performers take to the skies today and tomorrow for the Blues on the Bay air show.

"Whoah! That's awesome," Keith Foo of Waipi'o said near the flightline at the Marine Corps base as pilot Jill Long did loops, dives and rolls, white smoke tracing the serpentine route of her Pitts Special biplane.

But one of the most dramatic performers during the Thursday morning practice also was one of the biggest: a 174-foot-long, four-engine C-17 cargo jet from Hickam Air Force Base.

Maj. Peter Axtell, a pilot with the 535th Air lift Squadron, put the big airplane nearly on its side as he banked and then climbed, pulling several Gs of force while flying low over the Kane'ohe Bay airfield.

"That's an unnatural act for a cargo aircraft," remarked Peter O'Hare, director of the air show, in amazement.

It will all culminate today and tomorrow, with daredevil flying demonstrations from about 11 a.m. until 5 p.m.

About 105,000 spectators are expected for the two air shows — 25,000 more than when the Blue Angels last performed in Hawai'i three years ago.

THERE'S PLENTY TO SEE

In addition to the fast-flying jets, the show will feature static aircraft, the Navy Leap Frogs and Army Golden Knights parachute teams, a slew of aerobatic pilots, and even an aerobatic helicopter, the Red Bull BO-105.

Maj. Matt Collins, the air show coordinator, said the best place to take it all in is right at the base itself. There will be about 50,000 parking spaces, and both the Mokapu Road and main H-3 gates will be open, although the best traffic flow should be through the main gate.

"Coming onto the base is the best place (for viewing)," Collins said. "Within the bay itself, as long as they are outside the restricted area that will be clearly marked by the Coast Guard and (Department of Land and Natural Resources), that's also a fantastic viewing area."

H-3 lookouts, always a tempting place to watch the air show, will be closed today and tomorrow, and parking on the side of the highway for anything other than emergency purposes is illegal. HPD will be on the lookout, the state Department of Transportation said.

Collins said air show officials are anticipating traffic flows to be pretty good.

"They've done some pretty detailed analyses of it," he said. Still, Collins is recommending an early arrival and plans to stay a little bit later to avoid traffic congestion.

TAKE A SHUTTLE

Air show devotees also have the option of parking at the Pacific Aviation Museum-Pearl Harbor on Ford Island and taking shuttle buses that will run continuously back and forth all day.

The Pacific Aviation Museum said the first bus will run at 8 a.m. Names and license plate will have to be recorded, and motorists can just show up, but a reservation system will speed up the process.

Reservations can be made at the aviation museum's Web site at www.pacificaviationmuseum.org/special_events.php.

The museum will be open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. for visitors wanting to have breakfast or dinner.

The normal museum admission of $14 for an adult and $7 for a child will be reduced to $8 and $4, and includes round-trip transportation to the air show.

Visitors not stopping to see the museum, but wishing to use the shuttle to the air show will be charged $4 per person.

All people purchasing the $4 round-trip shuttle ride or the combination museum and shuttle package will be entered into a sweepstakes drawing with prizes given away daily at the air show.

The air show itself is free.

A rectangular "aerobatic box" has been delineated for most of the air show maneuvers that extend beyond the sides and ends of the runway area at the Marine Corps base.

A Federal Aviation Administration temporary flight restriction also is in place in all directions within five nautical miles of the base, and represents the airspace in which the six Blue Angels F/A-18 fighters will be flying their trademark wingtip-to-wingtip maneuvers.

That means residential overflights.

"With the majority of the maneuvers that they conduct, we attempt to ensure that they are over the peninsula or over the water, but there certainly will be some that cross the coastline into the areas of Kane'ohe and Kailua," Collins said.

He added that air show officials have been meeting with neighborhood boards to let them know the air show — and the temporary jet noise that comes with it — is coming.

"The vast majority love it, but there is a portion of the population that, 'Heym birds go nuts when it happens,' " Collins acknowledged. "We just try to inform them in advance that this is coming, just be prepared, but we sincerely appreciate their patience."

SEATS STILL AVAILABLE

A total of 2,400 grandstand seats, 3,600 box seats, and 2,900 chalet seats are set up along the flightline for those who want to pay for a seat. The chalets are sold out, but box seats and the grandstand seating still are available through the Web site www.bluesonthebay.org or at the gate.

Children's wagons, standard-size backpacks and folding chairs are OK to bring. Alcoholic beverages, ice chests or coolers, pets other than service animals, glass containers and bikes are prohibited.

The Blue Angels yesterday performed for about 20 schools and about 2,000 kids, the Make-a-Wish Foundation and military families. It was a last bit of practice and familiarization for today and tomorrow.

Collins said the Ko'olaus are a unique challenge "because it's fairly close ... to the runway."

The Blue Angels likely will be one of the last air show acts of the day, but the schedule can change. And there are plenty of aerial demonstrations and static aircraft — including a cavernous C-5 Galaxy cargo aircraft — to keep visitors occupied.

The Red Bull BO-105 helicopter will be doing loops over the airfield — a sight not usually seen. Pilot Charles "Chuck" P. Aaron is the only pilot licensed in the U.S. by the FAA to perform aerobatics in a helicopter.

Professionals also will detonate a string of sequential pyrotechnics to create an 800-foot-long by 200-foot-tall wall of flame to simulate a combat close-air support mission.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.