1st Annual Grey Eagle Bombing Derby

On Saturday, April 21, 2007, Grey Eagle Flight Academy launched 9 aircraft to participate in what the US Navy calls an “Alpha Strike”. The ordinance of choice was water balloons. The target was a large red X placed on the taxi way at Borrego Valley Airport. Each aircrew consisted of a pilot and bombardier armed with two (2) water balloons. Bombing aircraft entered a race track pattern with a fixed target altitude of 300 ft. The aircraft were guided to the target by the pilot and the Forward Air Control Party (FAC). Each pass was allowed one balloon drop with the FAC accessing BDA (bomb damage assessment).

Grey Eagle Fight Academy stages group flying events on a quarterly basis. This most recent event was put together by Flight Instructor Josh Schmidt. Josh obtained permission from the County Airports Division to set up a target at the Borrego airport and arranged the airlift of supplies for the derby and company barbeque.