BRUNSWICK

The weather couldn’t have been better for the Great State of Maine Air Show at Brunswick Executive Airport on Saturday, and the crowds pouring through the gate confirmed it. License plates from New England and beyond proved tourist season wasn’t quite over yet as lawn chairs on the tarmac were often stacked 10 deep.

That doesn’t mean one should expect the show to return this time next year. The Associated Press on Monday reported that the civilian authority redeveloping the former Brunswick Naval Air Station will assess the success of the show before deciding when the event will return.

Mid Coast Regional Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Steve Levesque said it’s likely that the massive air show will be held every other year, going forward, according to the AP.

The redevelopment authority hired a vendor to run the two-day event that wrapped up Sunday after organizing air shows in 2011 and 2012.

There’s a lot of work and expense to run the air shows. When the base was active, the federal government picked up the tab and sailors did most of the work.

On Saturday, traffic quickly bottlenecked at Cook’s Corner as attendees streamed toward the air show.

Approaching the gate, a small handful of protesters stood, bearing signs calling out the air show for pollution and announcing that “Angels don’t drop bombs.”

That was before two leather-clad men stood in front of protesters with large American flags conveying the message, “God bless America.”

Seeking an escape from the sun, many spectators huddled beneath the giant wings of an enormous Air Force C-5 Galaxy transport aircraft.

Brittany and Scott St. Amand grew up in Brunswick. They were there with their two boys, Mason, 1, and Cody, 3. Brittany said the boys were holding out pretty well as they played in the shade of the C-5. Cody sat on the ground playing with toy planes until the real ones took to the sky.

Brittany St. Amand described the drive to the show as “awful.”

“We were out on Route 1 by China Rose for like an hour trying to get in,” said St. Amand.

She said traffic was smoother once they arrived at Brunswick Landing.

Holding an autographed F-22 Raptor souvenir, Ben Jobin, 6, of Barrington, New Hampshire, said his favorite part of the show was the C-5.

“We’re gonna watch the plane and check out the other planes and then we’re gonna go back to our camping place,” Jobin said, looking at his fresh autograph.

All the ice cream stands and some of the other refreshment stands were operated by U.S. Navy Sea Cadets. All in inspection-ready uniforms, they mustered early Saturday morning in South Portland for the drive to Brunswick. At one stand, Ethan Mutrie, 13, of South Portland, eagerly handed out ice cream to sunscorched spectators. Mutrie said he has been with the Sea Cadets for almost a year and is currently ranked as a seaman apprentice.

Behind him, Dylan Aughey, 14, has been with the Cadets for two years now and has attained the rank of seaman. Aughey was on his game, despite standing a watch until midnight at the American Legion hall quarterdeck.

“Yeah, I was up at like 4:30 a.m. I went to bed at like 2 a.m., so I didn’t get much sleep,” Aughey said.

Both Aughey and Mutrie said they are considering careers in the Navy when they graduate.

The show began with Larry Labriola and his L-39 Albatros, performing maneuvers mid-field high above the crowd. As Labriola left the airspace, Kent Peitsch took the field in his prop plane, “losing” parts of his craft during his comedic act.

Later, a P-51 Mustang raced a rocket car — both of which had a top speed of just over 400 mph. The race was called a draw as the jet car, driven by Bill Brock, belched smoke and flame out the back with its J-34 jet engine complete with afterburner putting out some 6,000 pound of thrust.

The Air Foce F-22 Raptor, touted by a narrator as “the most lethal aircraft in the world” seemed to defy the laws of physics, hanging in the air, sliding backward and changing direction, before blasting its way across the airspace with a throaty growl.

All gave way to the Blue Angels Navy demonstration team, performing their classic maneuvers. After a few years hiatus from Brunswick, the air show crowd appeared to have genuinely missed their Navy team.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

More inside

LT. RYAN Chamberlain and AM1 Matt Rhodes of the Navy Blue Angels team shared some advice and their thoughts on career paths with Morse High School students last Friday morning prior to the weekend of the air show. See story, page A2.