Former Sailor Farrow to return as air boss for September Kaneohe Bay Air Show

Robert Farrow, supervisory air traffic control specialist, Marine Corps Air Station, of Shelby, N.C.; Petty Officer 3rd Class Daniel Guilford, air traffic controller, MCAS, of Jacksonville, Fla.; and Petty Officer 2nd Class Jeffrey Bell, air traffic controller, MCAS, from Quinter, Kansas, are pictured at work. Farrow is the air boss for the Marine Corps Base Hawaii Presents the Kaneohe Bay Air Show on Sept. 25-26. U.S. Navy photo

Story and photo by Kristen Wong
Hawaii Marine

Not every pilot is allowed to fly upside down. During the Marine Corps Base Hawaii presents the Kaneohe Bay Air Show, pilots will work with Robert Farrow, the 2010 air boss, before they can take to the skies with the Federal Aviation Administration’s blessing. He’s an integral part of the Sept. 25-26 air show.

Marine Lt. Col. Mark Arboneaux, air show coordinator, has known Farrow since December of last year, when they both attended the International Council of Air Shows convention.

Arboneaux, described Farrow as a “good guy, hard worker.”

“We get along really well,” Arboneaux said.

Farrow, of Shelby, N.C., who regularly works as a supervisory air traffic control specialist at Marine Corps Air Station, is a retired Navy chief petty officer.

Enlisting in 1975, Farrow was an electrician before he started working in air traffic control.

“I have loved every second of it,” Farrow said.

Farrow coordinated his first air show in 1985 at Naval Air Station Fallon in Nevada. He called his first experience “exciting and interesting,” but also “overwhelming.”

Now a seasoned veteran, he says coordinating an air show involves following safety regulations and making sure proper waivers are completed so performers are allowed to do certain aerobatics with their aircraft. Performers must also have the proper credentials before they can be part of the show. Farrow not only works with the performers, but also with an FAA inspector.

He has worked on air shows at Barbers Point, Hickam Air Force Base and two previous air shows aboard MCB Hawaii.

“The air show industry’s almost like a big family,” Farrow said. “You end up meeting a lot of people that you see year after year, and then there’s new people that come into this industry every year as well.”

Farrow said one of the biggest challenges he faces as air boss is managing the schedule. The schedule can be modified as the day goes on.

“It’s a lot of time management,” Farrow said. “[It's like being the] conductor of an orchestra.”

“There’s all the different pieces [that] individually would be fine, but they all have to come together during the show,” Farrow said.

Chief Warrant Officer 5 Pete O’Hare, air show director, has known Farrow for almost four years. O’Hare, worked with him on the 2007 Blues on the Bay Air Show here. Farrow was a “calming influence” on everyone.

“He is knowledgeable,” O’hare said. “Everyone pays very close attention to him, and he generates and instills confidence in all the performers and the air show director.”

Petty Officer 1st Class Scott Garibay, the facility watch supervisor for MCAS, has also known Farrow for about four years. Garibay, who worked with Farrow as the mini boss for the 2007 air show, called Farrow “thorough.”

“He never misses a detail,” Garibay said. “Every ‘i’ is dotted and ‘t’ is crossed.”

Garibay recalls a time during the previous air show when Farrow had been so engrossed in his work that he hadn’t had a meal for two days.

“I finally had to get him some food and force him to take a break to eat,” Garibay said with a laugh.

But amidst his hard work, Farrow doesn’t take all the credit.

“There’s a lot of people that are involved in the air show that we couldn’t do without their help as well,” Farrow said. “It’s not just the director and the air boss and the coordinator, there’s literally thousands of people that get involved in putting on a show.”

For more information about the September air show, visit http://www.mcbh.usmc.mil /airshow.