Pacific Coast Dream Machines Show
Half Moon Bay Airport, Sat-Sun 10-4 pm, April 28-29, 2012

The Pacific Coast Dream Machines Show at Half Moon Bay Airport is one of the greatest shows of its kind on earth!  And, it's in our own backyard.

You will see over 2000 of the "coolest" ever airplanes, cars, motorcycles, tanks and unique machines. You can even touch them and talk with their owners. See below for several pictures of what sort of things to expect.

Admission is $20 for adults and free for kids under 10. The proceeds go to a good charity. Held the last Saturday & Sunday of every April. For 2012 information see event details

This year a Championship Demolition Derby will run from 1-4 pm on Saturday, April 28th, 2012. As usual there are many other special events as well.

Unusual machines

Mixed in with the cars were many other unusual machines have been shown in past years including the:

• El Diablo, a mad scientist's flame thrower that was also a hit at the Burning Man Festival. El Diablo is made out of a French fighter plane jet engine parts and throws flames 100 feet up into the air.
• Dream Big, the world's largest motorcycle standing in at 6500 lbs and 11 feet tall with 3 foot wide tires.
• The Flying Wing, which looks like a big yellow flying boomerang and was an early one-third scale working prototype leading eventually to the B-2 stealth bomber
• M551 Sheridan tank used in the Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm.
• Aerocar, one of four built, which is half plane/half car. It was used on the 1955-59 Bob Cummings TV series.

With a little luck these unique machines and more will be back this year.

Old cars galore

Many hundreds of nice cars of all kinds were being shown. There were many individual owners showing as well as several car clubs which were obviously using this event as a fun way to get together. If you have or want to see a neat car this is the place to be.

Rides & events

Besides monster truck rides there were also plane and helicopter rides. For $60/ride one old military plane that held about 8 passengers would take you out for a run, do some very sharp turns where you were almost perpendicular to vertical, and then do a low fast run over the airport which ended in a steep climb that must have put a few G forces on the passengers. A lady standing nearby said she had taken this same plane ride last year and it was quite a thrill.

The ramps you see to the left behind the monster truck were used by FMX freestyle motocross riders to take air jumps while doing a variety of daring twists, jumps, and backflips. The riders went so high that you could see them against the sky from over a block away.

Other events have included unicycle dirt drag racing (i.e., on one wheel for 100 feet) and various music groups on stage. This year a Championship Demolition Derby will run from 1-4 pm on Saturday, April 28th, 2012.

Old machines

A variety of old machines, large and small, made their usual appearance. Some are even steam powered.

Motorcycle heaven

Motorcycles were big at the show as well. Some were

• old like the Maytag washing machine powered motorcycle shown below.
• fast, like the 900 hp Ack Attack below which set the motorcycle land speed record of 360.913 mph at the Utah salt flats September 26, 2008.

Hundreds of motorcyclists showed up to be spectators ... so checking out their bikes in the parking lot and talking motorcycles with their riders was part of the fun.

Airplanes, airplanes, airplanes!

Last but not least there were a wide variety of airplanes to be seen up close and personal. These included the P-51 Mustang which won last year's Reno air races averaging 491.822 mph, radio controlled airplanes, acrobatic planes and various planes made from kits.

You could also get into a B-25, the bomber which Jimmy Doolittle's crew flew off aircraft carrier USS Hornet on April 18, 1942 to attack Japan in retaliation for Pearl Harbor. As an aside, a later USS Hornet aircraft carrier is now a historical museum in Alameda and is a rare treat to visit.

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If you like cars, airplanes, motorcycles, military, old, unusual or any sort of other machines at all do not miss the HMB Airport Dream Machines Show. It is held the last Saturday & Sunday in April each year. This year the dates are April 28-29, 2012.


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