The best opportunity for the public to meet members of the Navy's Blue Angels flight demonstration team will be Friday night at an "Afterburner Blast" that serves as a warmup for the Great State of Maine Air Show this weekend.

Gates open at 5:30 p.m. for the family event, which will feature the U.S. Army Golden Knights parachute team making a jump. There'll also be an F-15 Eagle demonstrating an afterburner takeoff, along with a jet-assisted takeoff by "Fat Albert," the Blue Angels' C-130 Hercules.

The base is planning on upward of 10,000 people to attend the event, which is an outgrowth of the traditional lobster bake held by the Navy League in years past for pilots and VIPs.

There'll be food and music, as well as opportunities to meet the pilots.

The event, like the air show itself, is free to the public. Attendees must use the golf course gate on Route 123, south of downtown Brunswick.

As for the Great State of Maine Airshow, gates open to the public at 8 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. Flying begins at 10 a.m. both days.