The local Air Force base in our area hosted an Air Show a couple of weeks back.  You know, the type of event where all sorts of aircraft fly in from air bases and fields from across the country, park on the tarmac and patrons can get an up-close and personal look at some unique aircraft.  With my two boys interested in all things mechanical, military and ‘cool’, it was a no-brainer for us to spend the afternoon with 100,000 of our closest friends checking out the neatest flying machines on the planet.

Of course, the United States Air Force is a significant beneficiary of the event, as this branch of the military puts their best foot forward during the air show for recruiting.  When you see all the dashing airmen and air-women in their dress uniforms, describing how exciting it is to work with all this high-tech equipment, it’s hard not to think how great it would be to be a part of this.  Both my six-year old and my eight-year old sons were ready to get in the cockpit and take off right then and there. 

 

Sorry, guys, it doesn’t work exactly like that.

Even so, they both had the chance to sit behind a large helicopter-mounted machine gun and mow down imaginary bad guys, saving the world from evil and having a great story to tell their buddies back home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even a jaded, cynical old man like me could not help but be impressed with the hardware on display.  How often do you get to walk through a plane that could airlift my entire house and drop it effortlessly into a combat zone?

After a few hours checking out all sorts of flying machines, it was time for the main event.  By now you’ve guessed what it is.

I don’t know how it would be possible to see the Thunderbirds perform and not be impressed.  The men and women of this crew represent all that is right with the US Armed Forces. 

 

Let’s face it – Tom Cruise filmed Top Gun for a reason.  Yes, I know that film was about Naval aviators.  Still, these folks are just plain cool. And the things they can do with those F-16 Fighting Falcons – well, imagine how you would feel if you were some Iranian fighter pilot and saw this on your six:

OOPS!  Looks like someone just wet their flight suit!

It was simply amazing to watch what these pilots could do.  The precision of their maneuvers was spectacular. 

All in all it was a great day for The Camping Machine family at the air show.  Never mind that it took nearly 90 minutes to get off base once the show was over.  It was worth every minute.  My sons got autographs of some of the pilots, they got to see all kinds of cool airplanes and they saw the Thunderbirds do some extreme formation flying.

When it was all over and we finally had negotiated the traffic to get off the air base on on the highway to head back home, both of my sons declared they wanted to be fighter pilots.  How can you argue with that?  Having had one of the all-around most awesome days in their lives, at least so far, you can't blame them for thinking that being a fighter pilot is the epitome of cool. As for old dad, well, he's always been an old fuddy-duddy - even when there isn't much to compare him to.  With the Thunderbird pilots front and center in the minds of my sons, I fell a few rungs further down the ladder of coolness.

Until, that is, I downloaded these photographs onto the computer. Once I made a few prints for the boys to hand on their walls, suddenly dad wasn't so lame after all.

Above All indeed!