This week was the first "Air Force Week" celebrated here in Hampton Roads. There were a bunch of activities at Langley Air Force Base and surrounding locations, but the highlight was the airshows at the base Friday night, Saturday and Sunday.
Tricia managed to sneak over to Virginia Beach on Wednesday at noon to watch a demonstration of search and rescue techniques by the USAF Pararescue Jumpers (PJs). They jumped out of C-130 transport planes and simulated being rescued by HH-60 Blackhawk helicopters. All four were hoisted back aboard their helo with a winch and then they jumped back out and swam all the way into the beach. They looked a little worn out when they were all done, and I don't blame them! The show started with F-22 Raptors, F-15 Eagles and F/A-18 Hornets making simulated sweeps for enemy air and ground threats before the PJs jumped into the ocean. The fighters stayed in the area and circled the scene throughout the PJs' play time. Tricia took home some goodies from the Air Force recruiters on hand. They brought a monster truck trying to impersonate an A-10 Warthog, and an Orange County Choppers' original Air Force motorcycle. Very cool. Tricia also got to see the BEST military Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) display she has ever seen. Those Air Force EOD folks are obviously the cream of the crop. ;)
Friday night, Tricia and Ted dragged Sophia and Matthew to the evening air show. We hoped to get to the base in time to catch the last bit of daylight flying, but missed it. There were two night-time aerial acts and fireworks. Unfortunately, the night show started at 9pm, so the kids were bushed. Well, Sophia was bushed. Matt got his second wind at around 8:30. We were considering leaving and Matt started to cry. Soooo, we decided to stay to the night-flyers. The flying acts were a twin-engined Beech and a T-6 Texan. Both had tons of lights arrayed on the fuselages and wings. The T-6 also dropped a bunch of flares. It was very different from watching an airshow in daylight. Not better, just different.
Saturday was the main event. Ted had to shuttle Alex from his Boy Scout campout to his soccer game, so he only got to hear most of the show. The base is in Hampton. It is 3 miles from our house, and closer than that to Alex's soccer field. You could actually see some of the performances from our front yard. Tricia and Matt got to see the whole show. A B-2 Spirit made a fly by, and buzzed our house at ~500 feet. A privately owned Harrier wowed the crowd with its aerial ballet and stunning noise. An F-4 Phantom, F-15 Eagle and F-22 Raptor each took the sky singly for some maneuvers, and then made several passes together in what the Air Force calls a "Heritage Flight." The F-22 definitely performs the most stunning aerobatics ever seen. It makes impossibly sharp loops, falls like a leaf, pirouettes like a dancer, and points its nose whereever the pilot wishes. Simply amazing. Ted, Sophie and Ted's mom Carol got to the show in time to see the finale: The Thunderbirds flying their F-16 Fighting Falcons. Those boys will definitely take your breath (and hearing) away. The best part is when one of the solo pilots sneaks up on the crowd at ~600 knots and scares the pants off of the crowd. Gets them every time. It was a beautiful weekend for an airshow, and what a show it was.
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