Truly amazing to witness the precision, power & acrobatics of these pilots. Norm, the dude guiding us thru the show made sure we were clear that "the Blue Angels do manuevers, the Air Force Thunderbirds do tricks." It was crazy to know that if they exceeded 700 mph that they would blow our ear drums out. Still, I couldn't bring myself to plug my ears when they flew low... there was something exhiliarating about the noise, just that sheer power. By far our favorite attraction.
We also got to play Pilot & Radar Interceptor Officers a.k.a. "Maverick & Goose" in Top Gun Air Combat Simulators. Zane tested his flying skills inside the cockpit of a Navy F-14 Tomcat. They were updating the technology & hadn't really worked out the kinks yet, so it wasn't as cool as Zane had hoped, but still fun to talk aviator slang to each other on headsets. Also cool to see what it feels like to be in a cockpit when the door shuts & see what a pilots visibility is like.
Ohhh! I LOVE air shows! You got some great pictures!!! We've never actually paid to get into one, so we haven't seen all the cool planes and stuff up close! Looks like we're missing out... Maybe we should stop being such tight-wads and enjoy the whole experience!
ReplyDeleteOhhhh I soooo remember the Blue Angels in Seattle...it was so awesome and exhiliarating (sp) to see and hear and actually FEEL the "rumble" when they go by. It looks like a really neat experience to go to the show and through the airplanes etc. I had to laugh at Shana's comment because I so feel that way, that we have missed out on a lot of fun, cool things because we were too cheap (or too poor) to actually PAY for certain attractions to really experience them, versus looking at them from "afar". :-)
ReplyDeleteWhen my bro was in the Navy, we got to ride with him on his "boat" for SeaFair one year. He was on the USS Carl Vinson. That was the very carrier they used for the filming of Top Gun. He also pointed out the pilot that flew for Tom Cruise. He was a VERY tall, quiet red head. Quite the opposite of Tom!
ReplyDeleteShana- funny thing. The museum & air show were totally free!!!!! Just come see us in Florida=-)
ReplyDeleteMelisa- that is such a FUN fact! we adore that movie=) was probably awesome to be on the boat huh?
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