F16's

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

I lucked out and just happened to be on my way back from lunch when the F16s did their fly over of the Sox celebration downtown. I wasn't anywhere near downtown, but the sound they make is unmistakable and they are just so cool!

I have a question though. They are really only just airplanes, so why do they have the power to invoke that feeling in the pit of your stomach when they fly over? Just hearing them coming and leaving was enough to make me start choking up, why is that?

I had the pleasure of being right underneath them one time when they did a real low fly over of Road America and they are deafening. Today the news said they were at 23,000 feet, but I can still only imagine how they sounded downtown with the sound reverberating off all the tall buildings. The crowd on the radio sounded kind of loud themselves, but I'm sure the sound of the crowd was nothing compared to the sound of those F16s.

So cool!

[Lobodeb]

OMG!! I was sitting in my office when the flew over! I kid you not, my desk was shaking!

I didn't see them, but I know that sound. It was unmistakable.

[Catsnclay]

Living in Glendale AZ, I am very close to Luke AFB, and when the jets go out and come back they go over our house. Most of the time they have their afterburners off, so we can just hear them roar overhead. Then there are sometimes they "forget" or whatever and they fly over with those burners on........... everything in the freakin house shakes and the cats get all wierd, but its only for a few seconds, but it sounds like minutes.

I too still get choked up when I see them fly together, its called - FREEDOM

[RICHARD]

Funny you should mention that!!

This past weekend I went to the Edwards AFB airshow...I have to pick up my pictures tonight.

I saw F-16s, the NEW F 22, the U-2, a C-17 and god knows what else fly.

I got to see Chuck Yeager buzzing aournd in a P-51 (He landed and took the podium to give a short speech) THAT WAS THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY.

I guess I can admit this here. I get really giddy and misty eyed myself.

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A flight of F-16s is a sight to behold.....

If you really want to see an arse kicking, stunning, heartstopping, jaw dropping example of what an f-16 can do, go to a military airshow.

You will never be the same.

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It's the power of flight
the power to fight.
It's the sound, the energy the fury,
It's knowing they are on OUR team.
It's knowing that it's my tax money that supports them
It's knowing that someone has a cool job protecting me!
It's Orville and Wilbur!




That was 6 days ago and I am still walking on air!

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

Another totally heartstopping moment when tissues are a must-have is when they do the "missing man formation" I believe it's called? When there is a group of them flying over and one trails off and goes another way to signify the death of one of their own.

Gets me teary eyed just thinking about it.

Richard, I think you're right, part of it is knowing they're on our side - whew!

Bunny! How's your foot, glad to see you back! My mom and dad spent a winter in Arizona and they would go to the military base out there for air shows all the time. One time there was a stealth plane there. My mom speaking here..."I asked the nice looking young man if I could see inside the cockpit. He said he'd have to kill me if I did." One time we were out near White Sands, NM and we thought we saw a stealth, but we couldn't see it to be sure.

[ramanth]

They are not JUST planes! They are jets! WOOOSH!!!!

I love air shows. I wish they'd do a fly over Lansing.

[caseysmom]

We had a sheriff helicopter go down a few months ago....one man died, the other survived. We had every branch of everything flying over with helicopters the day of the funeral and they did the missing man formation...it was heart wrenching.

[RICHARD]

One of the "Fighting Falcons" based at Edwards AFB.

This plane is used as a chase plane for flight tests.

[Oggyflute]

I was stationed at Williamstown, Aus. when we got delivery of F-18's, which were replacing the old Mirage delta wing. Unfortunately I never got to go up in one, but did manage to sit in the sim, which was pretty cool.
Richard, I missed out on the Edwards air show in my time, got sent to Hong Kong I think, but the guys that went there said they put on the best air show they have ever seen. Coming from flyboys that was quite a compliment.
Seeing Chuck Yeager fly a p51 Mustang, now that truly would have been a buzz. His autobiography is one of my favourite books.

[RobiLee]

When we were at the Bristol nascar race and the F-16's did their fly over I had chills up and down my body. They are awesome.

[anna_66]

Robin's right. When we were at Bristol it was my first encounter with them and all I could do was smile...and scream! Yes, I think I was actually screaming when they went by. It was so exciting!

[RICHARD]

Richard, I missed out on the Edwards air show in my time, got sent to Hong Kong I think, but the guys that went there said they put on the best air show they have ever seen. Coming from flyboys that was quite a compliment.
Seeing Chuck Yeager fly a p51 Mustang, now that truly would have been a buzz. His autobiography is one of my favourite books.

Since Edwards is out in the desert it's no limit flying!

The ONLY thing that you will not get is a high speed, sonic boom pass!

I was at Yeager's last military flight a few years ago. He opened the show with a sonic boom, landed and gave a little speech...

He then turned in all his "keys" to the planes on the base.

He also flew a "Heritage Flight" - They team up a WWII plane with a modern fighter- His P-51 and a F-18- Joe Engle, the only man to fly two different winged aircraft into space (X-15 and the shuttle) flew the -18!

Watching Yeager fly about wasn't a buzz, it was an all out heart attack for me!!!

The last two 'acts' were really neat... There was a recreation of the attack on Pearl Harbor. They have 8 rebuilt Japanese WWII planes that buzz the field while they set off explosives. Mind boggling......and crazy!

The last is a flyby of all the planes in formation.

The cargo planes, fighters, bombers....The f-22, f-16, f-18, the B-52, c-17
c-130 and a bunch all in the air at one time!!!

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Four Falcons in formation is really cool.

Watching one go thru it's paces is phenomenal!

Standing about 500 feet away from one doing a low speed pass and then hitting the afterburner leaves you shaking...

You want to scream because the sound is so overwhelming! The noise is so much bigger than you are you have to make sure you are not lost in it all!!

I have one more roll to develop and then I can load all up!!

[RICHARD]

This p-51 was on static display...

[RICHARD]

This is a rare two seat Falcon. It's called the "Inflight Test Simulator".

The back seater can make the this plane handle like the space shuttle.
It's used by NASA to train the shuttle pilots.

[RICHARD]

My mom and dad spent a winter in Arizona and they would go to the military base out there for air shows all the time. One time there was a stealth plane there. My mom speaking here..."I asked the nice looking young man if I could see inside the cockpit. He said he'd have to kill me if I did."

In the years past you could not go behind the plane to see the way the engine exhaust was set up...they have since been a little more lenient, but still there are the AP's with loaded guns all around the plane!!!!



http://afftc.edwards.af.mil/archive/...-f117_782.html

This plane flew over the show, at first level, then the announcer warned everyone to get their cameras ready.......He did a knife edge pass across the flight line and you almost hear the people go, WHOA!!!


Sorry about hijacking your thread......I love planes!