Off We Go...Into the Wild Blue Yonder...

We heard "the sound of freedom" roaring across the skies even more than normal last week as the Thunderbirds and several other groups practiced for the Joint Base San Antonio Airshow on the 31st. It was touch and go as to weather as we had heavy rain on Friday but skies cleared off in time for the airshow on Saturday.

We arrived at 11:00 AM and didn't leave until about 4:00 PM as there was a lot to see and a lot of walking to do.....a lot of walking.

Can you see the parachutist? The plane was flying around him in circles.

 

Both the Air Force Wings of Blue team and the Army Golden Knights team of parachutists were on hand to present some pretty spectacular jumps.

 

Afterwards, the Air Force team was available to answer any and all questions from spectators.

This female parachutist was very popular with the kids as she spent a lot of time talking to them. She even had them help her fold her chute and pack it away.

The static displays are always popular and they had quite a few exhibits that they allowed people to climb in to get a feel for the aircraft.

Future helio pilots??

Steve ran into a friend of his. She is currently in training to fly drones for the Air Force.

Lots of photo opportunities too.

Old and new planes were on display.

The kids got a chance to sit in a glider too.

Another plane that is about 25 years old.

Cameron got a chance to try out his video skills with the Navy.

The Army Golden Knights also spent a lot of time with the attendees. The kids got to see just how heavy those parachute packs really are.

The C-17 and C-5 were also open for viewing. Those are some really immense planes. Steve got to show the kids closely he and other troops were packed in as they deployed to Afghanistan. The kids were surprised when I told them that I flew in one of these planes on the jump seats from Tokyo to Okinawa with their Dad when he was only about a year old. It was cold in the plane and they gave us blankets to keep warm while we were in the air.

View from the top.

Hate to say that we missed the Thunderbird show as we had to leave at 4:00PM and they didn't fly until after that but I did see them practicing earlier in the week and I've had the privilege of seeing them fly many times. It was a great airshow.