This is so much better than watching Top Gun!
As mentioned during the Sun n’ Fun post, I went to the Orlando Air Show! It was part of the Air Dot Show tour that went across the United States, and it stopped at the Orlando Sanford (KSFB) airport. I was definitely excited to go. While it had a few of the same performers from Sun n’ Fun, it also had a bunch of different ones. Instead of the Thunderbirds, the Blue Angels performed, and I’ve only seen them once before.
There weren’t as many static displays to look at, but I got to get a lot closer than I did at Sun n’ Fun. They had an F-18 and a few older aircraft on display, and there were long lines to climb into the older aircraft. Of course, I took that opportunity.
The airshow itself was awesome. The acrobatic performers were, as always, amazing to watch, but they also had plenty of things I’d never seen before. One of them was the Coast Guard demonstration of a water rescue from a helicopter. It was amazing to watch- they lowered the rescue swimmer down to the ground with a basket, collected a test dummy, and then safely brought everything back into the helicopter. I honestly haven’t been around helicopters much since we don’t have a helicopter program.
The F-22 Raptor demonstration team was also there, and I’ve never seen them before. I enjoyed the airshow- the F-22 has very powerful engines, and you can definitely feel their power. They also did heritage flight, and it was awesome to see historic and modern-day aircraft flying together.
The Blue Angels were the final act, and they were awesome as ever to see. Their airshow was similar to the Thunderbirds in the fact that they had a diamond and two soloists, but the maneuvers were different. They were as majestic as ever, and I really enjoyed watching them in the heat. In my opinion, an airshow is worth the heat- as long as I use plenty of sunscreen!
Having airshows in the area is one of my favorite parts about ERAU. I love aviation (even though I’m in the astronautics track!) and coming here has enabled me to go to a few different ones. I’ve had a lesser credit load this semester so I’m able to spend more time doing things outside of class, which has been a whole lot of fun. I’m graduating soon, but this isn’t the last post. So… I’ll see you in the next one!
