I took off part of last Saturday(had to give up 6 hours pay and have been working since to get it back but it was worth it) to take Tiff and the boys up to Hill Airforce Base for the last day of Airforce week. I know what most of you are thinking, "Paul is one of those nerdy pilot dudes that loves everything to do with airplanes" and you are correct about the nerd part but as far as planes go I don't really go nutz over them. I didn't grow up wanting to be a pilot and I would much rather be kayaking than flying. That said, you don't have to like airplanes or even have a remote interest in aviation to enjoy watching the Thunderbirds. The Airshow was all day on Saturday but that is way too long to hang around with all the aviation goons. So we went to a Bbq with some other pilot friends and their families and let the kids play and then went to HAFB around 2:30 for the Thunderbirds show. There were around 25 million people there but we found a nice open area on the ramp for the kids to run and play and we settled in for the show. Unfortunately there is about an hour of pomp and circumstance crap before they fly but once the T-birds are airborne no eye leaves the sky. After the first pass Tiff was in awe, Noah had a huge smile on his face and Max just kept saying "Dad, dhoes panes ar SOOOOO past" all things considered the weather was great and the show was awesome and I had about as good a time as I can have around that many people.
Tiff, Max, Noah, and Tyler Lountzenhiser, and Tylers mom Karen walking out of the Picture. Tylers dad Bob and I went to flight school together. The plane is a C-130 Hercules.
looking up the afterburner of an F-18 hornet
Military Transport
C-5 Galaxy
This thing is, in your best scottish accent "friggin yuge"
Headed into the back of the C-5
The nose opens up too and you could drive greyhound buses through there.
click to enlarge this one and see if you can find the "problem" in this picture
then get a fork and gouge your eyes out!
Bob (byu hat) and Brett Wilson(another flight shcool friend) standing in front of the C-5 and thinking they are hilarious as they sign me up for the Air Force. The recruiter is just out of the photo.
F-16 Thunderbird on a low pass
Thunderbirds
Yeah, I can do that.
One of these things is not like the others,
one of these kids is doing his own thing!
All 6 F-16 Thunderbirds and the Wasatch
The view from where we were.
These 3 smiles are what made the day for me!
And that is it, I took about 250 pictures but I won't bore you with anymore. We all had a great time. If you ever have the chance to see the Thunderbirds I highly recommend you do it.
Tiff, Max, Noah, and Tyler Lountzenhiser, and Tylers mom Karen walking out of the Picture. Tylers dad Bob and I went to flight school together. The plane is a C-130 Hercules.
looking up the afterburner of an F-18 hornet
Military Transport
C-5 GalaxyThis thing is, in your best scottish accent "friggin yuge"
Headed into the back of the C-5The nose opens up too and you could drive greyhound buses through there.
click to enlarge this one and see if you can find the "problem" in this picturethen get a fork and gouge your eyes out!
Bob (byu hat) and Brett Wilson(another flight shcool friend) standing in front of the C-5 and thinking they are hilarious as they sign me up for the Air Force. The recruiter is just out of the photo.
F-16 Thunderbird on a low pass
Thunderbirds
Yeah, I can do that.
One of these things is not like the others,one of these kids is doing his own thing!
All 6 F-16 Thunderbirds and the Wasatch
The view from where we were.
These 3 smiles are what made the day for me!And that is it, I took about 250 pictures but I won't bore you with anymore. We all had a great time. If you ever have the chance to see the Thunderbirds I highly recommend you do it.
