Texas Thunder Air Show

For me, having my family together and seeing the Blue Angels fly made a perfect Mother’s Day. The threat of a thunderstorm did not deter the crowds that showed up at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth for the air show. Instead of rain, the skies were a brilliant blue, with only a few scattered white puffy clouds, providing a perfect canvas for the brilliant colors of the aircraft performing aerial maneuvers.

Having a two year old little boy with us added to our entertainment. Seeing an event through a child’s eyes brings a whole new dimension. The anticipation as the parachutists, suspended by their brilliant yellow chutes and gliding, seemingly effortlessly, over the crowd and toward their target on the ground; the trailing smoke from the aircraft as they performed stunts; and walking into the enormous C-5 cargo plane seemed at times overwhelming for him.

The highlight of the day was, of course, when Fat Albert, the Blue Angels’ C-130, took off denoting the beginning of the Blue Angels show. The air was filled with excitement as the dark blue and gold colored F/A-18 Hornets started their engines and the ground vibrated as they filed past the crowd toward the runway, the noise of the engines building up to a crescendo as they took off.

The Blue Angels performed their first demonstration in 1946. Following the orders of Chester W. Nimitz, Chief of Naval Operations, the flight demonstration team was organized and began flying the Grumman F8F Hellcat planes. The idea was to keep public interested after the Second World War. By the end of the 1940s the Grumman F6F Hellcat was replaced by a jet aircraft, the Grumman F9F-2 Panther. F/A-18 Hornet is now their plane of choice.

The crowd was spellbound as the planes passed by again and again, twisting and turning in the sky and joining together in their famous diamond formation. No matter how many times I attend their exhibitions I am still taken unawares as the “rogue” plane comes from behind the crowd at a low altitude sounding like continuous thunder.

For my family, every air show is a new experience and our little companion will view it even differently next year as he watches the planes through the eyes of a three year old.