Goodness Gracious, Great Balls of Fire!!

Ever since I was a kid, I have loved the movie Top Gun. My mom admitted to me once that she had grown to loathe the movie because I watched it every single day. I loved it. I loved the F-14 Tomcats, the Migs, the aircraft carriers, the dogfights. I loved it all.

Well today I got the chance to visit one of the key locations from the film, or rather, one of the former locations: Miramar Air Base. One of my buddies from Crew consented to go to the annual Miramar Air Show with me. I picked Hector up around noon from his office near the base, and we drove there, found parking and started gawking at all the planes.


Amidst all the modern planes I managed to spot a couple of old WWII planes, lined up for later demonstrations, and got a good shot of a Spitfire (which sadly didn't fly today). While we admired the big cargo planes, the Marines were putting on a demonstration of a rather complicated exercise that involved tanks, helicopters, two F-15s and two Harriers. There were lots of huge explosions, giant plumes of flame and smoke, and lots and lots of noise from the jets flying over.


That finished, and was followed by a demonstration of the F-18, the favorite super-jet of the services. It did some absolutely amazing stuff, and at the end of the day, Hector and I both agreed that the F-18 was the best thing we'd seen. It banked, twisted, turned, pulled loops. Best of all, however, were its abilities to turn on a dime in midair, rather than having to bank around in an arc to change directions. I have never seen a plane do that before. It slowed down as much as possible, flew up (maybe 200 or 300 ft) at a sharp angle, and then seemed to just twist around and back down facing the opposite direction. Unbelievable. It also did a pass by the stands so slow, and so quiet, that Hector and I were actually able to hear each other speak, when we hadn't before. It also did another pass by where a diamond-shaped cloud of air covered the back half of the plane because it was going so fast, and a couple of seconds later the sound caught up to. That was the prettiest breaking of the sound barrier I've ever seen.

Once the F-18 had finished showing off, a flight of Red Baron byplanes did a whole bunch of really well done stunts, followed by a civilian flight of jets called the Patriots, and finally, but not lastly, the Thunderbirds took to the sky. They were really good, but I have to say that I was a tad disappointed. The bulk of their maneuvers hinged on at least three of the planes, and eventually all five flying in such tight and perfect formation that their wingtips must not have been more than about a foot apart. They were thoroughly professional, and really good. But not nearly as exciting and awe-inspiring as the F-18. Still, I got some sweet pictures and videos of them.


The demos, along with being able to walk around all the planes on the ground, and displays and stuff, contributed to a thoroughly enjoyable day.

The F-117 Stealth Fighter...what a sight...

Migs!

F-15...I think. I can't remember.

The C-31, featured in Band of Brothers dropping paratroopers into Normandy.

I'm really glad that I had a former Marine Staff Sergeant to show me around and tell me about all the planes and maneuvers and stuff. Not to mention that working on the same ship gave us lots of comparison to the world of planes, and plenty of sarcasm to enjoy. Man, that was fun. Goodness gracious, great balls of fire!!