Saturday morning - 26 April - Barksdale Air Show 2014

We've been to the gate already and have been told that it's not opening until 8.45, so we were turned away and are awaiting entry!  They have a big line up of aerial performers starting at 11am - we saw some practising yesterday afternoon doing loops with the trailing sky writing!  They also have 'static' displays of aircraft to look at, apparently including a B-52 and an A-10!

Barksdale ‘Defenders of Liberty’ 2014 Air Show in Bossier City, Louisiana

Headlining the show this year is the Air Force’s premier aerial demonstration team, the Thunderbirds.  During this demonstration, the team will fly F-16 Fighting Falcons to their limits in order to represent the pride, precision and professionalism of nearly 7000 000 Total Force Airmen. 

Also on hand will be the most technologically advanced military aircraft in the world.  The B-52H Stratofortress, the F-22 Raptor, the F-15 Strie Eagle, the B-2 Spirit and the KC-10 Extender are just a few of the airframes which will pan the flightline.

Just six years after the Air Force was born, and less than a decade after jets started to rule the skies, the Air Force’s elite demonstration team, the Thunderbirds w, was born.

Designated the 3600^th Air Demonstration Unit and flying the straight-winged F-84G Thunderjet, it was activated at Luke Air Force Base in  Arizona.  The unit adopted the name ‘Thunderbirds’ influenced in part by the strong Native American culture and folklore from the southwestern United States where Luke is located. 

A B-52H Stratofortress:  The sovereign of the runway at Barksdale, the nation's longest-serving strategic bomber, flying since 1952 and in service since 1955.  The bomber is capable of flying at high subsonic speeds at altitudes up to 50 000 ft and can carry nuclear or precision guided conventional ordnance with worldwide precision navigation capability.  We saw two 'BUFFs' taking off at the beginning of the show (Big Ugly Fat Fellows is what 'the (airforce) boys' call 'em.

Wheels of the KC-10 re-fueller.    It is a triple-jet air refueling airplane that once was based at Barksdale.

Dave in the pilot's seat of a C-17 Globemaster.  

Exiting a C-5 Galaxy..... wow it's big!  First flowin in 1968 and in service since 1970, it is one of the largest cargo airplanes in theworld.  It is a heavy intercontinental-range strategic airlifter than can carry outsized and oversized cargo.

Everything at the airshow was well organised - took us 15minutes from the gate to get parked.  There were 70 000 people at the event.  They had several food stalls set up and lots of displays as well as aircraft on the ground to look at.  Then the aerial show began.  We'd forgotten to buy chairs so we decided to plant on the tarmac.  After a while we were looking further down for a place to sit where we'd have our backs to the sun, when we came across a fenced off area with a marquee and a sign: 'Covered Seating $15'.  A good deal, we thought, so we went up to the table and enquired.  Oh yes, you got your own seat (which you could move in or out of the shade, and 3 bottles of cold water as required and they had their own dedicated porta-loos!  Deal!  We enjoyed this immensely as we had a fairly clear view to the tarmac.

The most impressive flying displays came from the F-22 and the Thunderbirds, followed closely by the aerobatic planes.  The military aircraft made the ground shake and after the thunderbirds did a few close passes I could understand why people had bought ear plugs.  It's a day I'll never forget, it was such a privilege to be there.  The announcer kept referring to the group as 'your US Air Force' and this is a reflection of the attitude here - that the military are not some government 'property' but owned by the people, working for the people to keep them safe.  It's a slightly different concept to what we are used to in Australia, I think.