Thunder of Niagara Air Show

The Summer Challenge: Day 15

We don’t live far away from the Niagara Falls Reserve Air Base and yet I have never been to the air show. This year, even with the extreme heat and humidity Michael and I decided that we were going to attend. Plus it’s a free event, so if needed to leave early, it was no big deal. Thankfully there was a great breeze because it’s the only thing that kept us going. We didn’t stay to the end (even though we really wanted to) because it was just really too hot.

These are the Thunderbirds and I was really looking forward to seeing them fly. However, they were last and we just couldn’t take the heat and sun anymore. (Shawn and I do not handle the heat and sun very well.) So disappointed that we didn’t get to see them, but maybe next time we go. As we were arriving we saw in the distance The United States Army Parachute Team, a.k.a. the Golden Knights. Wish we were closer to get some photos but it was still neat to see them all in the sky.

This was the 1st plane (the Super Decathlon) we saw in the sky when we arrived this morning. He was doing lots of different tricks in the sky, You could hear the pilot on the speaker and he sounded like he was having a blast up there! His show was quite long so I got tons of photos of him up in the air.

Seeing as Michael is a Marine, he’s very knowledgeable about all the planes. It’s nice to walk around with him and listen to him talk about each plane. I am always very proud of Michael’s military service but whenever we go to events like this, it just makes me extremely proud. I think it’s because we don’t live in a military household and don’t talk about it every day, so being around everyone just brings it out and I love it.

The Super Decathlon did a fly-by upside down. It was really cool as we flew by us all.

This is the “Harvard Extreme” Harvard Mk IV and we didn’t watch him all that much. We split up our time between watching the show, and walking around looking at the static displays. Still it was a really cool looking plane!

The United States Coast Guard Search & Rescue did a demo of how they rescue someone from the water. You could hear them explaining everything over the speakers.

We were able to go right up to the static displays, and could even go in some of them! I found this to be one of the coolest things ever! The cockpit on these planes are so much smaller than I imagined (even though they were massive in size themselves!).

This was part of the inside of the C-17 Globemaster III. It was awesome to go inside but it was SO hot in there! We didn’t stay for very long because it was stifling.

Here’s a photo of Michael and Shawn with the only Marine Corps aircraft. It’s the AV-8B Harrier II. Michael spent some time talking with the Marine’s that were there and swapped some stories.

Shawn had the best seat in the place! He was able to see over all the people and was able to get some great photos and videos of the planes. Michael told me that he’s getting to be too big to ride up there though, so he won’t be doing it for too much longer. 🙂

Overall, it was a great but extremely hot day. I am so glad that we went though and I am looking forward to going again in the future.