HAFB 2009 Airshow

First of all, at no other airshow do you get THIS close to the aircraft. Even the stealth fighters seemed to fly a stone throw's away. We watched the airshow in Corine's backyard (right next to the runway at HAFB). I can't describe how exciting the airshow was! What an amazing birthday gift. Lewis you are truly appreciated. It was like Disneyland all over again. I felt like a little kid running and screaming at the amazing Thunderbirds. When I was about 5 years old our family went to the airshow and I remember watching my dad's friend Don Nerie fly. Even as a little girl I loved watching planes fly high in the sky. WHAT A RUSH! I absolutely love airplanes!!!! Everything about them amazes me. Oh, yeah, and they had some jet fighter demos as well. If you're into aviation history, there is nothing like this show.

Here is a list of what we saw:) F-15E demo (with pyrotechnics!), F-22 demo, F/A-18 demo, the USAF Thunderbirds in their six F-16s, and fly-bys of two T-38s from Beale. Beale also sent over a KC-135 to do some passes, and a U-2!!! I see a U-2 fly once or twice a year. And a B-2 did some fly-bys as well; I hadn't seen one fly in about 20 months, so I was really excited to see the huge flying wing go by. The show also featured some great aerobatics, a C-17 demo, wing-walking, skydiving/parachuting, a Blackhawk rescue demo, Otto the Clown Helicopter (make fun of it if you will, but that demo includes some amazing flying)...
The static display was also huge, with Fed Ex, UPS, and DHL bringing 5 big cargo jets between them, Travis AFB sending over a C-5 and C-17 military cargo haulers and a KC-10 refueler, Beale having a KC-135 and a T-38 and a U-2 on static in addition to the ones that flew, the Marines sending an F-5 aggressor (awesome camouflage!) and a couple Cobra attack helicopters, the Army sending several helicopters as well (Huey, Kiowa, Chinook, Blackhawk), the Coast Guard contributing a Hercules, the USAF sending in a cool F-16 and a T-37, the Navy offering a T-45, and many private owners bringing Yaks, Stearmans, Trojans, Texans, and some rare trainers like a BT-13 and a Ryan. What an amazing airshow!!!