The Field of Flight Airshow

Today, I went back to the WMU School of Aviation, for their annual Airshow picnic, with my father and stepmother. This location gave us a front row seat to watch the pilots as they prepared to fly, took off, performed, and landed.  It was also my first outing with my new video/still camera as well as my first time trying to follow jets in the air, and considering that I have a hard time following a football game with a still camera, I didn’t do too badly. 

My father, who in addition to being the Chair of the Michigan Aeronautics Commission, and a pilot, was the man with the idea for the Aviation School, chats with some of the students.

Some of the many aircraft that performed in the airshow.

Missiles are cool. 

I learned that this isn’t smoke, it’s actually oil that is run across the manifold and burned.

With these pilots, stuntin’ is a habit.

Eyes on the skies, the crowd watched the planes perform their stunts.

The name on the plane reads, Lt. Barnett Dangle.

4 stuntplanes line up for takeoff.

And then they put on a great show of precision flying.

One of the members of the Strike Eagle F-15E Demonstration team talks with my father. While they were talking a plane flew through the shot.

 One of his colleagues gives me a smile for the camera.

Here are the videos I shot:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3: The Thunderbirds getting ready. To my chagrin, I ran down my battery recording their synchronized maneuvers as they prepared the aircraft for takeoff, but it is a cool behind the scenes look at what you may not see from the stands at the airshow.

Laura Adams