Air Show

This weekend is the Portsmouth Air Show.  The highlight is the aerial show put on by the Blue Angels.  I was able to see, hear and feel their practice session Friday afternoon while I was at work.  Yesterday Nedim and Selim watched the show on the boat, but I was feeling too pissy to join in.  I watched a little from a park by the bridge, and then went home.  When they got back home, Selim asked if we could go in to the show at Pease and see the planes up close.  I think he wanted the souvenir plane more than he wanted to see the actual planes, but I said yes anyway.

We got going early, picking up two big bottles of cold water at the gas station on our way.  We were able to park at work for free, as they had set aside one section of the parking lot for employees.  The traffic was light on the base/trade port and we were able to drive right into the lot.  We were the second car in.  There were four shuttle busses idling right there, so we hopped on one and were driven to the airport entrance in minutes. 

I'm sooooooo glad that we got there as early as we did.  Out on the tarmac there isn't any shade.  On this hot day, we were getting steamy, fast.  I really liked seeing the planes.  We went through the C-5 Galaxy cargo transport first.  There wasn't that much to see inside.  We went in through the jaws mouth and exited the back side.

The second plane we went into was a C-130 that flies to Greenland and Antarctica.  It has skies as well as the regular landing equipment.  It turns out that was the type of plane that cousin Malcolm has flown and the guys manning the exhibit part of the plane have flown with him.  That was a fun connection and made the price of admission worth it.  Selim liked the photo displays of the plane with penguins.  At the end, we got to go up to the cockpit and take pictures.

We saw a Blackhawk helicopter, a plane that flies VIPs and generals around Afghanistan, and a World War II plane.  It was so hot that we made conscious decisions to stop and look under wings and go to souvenir booths, just to get in some shade.  We weren't the only ones.  Lots of people set up their lawn chairs under the wings so that when the air show started, they would have some where cool to sit.  I can't imagine how the people who have set up their camp chairs at the edge of the taxiway are going to stand sitting without shade for six hours. 

From a distance, we saw the Blue Angel planes lined up.  I wanted to see if we could get a closer view, so we walked and walked.  Unfortunately, the VIP tents and roped off areas blocked our view.  But we did pass by some Vermont Guard planes.  Selim sat in the wing shade and told me to stop taking pictures.  Clearly, he was ready to go.

Even though I didn't have my zoom lens with me, I had fun taking pictures of plane parts. 

So after purchasing a Blue Angel and a Thunderbird toy plane, we left.  It was 15 minutes before the scheduled start of the aerial component of the air show, but Selim did not want to stay.  Besides being hot, I think he was nervous about the noise.  Part of me want to insist we stay a bit longer and see if the planes made too much noise, but I decided to let it go and follow his lead.  I think he/we made the right decision.  We were able to hop on a shuttle and get back to the parking lot.  The lines onto the base were really long, and we just sailed out in the opposite lane.  Getting out later on today will not be fun.

I think we will head out to the outdoor UNH pool this afternoon.  If we feel up to it, we will go to the boat and see the final Blue Angel demonstration.  I think Selim may have had his fill.  And that is OK with me.