A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I watched the F-22s perform at the air show.
Top Gun was one of the first movies to make a big impression on me as a child (I wanted to be like Charlie when I grew up – that leather jacket! big blond hair! cooler than all the boys! – and ride on the back of Maverick’s motorcycle; I used to think that “Take My Breath Away” was the most romantic song EVER, and I still love “Danger Zone”; and I absolutely practiced the super cool high-five low-five action from the beach volleyball scene and dreamed of being serenaded with a Righteous Brother’s song) and even though I was way more into the plot than the planes, pilots will be forever cool in my mind, especially if they wear aviators.
We wanted to avoid the crowds, so on Saturday we went to Buttress Park in hopes that we could catch a glimpse. We did, and the flying was impressive, but we felt removed from the show (which made sense, because we were).
Then, on Sunday, we were walking downtown, and got an even better look – the planes were faster and closer than before, and it almost felt like they were deliberately buzzing the Park Strip to see if we would spill our coffee. Hooray for flybys!
Here are some of our impressions:
- F-ing AMAZING.
- How could you fly that fast and not lose all perspective of where you are?
- What if you throw up? It would get everywhere!
- It would be utterly terrifying if your city was under attack and you heard/saw one of these coming your way (random fact: F-22s have never flown in a combat mission).
- Those are millions of dollars playing chase up there.
- F-22s are REALLY hard to get a good photo of!
Watching them dip and dive, zipping across the sky, they look so effortless and it’s easy to image that the pilots are having loads of fun, flying faster and faster, being the best of the best. I’m so glad that the mystery of F-22 pilots passing out while flying has been solved.
Did you go to the air show? What did you think of the F-22s? And more importantly, what’s your favorite scene in Top Gun?
