This past weekend marked the 60th anniversary of the Cleveland National Air Show, an exhibit of aircraft displays held on Labor Day each year at the Burke Lakefront Airport at the city’s edge. If you are unfamiliar with all things aeronautical like me, this article is for you. Until last weekend, I had never been to an air show before, but the experience was unique and not something that I would ever have thought to do on my own. Over Labor Day weekend, we had family friends visiting us from out of state who had tickets for the air show. My parents have a friend who is a pilot, so he has had an abundance of aeronautical adventures and acted as our tour guide throughout the day. The real star of the show, however, was a man who we referred to as “Ross.” We’ve never met before, and I’m not entirely sure how our friends know him, but he was our day pass for the whole event. He got us a parking spot, access through the airport, and free tickets that allowed us to come and go as we pleased. All we had to do was tell the people “We’re here with Ross” and we could do everything. So Ross, wherever you are, thank you.
When we first arrived at the airport, there were so many people already walking through a large aircraft, carrying around snacks, and watching planes fly across the sky every once in a while. Unfortunately, two of the major air show acts canceled mere hours before they were supposed to perform which left us with some time without much happening in the sky. To entertain ourselves between acts, we got the opportunity to tour several types of aircraft, one of which was a 737 MAX, the same type of plane our pilot friend flies. We also were able to walk through the massive C-5M Super Galaxy, an extremely large cargo plane that qualifies as the largest cargo plane ever made in the US. We also got the opportunity to tour the C-17 Globemaster III, a military transport aircraft. The crew members let us go in the cockpit and we got to talk to some military personnel aboard the plane.
The food options at the air show were numerous and smelled delicious, although they were rather on the expensive side. After looking through all the options, I decided on a giant soft pretzel and later a “Cleveland Cloud” which is a London Fog with lavender cold foam that was quite delicious. While we were getting our food, every so often we would look to the sky to see different air demonstrations and flight stunts mid-air. There were rescue mission simulations, attack drills, and, for the last time, an A-10 combat demonstration. A-10s are commonly used in the military to support ground forces and target enemy tanks. Our pilot friend informed us that the Air Force is retiring the A-10 at shows, making the one we saw the last in the country that is not in active military.
The grand finale was exceptional. It was a performance by the Blue Angels, a flight aerobatics demonstration squadron that blew the rest of the performances out of the water. The performance starts with all of the pilots getting their planes ready for takeoff. The crowds flocked to the edge of the runway to watch the six planes take off. The first four planes fly in a diamond pattern, the tips of their wings a mere 12-18 inches away as they fly as one through the sky. The other two planes immediately take off across the airfield and spin and pass each other at a speed and distance apart that seems to defy physics. It is amazing how these pilots can have so much control at such a high speed while maintaining complete trust in each other. Partway through the show, one of the planes pulled out of the classic diamond formation. It turned out that there was something wrong with the plane and the pilot did not feel safe flying it. The crew quickly brought the plane in and handled the situation, but nevertheless the show still continued without a core member of the team. Luckily, the pilot was able to rejoin the Blue Angels in a backup plane to give us the finale that we all came to see. The Cleveland National Air Show was an unexpected but exciting end of summer adventure that I would love to be a part of again in the future. If you ever have the chance to go to an air show, do it! This experience will leave you with long-lasting memories and more knowledge about aircraft than you have ever had before.
