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Thunder roars at Gunfighter Skies
The weather held out just long enough for the last show to wrap up before the first drops of rain started to fall Sunday afternoon. The light drizzle didn't seem to deter the thousands of people that gathered in front of the six jets that were preparing to park just a short distance away.
The thunderous pitch of jet engines drowned out the applause as the fighters marked the completion of their flight. As the engines shut down, it symbolically wrapped up two days of acrobatic thrills at Mountain Home Air Force Base.
For the first time since 2011, the skies over the local Air Force base roared with the sounds of thunder as the installation opened its gates to the public during Gunfighter Skies.
Nearly 80,000 people visited the base over the weekend, including 45,000 on Saturday. This year's attendance figures shattered crowd counts from 2011 when the two-day show drew a total of only 34,000 individuals.
The open house came just two weeks after the Mountain Home community showcased its support to the U.S. military during the 54th Annual Air Force Appreciation Day celebration.
Cliff Harris and his family were among the many families from Pocatello that visited the base on Saturday. It was the first time in more than eight years that the family had been able to see the airshow here.
"We thought we'd come out and enjoy a good day and see the aircraft," Harris said.
Visiting the base was a bit of a homecoming for Justin Fiddler, whose grandparents were stationed at the local Air Force base. Nearby, his daughter, Lillian, took her turn sitting in the front seat of a UH-1N helicopter.
"I grew up in Mountain Home and wanted to show it off. I thought the kids would enjoy it," said Fiddler, whose family now lives in Boise.
Throughout the day, thousands of people stopped to check out the myriad of military aircraft and vehicles on display across the base's flightline.
Beneath the wing of an Air Force F-16, people like Zach Herrmann and Shannon Ross listened as Tech. Sgt. Chris Ingram explained how munitions are loaded and then released from the single-seat fighters.
Nearby, a handful of individuals gathered inside the cavernous cargo bay of a C-17 Globemaster III as Master Sgt. Hartley Ricketts described how vehicles and cargo are loaded inside the Air Force's newest generation of military transports.
Ricketts, a loadmaster from Altus Air Force Base, Okla., said it was crews like these that made news headlines in recent weeks. Flying over Iraqi airspace, these transports dropped food and other relief supplies to refugees driven from their homes by ISIS terrorists.
"I love my job. I get paid to do this," Ricketts said.
During both days, people had a chance to get an up-close look at most aircraft. Seated in the aircraft commander' seat inside a KC-10 air refueling tanker, Ashton Hall watched as Master Sgt. Eric Klino pointed out the various flight controls. Hall and his family made the trek from New Plymouth, Idaho, specifically to visit the airshow.
His older brother, Alex, admitted that he's has a fascination with aircraft ever since he was four years old. He was amazed at how something so big could not only fly through the air but made the trip so quickly.
While most aircraft and organizations attending Gunfighter Skies made a special trip to Mountain Home, others were already planning on being here. Members from the 757th Airlift Squadron from Youngstown, Ohio, arrived at the base earlier in the week. The Air National Guard unit came here to spray herbicide over the Saylor Creek Bombing Range to control the spread of invasive weeds.
Shortly after the airshow began on Saturday, crowds were already gathering around the F-35 fighter parked beneath an aircraft shelter. Squadron Leader Nathan Draper from the Royal Australian air force was one of the individuals highlighted the features of the next-generation combat jet.
These fighters generate a considerable amount of attention when they come to airshows, according to Draper. During an open house at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., crowds five to seven people deep gathered around the fighter throughout the day.
Another aircraft that drew plenty of curious visitors lacked a cockpit or even a pilot. The MQ-1 Predator unmanned drone from Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., tended to break the mold of what some people would consider a traditional combat aircraft.
As people snapped pictures of the propeller-driven aircraft, Senior Airman Barfield Maquise explained the advantages of these remotely piloted drones. "I like that it's unmanned, which keeps the pilot's safe and not put in harm's way," said Maquise, a crew chief that maintains these front-line reconnaissance and attack aircraft.
In addition to its ease of maintenance, the aircraft's unique construction and carbon fiber frame also makes it extremely light, he added. During the airshow, the airman would allow youngsters to lift the nose of the aircraft off the ground with just their two hands.
As people continued to tour the various military displays, the airfield came to life as vintage and current military and civilian aircraft took to the skies to showcase their unique capabilities. They included people like Randy Harris, who pushed his Skybolt 300 through its routine of twists and turns through the sky.
Later in the day, Mark Hale highlighted the capabilities of an L-39C Albatross, a jet fighter and trainer that was originally developed in Czechoslovakia.
Vintage World War II aircraft also took the skies to the delight of many airshow enthusiasts. They included John Bagley, who brought his P-63C-5 Kingcobra from his home in Rexburg. Idaho. An extremely rare aircraft, it remains just one of three flight-worthy P-63s around the world.
Headlining the aerial demonstrations were the Air Force Thunderbirds. This weekend was the second time that the Air Force's elite air demonstration team performed two shows during Gunfighter Skies.
Gabby Keen, whose family came from Boise, admitted that the Thunderbirds were her favorites that day. She especially loved the team's calypso maneuver, which required two fighters to fly by the audience at the same time with one of them making the pass while flying upside down.
"I've never seen any planes do that before," Keen said.
Keen wants to eventually fly in an aircraft, specifically so she can experience what it's like to fly while upside down. While she has a few years to go before she graduates, she also hopes to join the Air Force one day.