MacDill Air Show

I have to admit, when Nisheet brought up going to the MacDill Air Show over the weekend, I was kind of bored with the idea. I’ve been to air shows before. Great airshows. And frankly, I’ve grown tired of them. They all seem to be the same. Planes fly over. An announcer talks about the pilot and aircraft. Once in a while someone parachutes from the plane. Whoopee! But, Nisheet was super excited about the air show, so I decided to give it a go, and I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t like Chicago’s airshow where you drive around for an hour looking for parking and then are packed like sardines in 90 degree weather watching planes fly over the lake. The parking was ridiculously organized, probably because it was on the air force base, and a military person was standing every 20 feet directing you. Once parked, we had to go through a metal detector and have our bags searched, and then we were free to wander around (inside a gated area)! They had all sorts of aircraft on display. F-35, Warthog, C-130, C-17, H-60, just to name a few. And not only could you walk around and talk to the pilots and crew, but they even let you go inside some of them!

The stars of the show though were obviously the U.S.A.F. Thunderbirds. I’ve seen them before, but this was a whole different experience because you got to watch the pilots put on a little show of synchronously walking to the aircraft, putting on their flight suits, and taxiing down the runway. And, of course, their stunts and loops were awesome. I wonder if I could even handle 2 minutes of being in one…

Overall, the MacDill Air Show it is a neat and interactive airshow to attend if you around ever in town during it!

Trip Summary:

• Duration: 3 hours
• Cost: FREE