#air shows

[pollyna]

Air shows are a Mav thing, always have been, and since Ice has memory of them, he never missed one. He remembers doing favours to people he would have preferred having punched in the face rather than speaking to them for more than a minute or two, just so he could be back in the States to see Mav fly. The occasion wasn't relevant: Thanksgiving, Christmas and the fourth of July, if Mav was flying Ice was on the ground watching him, taking photos and later videos, recording Slider, Bradley and the other's comments and storing it all away in his video library.

And so will be for this Halloween one. If Mav is going to be up there, flying and giving a show, showing the world and every fucking brass who's the best, Ice will be on the ground, phone in his hands, filming away a couple or thirty minutes of his memory card.

(Stading is painful, and every breath feels like a stab at his troath and lungs. The jacket and all the medals on it weigh on his shoulders and back like bricks, and the material hitches against his skin. Sarah's hands are too cold and too hot at the same time around his waist, and Tom has to grit his teeth to not beg to go back home and never move another step or speak another word. Pain used to come and go in waves where now, it's a constant companion that leaves him without any relief. But then, and for the next couple of minutes, Ice's eyes are to the sky, to the jets Mav is leading through intricate manoeuvres showing off just a little bit and Ice feels thirty again, just back from a God-awful travel on a fucking commercial plane, watching is boyfriend moving in the sky and then on the ground, sweaty and smiling with the intensity of one hundred suns. It ends before Ice can realise, and that same man is moving towards him, sweaty and smiling with the same intensity. If Ice hadn't lost his voice to cancer, he would be asking all the right questions and listening to Mav babble away for the rest of the day. He can't speak, but he can hug the man against his chest, sign that Sarah recorded it all and that was the best show he ever saw.

"You always say that, love." Mav answers, laughing against his neck. Ice doesn't let go, not yet, he hugs Mav and clings on the hope to see another one, to watch Mav moving between people to come to him, to have something else to add to his ever growing video library. Maverick hugs him back.)

[inflightpilottraining]

Experience the thrill of aviation at the Best Twin Cities Air Shows 2023! Get ready for a breathtaking display of aerial acrobatics, stunning aircraft, and adrenaline-pumping performances by Inflight Pilot Training. From gravity-defying stunts to military demonstrations, this blog covers all the must-see events. Don't miss out on the ultimate aviation extravaganza!

[topgunreacts]

Su-30 MKM tail slide

[shadeops21]

So, I popped my airshow cherry today.

Pacific Airshow Gold Coast (Australia, not the Huntington Beach one, though run by the same company/organisation), on Surfer’s Paradise.

And oh my god, what a show to go to as my first airshow.

Clear blue skies (literally not a cloud to be seen), not too hot or cold (little bit chilly in the morning but nothing a hoodie couldn’t fix), and non-stop aerial displays for four-ish hours straight.

Extra 300 stunt planes, Yak-51s, Aero L-39s, an entire formation of hobby-built aerobatic planes, not to mention flypasts from RAAF, RCAF, and USAF aircraft including C-17s, a C-130, a Polaris (RCAF Tanker).

There were also demonstrations by the Westpac Lifesaver rescue helicopter team, and the US Marines with their MV-22 Osprey.

Cap it all off with a stunning display by the RAAF Roulettes as well as one of our F/A-18F Super Hornets?

Yeaaahhh, my SD card was pretty much full by the time I was finished taking pictures 🤣

[varilien]

am i blanchin?

girl we blanchin!!

HI HIII happy birthday to everyone's favorite mystery twins!! how did they grow up so fast!!!!

Palestine: Funds | Action | eSims | Info Sudan Resources | Congo Resources

[radarsteddybear]

I love the B-2 Spirit.  Definitely one of my top 5 favorite airplanes.  Once, when I was really little, my dad and I saw one fly overhead; unfortunately, I don't remember this, but I do remember seeing one at an air show in 2017 :D  It's a stealth bomber, and when you see these things in action, you can see exactly what makes them stealth bombers.  Their flat frame makes them difficult to see head-on, and even though they are just as loud as any other jet, you don't hear them until they are pretty darn close.  The plane also incorporates technology that makes it "virtually invisible" to air defense radar systems.

Twenty-one of these aircraft were built; two have since crashed, leaving 19 in service.  Northrop Gruman built two additional aircraft sans engines or instruments for testing, and the B-2 at the museum is one of these.  The museum's B-2 also includes a front landing gear panel from the Spirit of Ohio decorated by technicians in honor of the extensive temperature testing that aircraft went through.  You can sort of see it in the second picture; unfortunately, the picture I took of the panel itself came out blurry.  You can also see it on the museum website here.

Each aircraft is named for a U.S. state, following the naming convention, "The Spirit of ____," except for two: "The Spirit of America" and "The Spirit of Kitty Hawk" (Kitty Hawk being the site of the first flight in 1903).  The two aircraft that are no longer in service are the Spirit of Kansas and the Spirit of Hawaii; the Spirit of Georgia is currently undergoing repairs.

The US Air Force plans to continue to operate the B-2 until 2032, at which time they will be replaced by the B-21 Raider.  In case anyone was worried, the B-21 looks like an aircraft that would belong to Batman, too.

[gpstudios]

Celebrating National Aviation Day: A Tribute to Flight and Innovation

Celebrate National Aviation Day on August 19 by honoring the achievements of aviation. From the Wright brothers' first flight to modern innovations, explore the impact and future of this transformative industry.

Introduction National Aviation Day on August 19 celebrates the wonders of flight and honors the pioneering spirit of aviation. From the Wright brothers’ first flight to modern advancements, this day highlights the incredible achievements in aviation and the ongoing quest for innovation in the skies. The Legacy of National Aviation Day National Aviation Day is a day to recognize and celebrate…

[gnirewolf]

game shows in 2024 are so fucking cooked

[casasupernovas]

Remember ages ago when I said Freema did an interview talking about Martha and what she was and wasn't happy with in regards to the story? I found it!

Transcript:

Interviewer: ...Do you still think about her? How do you think about Martha in the year 2019.

Freema: Ah yeah I just did a convention with David [Tennant] recently actually and he said something that um, I hadn't heard before, and he was asked about that relationship between the two chatacters and he said 'I think that the Doctor wasn't fair on her' and I sorta looked at him and I was like...I've never heard your take on that before because I knew at the time you know she was...for me there was definitely a kind of beat that they struck on that stayed maybe a little bit too long. It was the unrequited storyline an I think they stopped exploring her as a fully rounded human being in light of that and Russell [T. Davies] did say you know, it's important to him though that people can sometimes see that...you know love doesn't always have to be reciprocated and it's okay to kind of...most of us probably have that in common that we have unreciprocated...emotions than reciprocated and I was like no that's cool I get that but people also tune in for escapism and for romance and all of the magic and the, you know, the imagination so sometimes to be like grounded back down into hard truth isn't very attractive. *Laughs* So I kind of felt like she got stuck a little bit amd when people ask me if if I would go back it would only be to explore her as a fully rounded person more and she had so much going on and then it got stuck for whatever reason. But I had the best time and I feel like there's so much more potential to that person.

[anbaisai]

Blep. (Sequel to the boop)

Or alternatively titled: Snake Jamil, but even larger noodle

The species that Jamil is based on here is called the Blood Python (special thanks to @kirexa for the information!), which can reach an average of 4-6 ft in length and up to 30 lbs in weight.

Bonus panel:

[drulalovescas]

When the power of Dean's LOVE BROTHERHOOD AND FRIENDSHIP broke Castiel's programming and turned the walls of Naomi's office bisexual... that was poetic cinema

[staticair]

[dead gay detectives]

[aledethanlast]

I know I've made this post before but it absolutely fucking kills me that Andrew's entire outlook on life was "I just have to hold on until I drag Aaron across the finish line," only for Kevin to swoop in and, between fits of hysterical sobbing, somehow still find the time to insist that Andrew has a great life ahead of him, and the breath to belligerently dismiss anybody who argues, especially Andrew.

No wonder they're so antagonistic. No wonder they're best friends. Suddenly Andrew is the one getting dragged to the finish line. If Kevin is wrong, then he's covered in mud for nothing. If he's right, then the finish line is much, much further away than just graduation.

[rythyme]

a lot of the popular "queerbait" ships are just "these two characters are friends / they stood close together once" but every once in a while i'll stumble into an unfamiliar ship tag and see shit like "in episode 169 Scrungko gives Blorbis multiple prostate orgasms with an anal vibrator while pretending to date him" and like. idk what the hell is going on there. but if it's not queerbait then they just invented something even more insane. maybe y'all are right sometimes.

[animusrox]

[90's Sitcoms]

[radarsteddybear]

The Thunderbirds are the USAF's stunt demonstration team.  They are so cool; the stunts they do (flying upside down, flying in super tight formation, flying so super close to one another) are absolutely insane.  You can't see in the pictures, but each aircraft is painted with the image of a thunderbird on its belly, which looks so cool up in the air.  

The aircraft on top is a North American F-100D Super Sabre used by the Thunderbirds from 1964-1968.  According to Wikipedia, the Thunderbirds used to use these aircraft to create sonic booms with the permission of the air show sponsor; this practice ended when the FAA banned supersonic flight over the continental United States.  As per the NMUSAF website, "The F-100 was the world's first production airplane capable of flying faster than the speed of sound in level flight (760 mph)."

The aircraft underneath is a General Dynamics F-16A Fighting Falcon used by the Thunderbirds from 1982-1992.  The Thunderbirds now use F-16Cs (plus two F-16Ds, which is the same as the C but with two seats instead of one).  

Here's a video of the Thunderbirds performing at an air show in 2022; time stamps of note include 4:30, 6:15, 6:40, 7:46, 8:35, 9:20, 13:50, 17:40, 20:55.  Or you can watch the entire video because the whole thing is super cool :D

If you ever get to see the Thunderbirds (or go to an air show) in person, remember to bring ear plugs.  They are loud.