CLEVELAND, Ohio—The Cleveland skyline will be buzzing with jets, planes, and helicopters this Labor Day weekend, as the Cleveland National Air Show will be entertaining thousands along Lake Erie.
- The USAF Thunderbirds will perform aerial acrobatics each day
- A Thunderbird pilot says being selected as a Thunderbird is a difficult process
- The show starts Saturday morning at 9:30, and runs all day until 4:30 p.m., from Saturday until Labor Day
A crowd favorite is the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, who are very excited to show off their skills.
Each afternoon they will perform their aerial acrobatics and complete the show.
“Over the Labor Day weekend, you are going to get an amazing show… you're gonna see teamwork at its very finest from our aircraft coming together in the Thunderbird diamond formation, which is 1 through 4 that will do some amazing formation work, and then you will see 5 and 6 with their solo maneuvers, where they showcase the maximum performance capabilities of these F-16 fighting Falcons,” said Major Ray Geoffroy, Thunderbird 12.
Geoffroy says that being selected for the Thunderbirds is a difficult process.
“First of all, our pilots have to have 750 hours in a fighter aircraft…most of them have more than that,” said Geoffroy.
And then there’s the training.
“The training process takes approximately three months, where we start a lot higher and a lot farther apart,” said Geoffroy. “As they progress through that training syllabus, they’ll get closer and closer and lower and lower until you get a demonstration like you are going to see this weekend.”
According to Geoffroy, being a Thunderbird takes a lot of patience, a lot of training, and a decent amount of fitness.
“It’s a truly intense athletic experience,” said Geoffroy. “The F-16 Fighting Falcon is an amazing, capable aircraft… it can do everything from a negative 3 G’s on your body to a positive 9 G’s on your body, and during the demonstration, you will get a feel for a lot of that.”
Geoffroy says although the process is challenging at first, the pilots are highly experienced and used to working through it.
“We practice them specifically with these kind of maneuvers, get a feel for it, but to give you an idea, especially when you are on those heavy G pulls, a 9 G pull… take your body weight, multiply that by nine, so that kinda feels like an elephant just sitting on your chest, so it’s very hard to breathe doing some certain techniques to keep blood up in your head so you can stay alert and focused and continue with the mission,” said Geoffrey.
If you are thinking about heading out to the Air Show, it begins Saturday morning at 9:30, and runs all day until 4:30 p.m., from Saturday until Labor Day.
“It’s gonna be loud… intense… it’s gonna be a lot of fun; it’s going to be a great show… we are really excited to be here,” said Geoffroy.
For more information, visit the Cleveland Air Show’s website.
