After a several year hiatus, the Quad City Airshow was back in the summer of 2019! We were pretty excited to have it back - but even more excited when we heard that the Navy Blue Angels would be a part of the show!
On Saturday, we headed over to Matt's old work building, just south of the airport. It is a great viewing area for the high aerial shows as well as the Blue Angels.
It was very hot, but we wanted to be outside to see the show. We decided to pass some time playing with the volleyball.
Kaitee - the smart one! She found a shade tree and lounged.
Here come the Blue Angels!
We've watched their show enough times to know that you ALWAYS look for the missing plane - the one that usually gets you with a sneak attack! We were continually searching the skies and counting.
There he is! The sneak attacker - the one that you never expect to see (and if you hear it...it's too late!). He comes in really low and REALLY fast! Check out the Vapor Cone under the wings and belly of the jet.
Our reactions say it all!!
One final fly by in their pyramid formation as they finish their performance.
On Sunday, we decided to stick close to the other airport, where the Blue Angels park for the weekend. They take off and fly back to this airport before/after every show.
There was quite the crowd, all waiting to see the pilots as they boarded their jets.We watched for a while - in awe of the precision of the pilots and crew members.
The pilots formed a line and walked in step to their jets. As each pilot passed their jet, they would peel off the line and wait at the bottom of the ladder until all 6 pilots were ready to board their jet. They then climbed their ladders in unison. Amazing to watch!
We drove over to the west side of the airport and waited to watch the jets take off for their show. We didn't get any pictures because Matt was taking video (which ended up pretty blurry). A bit later, we headed to the east side of the airport and waited (with a small crowd) for them to arrive back at the airport after their show. Wow - was it worth the wait!
They flew overhead in formation - just 5 of them. We never did hear what happened to the 6th jet. They did a fly by and then circled back around, landing one at a time.
Kaitee kept waving to the pilots. The other three kept making fun of her "Why do you keep waving at them, they can't see you...they are busy trying to land a jet!!"
These pictures gave Kaitee all the proof she needed!!
After a few minutes, we got to meet all 7 of the pilots. They handed out pictures than gave autographs, took pictures and answered questions for 20 minutes or so. A special time for sure.
Kaitee & Will enjoyed meeting (and getting pictures) with all of the pilots. Maddie & Alex were content to hang back and look, haha. We did ask them to take one picture with all of them. It was so much easier when they were little!
We thanked them for an awesome show and then headed out to the west end to watch them take off for home (Pensacola, FL). As we were sitting there, I noticed that the flight pattern had changed. The planes were coming and going in the opposite direction (from when we'd watched the Blue Angels earlier). We decided to head over to the east side and watch. We got lucky!
Goodbye, until next time!
