I decided to head to our local air show at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson called the Arctic Thunder Open House. They hold it every couple years and last time my daughter and I decided to skip it and let the males in our family have a day together but this year we both wanted to go so we all packed up our lawn chairs, hats, sunscreen and ear plugs and headed to the show. I decided to utilize our time at the show to practice my high speed photography and I was pleasantly surprised with my results. But first let me tell you a little about the show and the set up. If you are ever around an air base when a show is occuring and have any interest in the planes I highly suggest you take the day and go. There are alot of people but there is also alot of fun activities happening and not just for the adults. They usually have an area set up for fun kids stuff as well. Ours also had the biggest food court I have seen. We showed up around 9am and stayed for the full day, I think we were pulling out of the parking lot at 5pm. So for us it was an all day affair but it was worth the time.

In general air shows include not just military aviation but also some local stunt pilots as well. Each piece of the show brought it own uniqueness to it and always left you impressed with both the aircraft's capabilities as well as the pilots. While I photographed everything I could I was only able to get clear photos of the military planes. Here are some of the shots I was able to get.

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The planes ranged in size from small to massive. I caught these(both the upper and lower photo) during a multi-service demonstration.

It is amazing to watch these service members work!

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The picture below is of a harrier jet, I believe it is manly used by the Navy/Marines. This guy was really cool as it did the fly bys and then it hovered by the crowd.

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Of course the headliners of the show were the United States Thunderbirds and what a show they put on!

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It was truly an a great day watching impressive machines and  truly amazing individuals who choose to be part of the 1% that stand and defend our country. I am thankful to be given the opportunity to watch the airshow but I am even more thankful for the service members who live the military life day in and day out. Thank you!