Dover AFB Airshow
Prose: Nicholas Pascarella
Photography: Nicholas Pascarella, James Woodard
For a few years, I was at every airshow I could possibly attend. Things were obviously altered by the pandemic and the skies became very quiet, but since then, the spring of regrowth was pressed upon us, and the world seemed to accelerate back to speed without asking permission. The artist formerly known as 'normal' felt foreign, and what was foreign felt hopeless. Old standards of personal measurement such as social stamina, mental health, and energy levels needed to be entirely scrapped in favor of relearning my entire constitution. Starting over from a dead stop is challenging.
Life demands engulfed me, and quickly, I found myself squinting into the rear view to see the last proper airshow I attended; Dover AFB, 2019. Fittingly, the first airshow I was able to attend post-Covid hibernation, was Dover AFB, 2022. Even more fittingly, as I was being kicked out of the Air Mobility Command (AMC) Museum parking lot due to the museum closing halfway through the Thunderbirds' Friday practice show, I literally saw the Thunderbirds in my rear view mirror three times as I drove slowly off base. I pulled out my camera and tried to get a shot of it to no avail, but that's an image that will be seared into my mind's eye for a long time. I was once more bathed in jet noise.
I got in early Saturday for the show and was quickly overwhelmed. The sun was withering. The crowds spiked my anxiety, and I found myself giving up shot opportunities to escape to less congested and cooler areas, unfortunately often independant of each other. A number of times during the day, I had to sit in a chair Zulu graciously set up for me and close my eyes, breathing slowly, keeping camera and all exposed skin within the shade of my dad hat. Our cell phones started overheating and shutting down. A few good friends came close to heat stroke baking in the sun and had to escape to the refuge of a car's AC or one of the few open buildings.
But my goodness, what a treat to once again be in the presence of such incredible flying. The list of performers was stunning, punctuated by the co-headlining jet demo teams of the Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds. The Black Daggers dropped in with the flag to start the show, circled by Rob Holland. Watching Rob Holland flip and spin his aircraft impossibly against the direction of travel and all the laws of physics and reason was simply astounding, so much so that I only ended up taking a few photos of his performance, utterly transfixed by the precision. An Osprey displayed the unique characteristics of its flight envelope. The heavies of Dover, the C-17 and C-5, shredded the sky, and the American Airpower Museum brought their Avenger, Mustang and WWII-veteran C-47 for the warbird review. "Panchito" - everyone's favorite east coast B-25 - went up and made a few simulated bomb runs on the field.
Extreme Flight raged around in the show box in his Pitts, and in between everything, Precision Exotics brought a Ferrari, McLaren, Aston Martin, Lamborghini, and other assorted supercars that routinely hit 200mph on the runway with happy passengers. VMA-231 brought in one of their Harriers and assualted everyone's eardrums on the flightline, doing their Harrier thing straight to the moon from a stoic hover 20 feet above the runway. Oh, and a B-2 made a few passes on Saturday. Quite an aviation shmorgasboard for us to shoot; hampered significantly by the heat haze, but a treat nonetheless.
In an ever-changing world, one thing seems to remain constant: flying is cool. And if the old saying 'the only constant is change' holds true, the flying seems to have gotten even better. That might explain why we all missed the second T-birds sneak pass. Keep looking up, y'all.
