I have been yelled at by mom, my wife, my daughter and many other ladies but I am going to nominate Lauren Schlichting as the loudest
That’s US Air Force Major Lauren Schlichting.
We were at the Sun n Fun Airshow in Lakeland, FL yesterday. The last mile to the parking lot took us 90 minutes, the grounds were soft from days of rain and sure enough we got stuck in the parking lot mud till help arrived 90 minutes later. So, I was arranging for our tickets when the Thunderbirds show had already started. With my back to them, I was left shaking like a leaf by the loudest sound I have ever heard. So was Margaret 30 feet away and everyone else around us.
The Thunderbirds had flown directly over us in their F-16s. They can technically reach speeds of Mach 2 though in airshows they stay below Mach 1. But it sure felt like a sonic boom had hit us. And Major Schlichting, in her first year as a Thunderbird is the right wing pilot in the diamond foursome formation. It's precision flying - she is often only 18-inches from the lead jet. 2 other solos make up the aerobatic team of 6.
Two weeks ago, I had the chance to see the US Navy’s Blue Angels in their F-18 Super Hornets - see my write up here. Each has their fans. Navy v Air Force. Super Hornet v Fighting Falcon. My wife likes the Thunderbirds jet livery more.
This video is a nice compilation of both the Thunderbirds and the Blue Angels. Mercifully, they rarely fly together – imagine those roars if they were to try to out-hotdog each other.
You may enjoy my Instagram gallery of 10 photos from the event.
Oh, and btw the Major’s pilot call sign is “Threat”. Don’t piss her off 😊
Comments