Heard about all the people pulling off onto the shoulder of LSD to watch the show this year...first time for a Friday. The picture below is the only part I've seen from GE so far in the YMCA district. Perhaps the CLEA had a better view.

I'm guessing this is a B-1B Bomber...First two pictures are mine, third one is for comparison.

Those must be real X-Wing aircraft, probably can't be seen by radar.

My husband spent the day downtown on our boat yesterday and he said it was boring. He's hoping it gears up today. The Friday show must not have as much stuff as the rest of the weekend because we usually go every year and he loves it.

I'm heading down today with the kids so I hope it's a good show!

Saw two B-1's fly over at the Wheaton cruise last night.

Husband and son were down at North Ave beach all day yesterday and said it was a blast, kwel and rocked. So much so the went down again this morning. You'll have a blast today AmyFamily!

stupid image shack...the image links are good, but for some reason not showing up on the message board...try these:

my pics




off the internet for comparison...

Stealth totally still gives me goosebumps and the Blue Angels were AMAZING. Now, seasickness...that's a whole different story. Should have stayed on land, I think.

I just happened to be in the city on Thursday; a friend of mine, visiting from Australia, was here, her first time in Chicago. So we were strolling along, had lunch with older son who has an apartment down there, then we all went to Oak Street Beach because she just can't believe that a city the size of Chicago has an actual beach right in the middle of it. She's never seen the Great Lakes before, either, and was pretty impressed.

Anyway, we were sitting there and suddenly the Blue Angels screamed up and over, practicing their show, totally taking our breath away. When it was over, I turned to her and said, "See how happy we are to see you? Chicago always does this for out of town visitors."

Anyway, it was lots of fun to experience that, totally unexpected. Topped off a great day in the city.

We watched parts of the Air Show from Wrigley today as we took in the High School All-Star game. Even the little that we saw was awesome, especially the Blue Angels.

A few years back my husband and I spent a Friday in the city without the kids and we ended up near North Avenue Beach when they were practicing the show. It was a wonderful surprise.

Anyone see this in the Sunday Trib? It's enough to make me cancel my subscription being that the Perspective Editor had written it. My response follows after this...

Ground military air show
By Colin McMahon
August 17, 2008
A colleague and I, both just back from another reporting stint in Iraq, were sipping cold beers on a hot summer day, waiting for lunch at a sidewalk cafe in Old Town, when the first of the F/A-18s screamed overhead.

We ducked, more a flinch than a dive under the table, but enough so you'd notice. We waited, a familiar sense of dread creeping in. And then, when nothing bad happened except another deafening flyover, we looked at each other, both a bit sheepish, and forced tight smiles.

What the ...? Aw, hell, the air show.

That's the day I turned against the summer spectacle of boats and planes and tricks and thrills that is punctuated by martial exhibitionism and defined by the exorbitant, exuberant burning of fossil fuels.



Did we really have to show off this military stuff for sport?

Here we were, toasting our firepower even as young American men and women were dying at sickening rates in a foreign land. Oohing and aahing on the beach while the very types of warplanes we were celebrating were inflicting horror on some good, innocent people—not merely on the bad guys.

It seemed beyond anachronistic. It seemed perverse. And it was freaking me out.

That was a couple of years ago. But even if the roar of the Blue Angels no longer bedevils me, I remain convinced that the militaristic aspects of the Chicago Air & Water Show should be accorded honors and laid to rest. Especially today, with jet fuel costing what it does and all of us trying to consume less energy.

There is a place for the best weapons and the best pilots the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marines can produce. But it's not in the skies above Chicago. It's a dark, knotty place, full of dangers and challenges and anguish, and we thank those men and women who wade into that place on our behalf.

But if we want to honor American bravery, we don't do it by lying on the beach, raising a beer and letting out a "woo-hoo" as a $40 million killing machine does loops overhead.

It's a thrill, sure. But in the ways that matter, it's a cheap one.

Colin McMahon, a former foreign correspondent, is Perspective editor.

cmcmahon@tribune.com

MY RESPONSE TO THE TRIB (Voice of the People)...
Notice how the liberal-minded refer to these planes as "killing machines" or "machines of war" or "weapons". These planes are what protect the United States on a daily basis. Where do you think we'd be today without such a fleet? Furthermore, Colin McMahon's opinion is grossly one-sided and irresponsible: "There is a place for the best weapons and the best pilots...But it's not in the skies above Chicago. It's a dark, knotty place, full of dangers and challenges and anguish..." So the Chicago Tribune Perspective editor seems to think these planes have NOTHING to do with protecting the shores of the United States and that their sole purpose is going off to war? Well, I'd like to point out that I'm a six-year veteran of the United States Marine Corps who provided Avionics support on the F/A-18 fleet (including the Blue Angels) right here in the U.S. Therefore, it gives me great pride to be able to share a glimpse of these beautiful MACHINES OF PROTECTION (and of my past) with my wife and children who'd never have an opportunity to see these planes other than within a Hollywood production that's usually about, you've guessed it, WAR.

Oh stop yourself.

They are simply attempting to manufacture controversy. The sole attempt is to get a rise out of the rednecks to get them to overreact and write some letters to the editor. I'm sure they are hoping there are some threats of bodily harm, some correlation to Iraq and for good measure...some right-wing Jesus talk.

While having a pik-nik out at Cantigny yesterday, an F-18 screamed over our heads twice. The first time startled us to say the least, yet the second was a huge thrill. What a great treat on such a beautiful day! My kids loved it!

The air'n'water show is a great way for the military to show off the equipment you bought with your taxes. Beyond the speed and sound thrills associated with this spectacle, it also helps to showcase the talents in the pilots and crews that we have developed in our services' ranks. (Cue patriotic music).

bates, the tribune columnist is simply exercising his FREEDOM OF SPEECH by writing a differing opinion...and clearly your experience gives you a different view point!

The wasting fuel argument is a pretty clueless one. Trust me...they are going to be flying them regardless of whether it is in front of a zillion people on the lake shore or audienceless in the middle of Iowa. That's what the armed forces do...fly planes, practice shooting, drive tanks. They don't sit around collecting dust.

quote:

Originally posted by howdy60137:
bates, the tribune columnist is simply exercising his FREEDOM OF SPEECH by writing a differing opinion...and clearly your experience gives you a different view point!

Howdy, I just logged on to say the exact thing you wrote!

Yep, and who gives us that freedom?

I think it was Al Gore when he invented the internet...

quote:

Originally posted by US4:
Yep, and who gives us that freedom?

For about the past 45 years it's been our overwhelming wealth, technology and educational systems. The people/corporations responsible for the above ensure our freedom by managing, as much as possible, our position as the global leader in these areas. When a rogue country gets out of line... then yes, our government sends out the strongarms to protect these "freedoms".