N'Awlins Airshow 2009

I have a two-year-old who thinks "loud" and "fast" are two adjectives that should always be used together.

We discovered this when, kind of on a whim, we took him to the Sertoma Air Show in Lafayette in November of last year. Okay...daddy and his Papi really wanted to go, so we dragged mom and Ma'am along with us. That meant the that soon-to-be two-year-old was coming, like it or not.

And like it he did! He was infatuated with the planes, a little intimidated by the noise of the military hardware but really in to it. As each plane would taxi on to the runway, he'd wave to it and let everyone who cared to listen know that planes go "bye-bye."

So, with a chance to take him to a real military airshow, I couldn't resist.

The drive to New Orleans was well worth the show we got to see at the 2009 N'Awlins Airshow, held at NAS JRB New Orleans, in Belle Chasse. After we parked (like 200 meters from the flight line) and cleared security (which saw us in line for all of about 3 minutes), we set lawn chairs out at air show center (no kidding--we beat the Sunday crowd by going on Saturday...who'd have thought??) and immediately were treated to flyovers from a B-52 and a B-2 Spirit. Not that he'll remember it, but the boy will probably never see a B-52 in the air again and the historical importance of that plane cannot be overstated.

The rest of the show was great! The Blue Angels were the headline performer but, and I hate to say this, the Air Force really snuck one in on 'em. In addition to flying the two heavies over (the B-2 is otherworldly in appearance), the Air Force's Viper East demo unit, flying the F-16, was killer!! But the real draw was the chance to see these guys in the air:

I probably would have driven a lot farther than New Orleans to see the Raptor fly...and I would have been rewarded for the time and mileage invested. To say that you can't imagine a plane doing things that this one does is an understatement. The Laws of Physics really get back-burnered when this thing is in the air. As the boy so eloquently put it (in two-year-old speak), "loud planes go fast-fast!!"

Totally and completely a wonderful, enjoyable Saturday--I got to spend the day with my son and my mom and dad (the wife was contributing to the financial well-being of the American Left by attending Jazz Fest) and the boy got exposed to some of the men, women and material that have helped defend this country and guarantee our freedoms.

Which is where it gets pretty melancholy.

Because the current administration really doesn't value our armed forces, the job they perform or the important place they occupy in securing our liberties, they're getting their financial legs cut out from beneath them. Those of us not serving generally don't see that and wouldn't give it much thought otherwise, but it was made apparent when I found out that this could possibly be the last airshow at NAS New Orleans for some time.

It seems that the Navy, who's dealing with a quickly shrinking budget, may have to curtail the number of airshows they host. In one of the best ways for the public to see what their tax dollars are buying and interact with the men and women serving them, the airshow is a no-brainer from an expense perspective...yet, the Obama clowns are basically saying screw the military. So, the military is going to be a in a crunch.

And the public, my son included, are losing out.