Mon, October 25, 2010
HOUSTON, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- The 26th annual Wings Over Houston Airshow lured visitors Saturday and Sunday with thrilling aerial performances, aerobatics and demonstrations by modern warbirds from the U.S. Air Force as well as by vintage planes from World War II.
The highlight of the airshow, one of the top five air shows in the U.S., is the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds. The show-stoppers, flying in their F-16C Fighting Falcoms, flied high and low over the crowds, giving the audience a much needed workout of their necks.
There were also enough civilian and military demonstrations to entertain the audience, including a demo of the C-17 Globemaster III, the A-10 Warthog Demo Team, the Heritage Flight, Coast Guard demo with the Dolphin Helicopter and the U.S. Navy F/A18-C Hornet.
The C-130 cargo plane flied over and did a cargo drop demonstration, which is the first for the airshow. Another first for this show is the Smoke-n-Thunder Jet Car, which can hit a speed of 400 mph in eight seconds and not leave the ground.
The annual staple is TORA!TORA!TORA! which re-enacted the U.S. entrance into World War II with the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941. This demo involved 12 vintage aircraft, including 8-10 Japanese Zeros, Vals and American fighter and bombers.
"Wings Over Houston Airshow is one of the most patriotic events in our area. We honor our servicemen and women of the past and those serving now all over the world," said Bill Roach, executive director of Wings over Houston Airshow.
The show, a non-profit community event, attacks more than 85,000 festival goers from the U.S. as well as from around the globe, organizers of the show said.
