Thunder Over Dalhart Took To The Skies this weekend
There's nothing like getting out and enjoying some of the smaller towns here in the Texas Panhandle and for me the trip took me just a little over an hour up north to the Thunder Over Dalhart Airshow. The first annual event wasn't a disappointment and the biannual event is definitely a must add to your calendar.
The morning of didn't start off too promising, Got into my car and started looking at the overcast skies and just the general feeling of "They're gonna get rained out." I figured, well I'll just go anyway, I'm sure the displays will still be great. The drive itself turned out to be just fine, it was nice seeing folks fishing along the Canadian River and there's just something about seeing the six flags in Dumas that keep that Texan pride in check too. I'll admit, they might need new flags... some of 'em... lookin' a little rough.
The Airshow
What I loved was the price, $15.00 got you parking and the airshow was free... I don't really care how you break it down, that's pretty good for what you got out there, especially when I drive up and saw an A-10 flying by only to be greeted by this. By the way big shout out to the Commemorative Air Force Blastards for making it seem so real.
For the most part the experience was great! The only downer of the day was a couple of sprinkles but they kept things moving along nicely, at one point there was some concern about one of the parachutists landing in the crowd because of the wind, he didn't but its always nice to see them nail the landing:
My personal favorites were seeing the P-51 Mustang which is one of my favorite WWII era fighter/escorts.
and the F/A-18 which is one of the Navy's prize fighters of today, seen here about to break the sound barrier at nearly 800 miles per hour.
Food and vendors are what you would expect at a bigger city air show and the prices were reasonable. There were plenty of kids activities and of course for any teen considering a military career, plenty of chances to enlist. Considering this was the first Airshow the fine people at the Dalhart Chamber of Commerce pulled off, I'd say they had a winner, Can't wait till 2023!
Here's a few more pictures from my camera.