(The brief video shows an F-22 Raptor flying formation with a vintage P-51 Mustang.)
The Miramar Air Show celebrated a half century of manned space flight over the weekend, a tip of the cap to former Marine fighter pilot John Glenn, who went on to become the first American to orbit Earth. The tribute turned out to be more timely than anyone could have guessed. Midway through Sunday's show, an announcer told a crowd of 100,000 people that someone else was pushing the boundaries of flight. Austrian Felix Baumgartner had just jumped from a balloon traveling 24 miles above earth. He parachuted softly to the ground, landing in the wide open spaces of New Mexico.
The announcement came while a jet was crackling overhead at Miramar, which also was fitting; Sunday was the 65th anniversary of the day that test pilot Chuck Yeager became the first human to break the sound barrier in an aircraft. The achievement would lead to extraordinary advances in powered flight. Yeager's feat hasn't been forgotten. Volunteers at the San Diego Air & Space Museum are building a full-size replica of the Bell X-1 that Yeager rode into history. It will go on display in December. (Story)
Sunday's wrap-up of the three-day Miramar Air Show highlighted such bravado. But the focus, as always, was on demonstrating Navy, Marine and Air Force aerial firepower. The spectators who snaked through the base's gates in long lines of traffic got to see everything from a vintage P-51 long-range fighter-bomber to the MV-22 Osprey to blindingly fast F-22 Raptor and FA-18 Super Hornet. Soldiers, sailors and Marines also dropped from the sky as the military showed off its skilled at precision parachuting. The reaction could be seen in the reaction of a little boy who stood with his father on the flight line. He looked up, stuck his fingers in his ears to block the shriek of jets, and smiled.