Estimated 30,000 attend two-day air show

Staff photo: Kevin Wilson

Jonathan Jones and his daughter, 7-year-old Jayliana Jones, watch the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds overhead during the Cannon Air Force Base Air Show Sunday. The Thunderbirds flew an hour early due to inclement weather approaching, but the family enjoyed the show nonetheless.

CANNON AIR FORCE BASE — The weather might have had the final say on the schedule, but organizers for the 2016 Cannon Air Force Base Air Show couldn’t have been happier with everything else.

Capt. Jonathan Welch served as ground boss, one of three commanders for the show along with the air boss and the show director. He said an estimated 30,000 people came during the show’s two days — 18,000 on a sunny Saturday and 12,000 on an overcast Sunday.

Both days featured a similar schedule, with static displays, demonstrations and a show-stopping performance from the Thunderbirds demonstration team. The biggest difference was that inclement weather pushed the show to conclude an hour early, with some of the breaks taken out and the Thunderbirds moved to 2 p.m.

Those who saw the loud, high-flying act enjoyed the show all the same. Jonathan Jones and Rosana Romero, who have been together for eight years, took their children to the event — 4-year-old daughter Jayliana Jones and 7-year-old son Jevon Romero.

“It’s amazing,” Rosana said. “It made me want to cry at times. I liked it so much.”

Jevon said he liked the plane crosses, particularly the knife pass when two of the F-16 jets passed each other on their sides.

As vendors broke down their booths around 3:30, the rain started falling the hardest and it was clear the call to compact the schedule was the right one.

“We knew about an hour or two out,” Welch said. “(With) weather on retainer, it really helps to have meteorologists here. I’m happy we got to get all the performances in before it happened.”

Welch, who noted every attempt was made by narrators and on social media to make people aware of the schedule changes, was conflicted about the weather. He wasn’t happy to see people leaving earlier than planned, but there was a palpable relief that the weather forced people to move out efficiently and make take-down easier for the vendors.

The air show featured crews from as far as Washington, Nebraska and Florida, with the Las Vegas, Nevada Thunderbirds the biggest draw.

“They help with recruitment, not just for getting the public here, but getting people interested in (joining) the Air Force,” Welch said. “People are very excited to see a show like that. (They make) the difference between an open house and an actual air performance.”

Tech Sgt. Christopher Boitz, one of three enlisted photojournalists for the Thunderbirds unit, said while he knows the show routine, every crowd makes the experience a unique one.

“It’s pretty awesome,” Boitz said of his job. “You get to see all of the crowd excited. We are trying to entertain, demonstrate the air power and show off the Air Force.”