OCEAN CITY, Md. - Jets ripping through the Ocean City air brought all eyes to the sky during this weekend’s air show in Ocean City, where thousands of people lined the beach, boardwalk, and ocean to watch the United States Air Force Thunderbirds and France’s Patrouille de France fly overhead.
The OC Air Show featured aerial maneuvers ranging from flips and turns, parachuting from West Point, high-speed flyovers that called for the use of afterburners, along with parachuters and other aerial artwork from the Patrouille de France.
Among those gathered along the boardwalk was Job Chowadee, who says the louder the aircraft, the better.
“I also love the Thunderbirds, you know that's my favorite,” Chowadee says. “I saw them one time in Atlantic City that was a while ago, maybe 10 plus years ago. And the air show is as good as always.”
While the air show was already a spectacle for many in Ocean City, pilots who CoastTV spoke with on Wednesday at Wallops Island say this year’s event carried a special significance as part of celebrations marking America’s 250th anniversary.
“250 years of America is a huge celebration for us. Really, really proud of that,” Thunderbird Pilot No. 1 Alex Prevendar tells CoastTV.
Prevendar says the precision flying displayed during the show requires months of preparation and complete trust among team members.
“It takes a significant amount of time and energy and practice to be able to fly 18 inches apart from each other, so that way we have the blind trust, not only the team has blind trust in me that I'm going to do the maneuvers that I say I'm going to do,” Prevendar says.
Pilots from the Patrouille de France echoed those sentiments, saying that despite being separated from the United States by the same ocean they would be flying over together, participating in the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations was an honor.
“That will be our first air show in the United States, so really excited, a little bit of pressure from us to represent the French wings in the U.S., but we have the chance to be with our friends, the Thunderbirds, so super excited,” says Major Brice of the Patrouille de France.
Pierre Gaudilliere, General of the Patrouille de France, also shared with CoastTV during Wednesday's debriefing that the opportunity was a delight.
"They're ready. They're so ready," says General Gaudilliere. "The pressure is something that fighter pilots and military people are trained for, accustomed to, and as it goes for the Patrouille de France, actually, they have, much similarly, they have the whole winter to train, (and) rehearse their performance."
From American thunder to French precision, the skies above Ocean City became a celebration 250 years in the making.
