Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s… OK, it is a plane. Lots of planes! Mather Airport was once again the venue for the California Capital Airshow that took place September 24-26. Although the wildlife of Mather Field’s Vernal Pool Preserve probably didn’t appreciate the incredible noise from the aircraft, the decibel levels certainly didn’t deter the crowds of people who gathered beside and behind the Splash Center to watch the festivities.
After the planes take off in front of the crowd at the airport, they bank to the left to circle around for another pass by the airport. As they’re circling around, the aircraft literally pass right over the Splash Center, which is only half a mile from the runways at the airport!
Some of this year’s highlights included the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, a team of 6 precision-flying F-16 fighters; the Royal Canadian Air Force Snowbirds, flying their 9 CT-114 Tutor jets in a beautiful mix of grace and precision; a U.S. Navy FA-18 Super Hornet tactical demo; the F-35A Lightning II, showing both raw power and astounding maneuverability; an old WWII P-38 Lightning; and Red Bull’s stunt plane, stunt helicopter, and skydivers.
Although there was a large crowd around the Splash Center each day of the airshow, everybody was very respectful and tidy. Splash wishes to thank our local law enforcement agencies for their presence near the Splash Center, keeping everything under control and helping to protect the nearby vernal pool grassland habitat from being trampled. There were horse-mounted officers, dirt bike-mounted officers, and officers in vehicles all circulating among the crowds.
Now that the airshow is over, the wildlife in the vernal pool grasslands can resume their normal routines and the Preserve will once again be a place of quiet, undisturbed peacefulness.