One Sunday in June, we drove to Lillestrøm, Norway to watch an Air Show. If I remember correctly, it was the first air show I’ve been to. Carl was excited to go and been telling me trivia and stuff about aviation and planes even days before. The Air Show in Kjeller Air Force Base (flyplass) is a an annual show exhibiting veteran and some modern aircrafts, with a demonstration line up.

This year, they had the F-16 fighter plane in the lineup, as well as JAS Gripen, Saab SK 60, Spitfire, Mustang, and Hercules. It is visited by hundreds of people every June. The gate opened at 10 am, with the official opening at 12 noon, and the start of the demonstrations at 1pm. There’s a bit of walking from the parking lots to the show ground. We paid for our tickets via Vipps, swam our way through the crowd, found nice spot, set up our camping chairs and enjoyed the exciting show.

The organizers were also celebrating the 111th year in operation of Kjeller Airport. So, the show started with a three veterans parachuting. They were amazing! Unfortunately, a ground crew was hit by one of them during landing. It was a sad accident to begin with.

***Edit: (Later, the organizer informed through their website that the said crew was sent to the hospital and lost his life the following day. It was sad news.)

I guess the main star of the show was the F-16. The Lockheed Martin F-16 is an American single-engine supersonic multirole fighting jet that the Norwegian military has used for years, from 1980 until its phase-out in 2022. 74 F-16 jets was acquired by the Norwegian Air Force. F-16 was then replaced by the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II. While waiting for it, we saw several demos and formations by other interesting aircrafts.

The audience was advised to use earpods during the F-16’s demo. It sounded like thunder and was harmful to the ears. Everybody was awed by it, as it roared across the sky.

Here’s a short video with original sound:

If we were to go to an Air Show again, we would probably bring our own drinks and snacks. There were so many people.. We didn’t finish the show, but I’m sure the other aircrafts were as interesting. Here’s this year’s program: https://www.flydagen.com/program.

They also had an interview with a Swedish aviation veteran:

Anyway, summer is about to end and I’m excited for it to come back next year :’-) #spreadloveandpositivevibes. ALL PHOTOS AND VIDEOS ON THIS BLOG ENTRY ARE MINE. 🙂 Cheers!