Thunderbirds, Hornet, Harriers, warbirds all dazzle at L.A. County Air Show Published March 24, 2015 By Rebecca Amber Staff writer LANCASTER, Calif. -- All eyes were on the sky at the second annual L.A. County Air Show March 21-22. The festivities started the night before with a pyrobatic night show and concert featuring country artist Craig Morgan at the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds. The next morning, the skies were clear and welcoming as people flooded into William J. Fox Airfield. The show featured acts like Gene Soucy in his highly-modified Grumman ShowCat and his partner Teresa Stokes, a professional wing walker and aviation artist. Rosamond resident Chuck Coleman in his German-made Extra 300L, offered a taste of local talent. The military was represented by the U.S. Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet demonstration team, the U.S. Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier II, and the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds. Among the exhibitors were static displays of warbirds, a drone demonstration cage, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics education tents and mobile stables for the Budweiser Clydesdales. The NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB also hosted a tent with displays about Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, flight opportunities, life support, next generation aircraft and more. After participating in the history panel each day of the show, Air Force Col. Roderick Cregier, F-35 director at Edwards AFB, joined Maj. Logan Lamping, 416th Flight Test Squadron and F-35 test pilot, at the P-38 National Association booth. The two signed lithographs of the P-38 and F-35 with Paul Meier, who was a pilot with the 474th Fighter Group in Europe during WWII. "I've been surprised how many of the kids have said Math and Science are their favorite subjects. Hopefully they're looking at this as an inspiration," said Lamping. The main event of the day was the U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron, better known as the Thunderbirds, flying the F-16 Fighting Falcon. The team travels with eight jets, six of which perform in the show. Thunderbird 1, Lt. Col. Christopher Hammond, is the commander/leader for the team. "We are humbled and honored to be here in Lancaster; it's been nothing but a great venue so far," said Hammond. "The support has been incredible and it's a great opportunity for us to represent the nearly 700,000 Airmen out there [in the world]. We hope to do that adequately and show Lancaster and all of California the incredible Airmen we have in our service." Thunderbird 3, Capt. Alexander Goldfein, is new to the team. After 10 years of active duty service, this is his first season with the squadron, serving as the right wing pilot. For Goldfein, military service is a family legacy; he is the sixth Air Force officer and fifth fighter pilot. "I saw how much they enjoyed flying in the Air Force, serving the country. I knew from early on this is what I wanted to do," said Goldfein. Without much prior experience, he learned to fly in the Air Force Academy. He moved to Las Vegas and joined the Thunderbirds after flying the F-15C out of Kadena Air Base in Japan. "This job is a pretty amazing transition," he said. "A lot of us come from different backgrounds and have to get comfortable with the new jet. Then everything we do is very, very different than what everybody else does. It's a pretty intense program." For Goldfein, the most challenging part of his training was being so close to the other jets. There is generally around six to eight feet between aircraft, but during the diamond formation, the wing tips will actually overlap side-to-side. "That's going to be safe because we're going to be aft and a little bit low," he said. The other thing that makes the job challenging is the sheer repetition of it. The team flies twice a day, five days a week. "It's pretty exhausting flying, we are really mentally and physically focused the whole time. You can't really relax. Getting over that initially was really tough." Goldfein couldn't do his job without his dedicated crew chief, Senior Airman Ariel Audet and assistant crew chief Staff Sgt. Jason Festog. They are responsible for the daily maintenance of the jet. According to Goldfein, during the show, they do 90 percent of the work. "Most of the time I'm just sitting in the seat flipping a few switches while they're going to be doing all the hard work down there getting these jets to run," said Goldfein. Audet has been with the Thunderbirds for just over a year and the team has become like a big family. For her, the most exciting part of the show is watching the jets land and knowing they had a great show. "It's a good pride for America," she said. "Seeing the jets all come down, it really does make you feel good being a part of this... [Joining the Air Force] is definitely one of the best decisions I've made in my life. I really enjoy my job." According to Goldfein, the squadron is around 130 strong. There are 12 officers on the team and the first six perform in the show. It takes a lot more than just flying to put on a demonstration like the Thunderbirds do, that's where the other officers and enlisted Airmen come in. There are 60-70 enlisted individuals at any given show site doing all the behind-the-scenes work like running the music and maintaining the jets. "If you're proud of the Air Force and proud of our country, this is just an unbelievable job to go out and do that," said Goldfein. "It's not really tactical flying per say and that's what the Air Force prides itself in. But at the same time, it's pretty unique and interesting to go out and inspire the next round of people to go do that job, because we can't do it forever." To learn more about the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds of view their 2015 show schedule, visit http://afthunderbirds.com