http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/webpo ... mValue=183

I'm torn, but I'm gonna say crap. The jets were just flying by our windows a few minutes ago.

ahh... i cross-posted in the general forum about this.

i have to say i'm torn. totally NOT CRAP in that it's the only time i've ever been able to see military jets circliing over my hometown, chicago. and i love seeing that. and hearing it. huge fan.

then, also, CRAP in the sense that i cannot begin to imagine how much money it costs to plan out the patterns, pay the pilots, pay for the fuel, pay for the maintenance, all that kinda shit... it has to cost a *ton* of money. i realize there's probably some revenue that comes in a as a result, all the folks heading down to the lake to watch the show are probably buying drinks and stuff. but still, i have to wonder about how much money gets pumped into these kinda shows, which i think are ultimately designed to get people riled up all jingo-like.

i'm going with NOT CRAP. i love watching military jets flying, especially when they're passing right next to the hancock and sears tower.

There is something very cool about seeing them scream by the buildings... I cannot deny.

I vote "meh" for the show itself. They stable most of the military gear at Gary airport though, and hanging out outside there watching takeoffs and landings can be pretty cool. Don't know if they're planning on having any of the vintage bombers this year, but if you've never seen a B-17 or B-24 takeoff and you're a plane nut, then you're missing something truely rare and special. Our country built hundreds of 'em for the war effort and there's what? Maybe 2 of each that can still fly? I'm not Capt. Patriotism by any stretch of the imagination, but seeing the ol' girls get up reminds me what folks from my dad's generation had to go through in the prime of their lives, and makes me wonder if I'm as strong as some of them clearly were. There are no windows in the side of B-24. Open air and flak at a few thousand feet was probably no fun at all.... (not that having your city obliterated was a picnic, mind you, but still...)

BadComrade wrote:I'm guessing you're new to Chicago toomanyhelicoptors?

naw, born and raised. i was sitting outside the Music Box about 4 years ago, waiting to see a film (i wanna say it was "divided we fall"), while the airshow was going on. i got to see some fighters looping over the area, and thought it was cool as shit. i've known about the airshow for a long time, but haven't really seen much of it in the past years since i gained an appreciation for aircraft. and the view of downtown from my Ukrainian Village rooftop is incredible, so if i'm around on sunday, i'll definitely be up there watching the show. no fucking way could you get me to do to the lake to see it. no way!

fucking crap. no waffles.

it's absolutely retarded to have those dudes flying that low & that fast over chicago. or any major metropolis. no matter how skilled the pilots are, mistakes happen.

http://www.univers-cite.qc.ca/tucs/crash_video/

i don't want a mistake in my city.

not to mention that i work 3 blocks from the sears tower & it scares the 9/11 out of me whenever the planes swoop through.

not to mention that the lakefront bike path is crowded enough on the weekend without 2,000,000 fucking chumpy cats hanging out.



i would have absolutely no problem with this air show were it held in the middle of nowhere.

crap

the crafts are impressive. since they're up there anyway, i watch them when i'm downtown.

but as mentioned:

a) why risk it, and

b) i believe it does glorify war

crap

the crafts are impressive. since they're up there anyway, i watch them when i'm downtown.

but as mentioned:

a) why risk it, and

b) i believe it does glorify war

Perfectly distilled. Those are the same reasons why I vote crap in the end... even though the little kid in me sees the jets flying by and I'm all like: "Coooooool!" -- the truth is that they're killing machines.

Amuse yourself sometime by researching the fuel consumption of a fighter jet such as an F-16. How wasteful and gross.

Then amuse yourself by guessing how many people will die when one of the jets crashes into a downtown Chicago office building during a pre-show exercise. What an unnecessary and thoughtless risk.

CRAP

Is there a band named "Air Show Disaster"? I'd go see that band.

Sideshow Bob wrote:
Air show? Buzz-cut Alabamians spewing colored smoke from their whiz jets to the strains of "Rock You Like A Hurricane?" What kind of countrified rube is still impressed by that?

CRAP