Luke Days 2024

[BoundingOverwatch]

My thoughts, in no particular order:

- Yeah the parking situation was not ideal. If you are going to charge me $50 for parking, can you at least make it go smoothly? I thought I was going to have to settle for sub-par seating since it took so long to park, and I got there 15 minutes after the lots opened. The Blue lot seemed to me to be the move since I figured the crowd would overwhelm the shuttles, and I guess it panned out. But next time I may risk ride-sharing (takers, anyone?)
- the show center filled up fast, so I elected to go to the far left...which ended up being right in front of a bus route that seemed determined to try and ruin shots. Thankfully, it never actually did, and being at the far left put me in the perfect position to capture flare shots.
- I did not appreciate how big this show was, footprint wise. I only saw half the statics since I forget they were almost half a mile across the airshow, and I didn't even feel that bad since I realized I didn't have the appetite to walk another 1 mile round trip that day. (I think I racked up 7.5 miles total)
- I have often been disappointed by airpower demos, since they seems to either fly too far away or just want to 'check the block' for a demo. The 56th FW did much more than 'check the block' and gave a demo that seemed to be built from the ground up to be cool. Was definitely a highlight of the show.
- A-10 and F-35 seemed to perform a bit farther away than I would have liked, but still got some good angles.
- The F-35 demo team has accepted the gauntlet given by the F-22 demo team in regards to flare usage, and that was another highlight of the show.
- I dipped half way through the thunderbirds, because I realized if I did not I would be overwhelmed by a horde of people all trying to leave, parking lot Blue would descend into anarchy, and I would spend at least two hours in traffic. It was the right choice since I was able to get out of Phoenix entirely about an hour and half after I left the show line.

Overall: the performers were good, and although some did their acts a bit far away sometimes the usually made up for it. My biggest complaint was the sheer size - both footprint, people, and traffic - of this show. Complaint may be the wrong word - it's good that people go to these things - but its certainly a planning factor to be considerate, and prepare to be frustrated in traffic or in lines if you don't arrive early (I did and I still had to contend with a bit of traffic and waiting.)

[BoundingOverwatch]

Sorry to necro this thread, but got around to going through and posting the pictures.