BOISE, Idaho — Call it the greatest show in the air. Gowen Thunder 2023 will be Idaho's largest ever military airshow with over 150,000 people expected to be on hand for all the excitement this weekend.
And in the year of Barbie and Taylor Swift, our Don Nelson reports it's all about girl power at this year's show.
Kristen Wolfe is not just an F-35 pilot, she has the distinction of being the team leader and says growing up in a military family, it is an honor to fly this plane.
"It's always cool to be inverted upside down 350 feet above the ground. When you talk stealth it is to get in closer and further into enemy territory before you're noticed or shot at, so we can shoot our missiles and drop our bombs before anyone knows we're there or before they can target."
Wolfe loves the speed and the rush of the formations, but it's the sound of the crowd when she comes back to Earth. That makes it all worthwhile.
"Once you get airborne everyone looks like tiny little ants, so it is awesome to look down and see all the people enjoying it. And more awesome to taxi by and crack the canopy and hear the crowd."
Major Lauren Schlichting is almost done with her two-year stint as a Thunderbird pilot and remembers being a young girl growing up in Minnesota and meeting a special guest at school.
"When I was eight years old an Astronaut came to my school and that didn't resonate, but the fact that they're fighter pilots did, and eight-year-old me said to my mom and dad 'I want to be a fighter pilot'. They said 'I don't know how you know those words.'"
Kristen knows those words alright, and hopes to someday pass them on.
"Yeah, that's one of the most rewarding parts of the job. Meeting little kids and seeing the excitement in their eyes and it's the joy in their hearts. And having a passion for something I can resonate with because that was me."
So make it out to Gowen this weekend if you can because the greatest show in the air never disappoints.
