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Thunderbirds headline the Thunder Over the Valley air show
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One of the pilots who will be performing with the Thunderbirds is Air Force Reserve Maj. Caroline Jensen of Wisconsin. She is only the third woman to fly as a member of the famed Air Force Demonstration Squadron. Thunder Over the Valley will take place Saturday and Sunday at Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Vienna.
VIENNA
Air Force Reserve Maj. Caroline Jensen, one of eight pilots with the Air Force Demonstration Squadron, better known as the Thunderbirds — performing at the Thunder Over the Valley air show this weekend at Youngstown Air Reserve Station, is living her dream.
Thunder Over the Valley is Saturday and Sunday at YARS here, headquarters for the 910th Airlift Wing.
Jensen, a native of River Falls, Wis., said flying with the Thunderbirds became her dream when, as a 13-year-old, her father took her to a Thunderbirds demonstration in Eau Claire, Wis.
“It’s a great recruiting tool,” said Jensen after the Thunderbirds put on a show of precision flying for media and others at the air reserve station Tuesday.
Jensen, who has a 5-year-old son at home at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, said the best part of the job is meeting kids at the shows and in schools.
It is also great, she said, to see how much America loves its military.
She also acknowledged flying the F-16 fighter jet at 450 knots (about 517 mph) is “a kick,” but noted it is mentally and physically demanding.
“It’s great to be a Thunderbird pilot. We represent the entire Air Force,” said Jensen, 38, an active Guard reservist. She is the third female to be a Thunderbird, and by chance flies plane No. 3.
Jensen began flying gliders 18 years ago when she was a cadet at the Air Force Academy, and has time in the T-38 fighter, and the F-16 training, and was stationed for about six months in Iraq in 2007 and 2008.
Her three-year stint with the Thunderbirds nearly complete, she said she will be assigned to Washington, D.C., as a legislative liaison, and hopes eventually to command a squadron.
In addition to the Thunderbirds, the air show includes numerous static displays of Air Force and private planes, and flying demonstrations including Third Strike Wingwalking, Red Star and the Dragon, Quick Silver P-5 1 Mustang, The Vanguard Squadron, Trojan Horsemen, Fighters & Legends, Manfred Radius, Sibling Rivalry, Yankee Air Museum, Valiant Echoes, and Flash Fire Jet Truck.
Also, the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office warns that anyone thinking of driving near the YARS during the air show will have to avoid King Graves Road between state Route 11 and state Route 193.
That section of road, on the north side of the air reserve station, will be closed from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. both days.
Ernie Cook, chief deputy with the sheriff’s office and county 911 director, said the road is within the designated “show box” — an area designated by the Air Force as being off limits to anything but air show activities.
The area is so restrictive that the people living in two residences along Route 193 in the “show box” are being relocated to hotels from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. those two days, Cook said.