In a previous post I mentioned the Fargo Airsho and my day-before meet & greet with some of the stars. Today, you’ll see the photos I brought home from the actual event the next day.

There were Maverick and Ice Man impersonators making the rounds throughout the day. Here they led the crowd in a semi-rousing rendition of “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'”.

OK, here it is: my airshow photo. As the Heritage Flight passed overhead, I couldn’t resist but snap a quick silhouette…with my phone.

What, you say? “Resist” snapping a photo? Here “it” is? What gives? Well, I left my camera at home on Saturday. You see, I’ve photographed many airshows, and come home with amazing photos…and seen very little of the actual show. It’s the nature of my work, often seeing things through viewfinders or on instant replay screens. Doesn’t leave much room for actual watching. At least half the time I work a live sporting event, for example, I can’t even tell you who won, or certainly the score. I wanted something different this time.

I mentioned yesterday that the F-22 was my last “bucket list” aircraft, and here it was: an opportunity to watch it in flight. I’d seen the F-22 before and taken photos of it (including a close-up video of the startup sequence), but I wanted to watch it wielded in aerobatic fashion. So it was easy for me to decide to leave the camera behind and actually enjoy the show.

So, yeah…I came home without a batch of amazing photos of the airshow. I see that many of my photography buddies had a field day with their cameras, and I’m delighted for them. But I watched the show with a work friend, enjoyed the heck out the F-22 – especially in light of my conversation with the pilot Friday – and didn’t miss a thing. It was everything I hoped it would be.

Since they do the show twice in Fargo, maybe next time I’ll do one day with the cameras and one day without. Meanwhile, my 2024 Fargo Airsho experience was absolutely fantastic.