Chicagoist: Into the Wild Blue Yonder - Chicago Air & Water Show

naughty11

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:42:59 -0600

Wow, you people are bunch of whining babies. The noise? Give me a break. It's a couple days out of the year. The pollution? Yeah cause the amount of pollution from the air show must just be exponentially worse than the millions of commercial aircraft that fly in and out of O'Hare, Midway, and Gary every year? Are you kidding? The air show is awesome! It is an amazing display and historical look at the advances in aviation. The pilots are simply amazing at what they are capable of doing. The aircraft are amazing with their capabilities. We have all paid a lot of money to construct and design these aircraft which provide our country as well as many others with protection. They are a testament to our engineering capabilities, and they are designed to ensure we can have air superiority where ever and whenever it is needed. Personally, I am proud they exist, and I am very excited to see them in person. If the show is not for you or you do not like it, then don't go. Stay home, or go out of town. Deal with it. I don't like the Gay Pride Parade because I think it is ridiculously over-the-top and totally inappropriate the sort of stuff that goes on at that event. Definitely way too much is tolerated and flaunted in people's faces particularly children. So I don't go, and I make plans to avoid it if possible. But I don't whine about it. Drudge up alterior motives, or make ridiculous arguements about pollution (noise or otherwise) to try and have it stopped. You people are reading way too much into this, and your opinion is one of many. But there are many with oppposite opinions, who will be there to enjoy the show. I think 2 million was the last estimate I heard.

Bruce F

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 17:00:59 -0600

"Chicagoist had the opportunity fly with the AeroShell Aerobatic Team this morning to check out the pilots to ensure they were ready for the show." Cute. Not true. It's a variation of the US Military's program to embed "reporters" in military units in Iraq and elsewhere. The Air and Water show is a PR campaign for a massive military machine, one that is larger than the combined military budgets of the rest of the world. Over 700 military bases worldwide and military personnel in 156 countries. Why does my house get buzzed 4 days every year? So a bunch of goobers can pull up lawn chairs and wave a flag and scream America Fuck Yeah!? Yes. The War Party has a huge constituency. Estimates are that 2.2 million of them are coming here this weekend. I guess it could be worse. Maybe next year they'll be breaking the sound barrier. After all kids like the noise. It's all about the kids.

guest

Sat, 18 Aug 2007 16:08:17 -0600

If you think the air and water show is noise pollution, please call the O'Hare Noise Hotline- 1-800-435-9569 to have your complaint officially logged. A phone call to an agency responsible for tracking complaints is more effective than simply blogging or venting to your friends. Express your opinions widely, just don't forget to tell the people who are supposed to be dealing with these problems as part of their jobs. This event causes real problems with air and water quality, in addition to quality of life and safety, in exchange for minimal entertainment.

guest

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 10:17:17 -0600

Reading some of your comments is funny... blasting about kids making you sick as they wave their inflatable planes shows your ignorance of what makes this airshow so popular.. it IS the noise... face the facts... kids love noise and jets they are fast and cool ... but then again i guess you wrap your kids in pillows and have them sit in a room reading a book about global warming and how gearge bush is the anti christ... Let kids be kids...if they like jets so be it... NO kid thinks of bombs and destruction when watching a B-1 bomber fly bye... please for your kids sake let a kid be a kid... please dont screw your kid up by puting your liberal agenda into his head non stop... let him think and read for themselves... if they cant than you shouldnt have kids.

P

Sun, 20 Aug 2006 22:19:34 -0600

I am not down with the air show either.

Spook

Sat, 19 Aug 2006 15:38:58 -0600

Personally I wanna check out one of the “main military aircraft highlights in the show” The A-10 Thunderbolt, aka the Warthog, the Flying Gun, the Tankbuster. This high-survivability and versatile aircraft, popular with pilots for the 'get home' effectiveness with ground attacks against tanks, armored vehicles and installations, and close air support of ground forces, word! And I can’t wait for our economy to complete tank while this war drags on, because perhaps to distract the masses even more from what’s really going on, and continue to glamorize the military, the proper authorities will allow the pilots to fire a few rounds in Lake Michigan from its eleven pylons with an external load capacity of 7,260kg. Part of is Pave Penny laser guidance system. Or too inspire our youth even more let lose a few Raytheon Maverick -65 air to surface missiles or maybe infrared guided warhead. Or simply use The Cannon to fire 4,350 uranium armor-piercing incendiary rounds per minute that weigh up to 0.75kg. Yea I’m real proud that so many people are getting a kick,-showing thier love- watching or big bad military. Guess we got something to celebrate

Mandy O'Reilly

Sat, 19 Aug 2006 09:50:23 -0600

I hate the Air and Water show. My investment banker boyfriend has to take me to Lake Geneva this weekend instead of enjoying his boat (docked at DuSable Harbor by the way). The noises from the planes, not to mention the hordes of sweaty, nosepicking masses, make the lake unbearable.

Jen

Fri, 18 Aug 2006 16:45:14 -0600

Wow, you all really need to calm down. I agree with Thad.

Thad

Fri, 18 Aug 2006 14:14:54 -0600

If I have tried to silence you, John, I have failed miserably, and gone about it in way that is absurdly inefficient. To you, sir, I also say get a grip. And those who want to confront the so-called "ugly reality" behind a stupid summer event that apparently performs the double injustice of being noisy and reminding you that we have a military, I suggest you spend your energy on more important issues.

John

Fri, 18 Aug 2006 13:51:47 -0600

This is an interesting thread; unfortunately, boorish posters like Thad ruin the discussion with condescension and by insulting contributors and legitimate arguments that he doesn't agree with. Who are you to try to silence us? Sure we need a military, one that conscripts young men and women from all walks of life regardless of socioeconomic background. When families with money and power are faced with having to shed their own blood in bogus wars, we might have the type of broad coalition civil disobedience that curtails such wastes of human life. It's good to see that there are people in this city addressing the ugly reality behind the showbiz of the Air and Water Show.

Thad

Fri, 18 Aug 2006 12:38:47 -0600

I don't like Soviet style military displays, but some of you really need to get a grip. First, it is in our interest that the govt recruit for the military. Do you not want a military? Having a military is a unfortunate fact of life. And if you have a military, you need people to serve. People who are their late teens or older presumably have enough sense to weigh their options carefully before signing up. If they don't, then there is not much we can do for them. Additionally, the military is taxpayer funded. As far as I know, it always has been in the USA. Would you prefer that corporations fund the military and its ad campaigns? Yeah, that would be better. Second, it's a freaking weekend air show, for cyring out loud. Kids love it, so do many adults. Get off your freaking high horse. If you are so pissed off, go protest or start a letter writing campaign or something of the like. In short, do something productive. Third--and I guess this must be said yet again--the city can be a noisy place sometimes, boys and girls. That is what happens when you live in a densely populated place with multiple sports, culture and other activities that make life worth living. No one forces you live here. No one says you can take this weekend as chance to travel out of town to visit your Aunt Millie. I, for one, hate the Cubs crowds. That is why I stay away from the area. I know: The roar of thousands of drunken frat assholes doesn't compare to the noise of a jet, but sometimes life is unfair.

robin..

Fri, 18 Aug 2006 12:13:45 -0600

this show is crass, crass, crass, especially right now, during a war (or two! but who's counting? certainly not the Worst President Ever!) and a fuel crisis.

Buster

Fri, 18 Aug 2006 10:45:24 -0600

Noise pollution. The waste of increasingly rare fossil fuels. And if they are such damn good pilots, why aren't they in Iraq or Afghanistan, allowing some Reserve pilots to come home? I'm not completely anti-military, but it bothers me that our tax dollars are spent to fund what amounts to yet another Pentagon advertising campaign designed to make young people think that joining up is all about fast planes and aeronautics tricks and not about getting your legs blown off or having shrapnel imbedded in your brain. It bothers me a lot that the government tries to sell the decision to "join up" by using the same techniques that that McDonalds uses to sell Big Macs.

Benjy

Fri, 18 Aug 2006 10:28:29 -0600

What a bunch of downers! It's one weekend a summer, and many people do enjoy the show. There's plenty of other city noise -- it's part of being in a city -- whether construction, fireworks, sirens, outdoor concerts, etc. And most of the performing planes are not Iraq bombing military planes -- although I hear the kids in Bagdad have nightmares about that twirling Oracle plane! Do you all complain about the flower show, too, which causes unnecessary pollen, fuels the pharmacutical industry and unnecessarily raises health insurance as allergy sufferers run to their allergists?

David

Fri, 18 Aug 2006 09:34:17 -0600

I hate it. Zoo animals go berzerk. What a waste of money.

SV

Fri, 18 Aug 2006 08:47:26 -0600

I think that it's good old fashioned American Fun. Sure it's showoffy and cocky... but welcome to the States. Isn't everything here like that?

salafh

Fri, 18 Aug 2006 00:02:10 -0600

For all of you folks who hate the air show and having these loud military planes flying over our homes and workplaces, the Chicago Department of Aviation has two noise complaint hotlines! Midway Noise Hotline- 1-800-914-8537 O'Hare Noise Hotline- 1-800-435-9569 I am not sure which airport those damn planes are using, but if you hear them call each of those numbers and lodge a complaint. Please spread the word! Useful websites: Ohare's Noise Resource Center http://www.ohare.com/cnrc/Contactus.htm Independent commission on O'Hare noise http://www.oharenoise.org/index.htm

Jeremy

Thu, 17 Aug 2006 19:14:04 -0600

James said: "And i challenge anyone to find a kid who goes to the air show and is inspired to become an engineer." You just responded to one.

RDuffy

Thu, 17 Aug 2006 18:58:54 -0600

Glad I'm not the only one who thinks this air show is nothing but an excessive display of war toys. I was expecting to read these comments and end up sounding like the grinch once I had posted my own views. You people got my back! Do we really want this kind of noise, air, and cultural pollution in Chicago? Do we really need a constant reminder of the guilt most of us have for inflicting this kind of aeronautical distress on the rest of the world, not just for one weekend, but for years at a time? I say take your jingoist air show and fly it down to Texas. I'm sure they eat that shit up down there, and wash it down with a gallon of NASCAR Diet Pepsi.

geekgrrl

Thu, 17 Aug 2006 18:05:53 -0600

@ james: Da Mare, a hypocrite? get outta here.

james

Thu, 17 Aug 2006 17:24:50 -0600

Jeremy wrote: "The airshow is a demonstration of the bleeding edge of aviation technology. Not to mention that kids who watch it could be inspired to become aerodynamicists or mechanical engineers, solving future energy..." Sorry, but you are wrong. the air show is at its heart, a display of military power and muscle. And i challenge anyone to find a kid who goes to the air show and is inspired to become an engineer. What do you think those army/airforce/navy/marine recruiting tents are for at the north ave. beach? Is that a coincidence? Hardly. The air show only perpetuates and encourages the militarization of our society. I'm hardly a pacifist, and i used to think that hey, it's my tax money anyway, why shouldn't i be able to enjoy it, but it's no different than those military parades we used to see clips of from moscow in the days of the cccp. That shit ain't amusing anymore. And by the way, didn't Da Mayor have Meigs torn up so that we Wouldn't ahve planes flying through downtown, dangerously close to the densely packed skkyscrapers????

John

Thu, 17 Aug 2006 17:23:26 -0600

What about the kids who watch the American "air shows" in Iraq? What does it inspire in them?

Jeremy

Thu, 17 Aug 2006 16:53:02 -0600

Boo to all of you, I love the airshow. Hundreds of thousands of man-hours have been invested in aviation engineering since that windy day in Kitty Hawk. People take flying for granted, especially the science behind it. The airshow is a demonstration of the bleeding edge of aviation technology. Not to mention that kids who watch it could be inspired to become aerodynamicists or mechanical engineers, solving future energy problems. And, it diverts funds and machinery AWAY from warmongering.

Jason Guthartz

Thu, 17 Aug 2006 16:23:17 -0600

It may be "cool" to see the aerobatics, but it's not so cool when you consider that these machines bring death, destruction, suffering and misery to civilian populations across the planet, most recently in Iraq and Lebanon. How can anyone look at the kids at these shows waiving their inflatable fighter planes and not be distressed and disgusted?

Pacem

Thu, 17 Aug 2006 16:15:31 -0600

They ought to call it the Taste of Baghdad. In Iraq, "air shows" like this cause death and destruction. Why do we celebrate this ugly demonstration of power?

Johnson

Thu, 17 Aug 2006 15:36:30 -0600

the airplanes coming in today sounds like a war. i hate it. my cat does, too. here is a video of an air show trick: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4nPXT0Bqvc

Jeff

Thu, 17 Aug 2006 15:12:35 -0600

I'm no fan of the air show either. Eventually there will be a tragic accident at an air show in a major city in the US and there will be no more of these stupid things, especially in crowded urban environments. I am not wishing or hoping for such an accident. I just think this is how it will turn out. I don't go to the air show, and haven't since I was a kid.

grrr

Thu, 17 Aug 2006 14:59:38 -0600

i may be in the minority here, but i hate the airshow. it's loud and scary and polluting. nothing like the sound of bombers (or whatever, you airplane aficionados) flying low overhead to almost make you sh!t your pants at work! i can't wait until it's over.