Photos: 2012 Cleveland National Air Show

Matt Hafley, Phil Botta

Photos by Matt Hafley and Phil Botta.

Thousands gathered at Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland over Labor Day weekend for the 2012 Cleveland National Air Show. The air show featured numerous aerobatic and parachuting demonstrations, as well as aircraft from all branches of the military on display for the crowd.

The main demonstration each day featured the United States Navy’s Blue Angels demonstration team, which consists of six McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornets — the Navy’s premiere fighter jet — as well as the teams transport plane, a Lockheed Martin C-130 named “Fat Albert.” The team displayed a level of skill and precision.

Other acts included a race between a rocket-powered pickup truck and a fighter jet, a woman who wing-walked on a bi-plane with no safety harness and the U.S. Army’s Parachute demonstration team the Golden Knights.

Kent State University was represented at the air show by a Golden Flash-adorned single engine Cessna to advertise the school’s aviation program to potential future pilot.

—Matt Hafley, photo editor for the Daily Kent Stater