Just Writing Through: F-16 Viper Demo Team, Oshkosh EAA Air Venture 2018, The Sound of Freedom

Heritage Flight -- 2- P-51 Mustangs and the F-16 Viper

The Experimental Aircraft Association Oshkosh Air Venture 2018 was a roaring success. And the F-16 Viper certainly turned up the noise on the flight line.

USAF Major John “Rain” Waters is the commander and F-16 pilot for the USAF F-16 Viper Demo Team, which seeks to inspire young pilots and plane maintainers. His precision and skill makes the demonstration both exciting and powerful. The expert level of flying and the sheer volume that comes with the demo entertained the crowd.

According to his biography, Waters is a fighter pilot with over 960 combat hours in the MC-12W and F-16.

The Non-Commissioned Officer In Charge for the Viper Demo Team is Tech. Sgt. Kam Glowacki who hails from a neighboring town of ours: Streamwood, Illinois. Among various responsibilities, he supervises the maintenance of the four aircraft, organizes travel arrangements, and overseas individual training.

The team also includes Superintendent Master Sgt. Chris Schneider, Avionics Specialist Tech. Sgt. Stephen Mullins, Dedicated Crew Chief Tech Sgt. Dominic Dizes, Dedicated Crew Chief Staff Sgt. Luis Lopez, Dedicated Crew Chief Staff Sgt. Adam Armstrong, Public Affairs Senior Airman Destinee Sweeney, and Public Affairs Senior Airman Sean Sweeney.

According to the Viper Demo Team mission statement, the Shaw Air Force Base Air Combat Command F-16 Viper Demonstration Team both demonstrates combat capabilities and works with the Air Force Heritage Flight Foundation uniting the past and present.

It was thrilling to watch the Viper Demo Team this year – the announcer was great, the music was lively, and the maneuvers demonstrated a captivating show of force. With its cockpit and bubble canopy, the pilot of the F-16 has clear forward and upward vision. The F-16 can pull up to nine G’s and reach a speed of 1,500 mph -- Mach 2. The Lockheed Martin jet has been a major part of the war on terror, flying thousands of missions in operations Noble Eagle, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

The Heritage Flight is a carefully coordinated flight connecting the past and present through aircraft set to a beautiful song: We Remember by Dwayne O’Brien. The piece evokes strong emotion and powerful remembrances of years past and all that Army Air Corps and United States Air Force veterans have given in service.

We attended Sunday Mass on the EAA grounds, and as the Viper was taking off, the priest, who was giving his homily, paused … and then pointed outward and, after the jet had left the airspace, said, “That is the sound of freedom.” If you haven’t read my earlier blog about Oshkosh, I mentioned how powerful that phrase was for me.

Fr. Bill Hower was right; the F-16 certainly is the sound of freedom.