Thunder and lightning over Boise for Gowen Thunder air show

Hometown pilot Mark Peterson flies his Dornier Alpha Jet at Gowen Thunder.

It’s been seven years since the Idaho National Guard unleashed its Gowen Thunder air show spectacular in Boise.

And Idaho’s aviation-thirsty segment of the population was ready for it. Advance estimates figured 150,000 people would attend the two-day event Aug. 26-27, 2023.

An easy-going Idaho crowd came to enjoy Gowen Thunder 2023 on the Idaho National Guard facility in Boise. That’s an Idaho ANG A-10 in the background.

Temperatures rose to the 90s both days. But a smattering of showers Saturday and a drenching Saturday night did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of attendees and performers.

Top caliber aerobatic acts vied with modern military jets and vintage warbirds in a show that was punctuated by regularly scheduled pauses to permit commercial airliners to arrive and depart from Gowen, Boise’s municipal airport that is shared with the Idaho National Guard.

Scheduled breaks in the air show action allowed airliners to arrive and depart before the show resumed.

Hometown pilot Mark Peterson demonstrated his P-51 Mustang “DiamondBack,” the former Reno race plane known as Stiletto.

Mark also flew a veteran Cessna A-37 Dragonfly ground attack jet and his Dornier Alpha jet during the show each day, employing wing-mounted smoke generators to artfully scribe the jets’ paths over Gowen.

Boise’s Mark Peterson flew graceful aerobatic demonstrations in this former South Vietnamese Air Force Cessna A-37 attack jet during Gowen Thunder 2023.

Mark Peterson threads the needle with the A-37 as smoke generators on the wings create artistic patterns in a blue Idaho sky.

Kyle and Liz Franklin performed an intricate deception that made it appear a non-pilot was horsing around calamitously near the ground in a black Super Cub.

Liz and Kyle Franklin conspired with the Gowen Thunder air show narrator for a carefully choreographed routine in which a supposed non-pilot steals this Super Cub from Liz and flies seemingly out of control. The act is actually a showcase of Kyle’s mastery of the Super Cub.

Brad Wursten’s composite MX monoplane showcased power aerobatics.

Visible through the canopy of his MX2 aircraft, Brad Wursten has left hand on throttle, right hand on stick as he performs powerful aerobatics during Gowen Thunder 2023.

Plunging through his own smoke, Brad Wursten and his MX2 alternate between high power settings and slow flight in an aerobatic routine that capitalizes on his MX2’s light, strong carbon fiber construction and the plane’s Lycoming IO-540 Thunderbolt engine producing more than 360 horsepower.

A jet-assisted Waco biplane was shown by Jarrod Lindemann.

From a pipe just behind the angled jet exhaust, Jarrod Lindemann’s hybrid Jet Waco issues a trail of white smoke tracing his maneuvers in the sky at Boise. Jarrod’s show is a mix of snarling radial engine sounds and the insistent roar of a turbojet engine added to the belly of the biplane.

Two skydiving teams also participated in the air show. The all-women’s Misty Blues jumpers flew large colorful banners, and the U.S. Army’s Golden Knights opened the show.

Modern military participation included spectacular power passes by Major Kristin “Beo” Wolfe in an Air Force F-35, plus F-15s from nearby Mountain Home Air Force Base, as well as Oregon’s Kingsley Field Air National Guard Base at Klamath Falls.

Where there’s thunder, there’s lightning, and Gowen Thunder 2023 featured the F-35 Lightning II fighter flown by Major Kristin “Beo” Wolfe. Some rain in the forecast added enough humidity to the air to create spectacular vapor blankets as Wolfe made high-speed passes in afterburner over Gowen Field.

Greg Anders flew Mark Peterson’s TF-51D Mustang “DiamondBack” in a heritage flight with Major Kristin “Beo” Wolfe in the F-35.

Idaho Air National Guard A-10s flew, as did Idaho Army National Guard UH-60M helicopters during a combined air and ground assault demonstration on the field.

Idaho Army National Guard UH-60M Blackhawk helicopters participated in a combined arms demonstration during Gowen Thunder that included tanks, A-10s, F-15s, and the Blackhawks in simulated combat.

Each day closed with a performance by the always popular USAF Thunderbirds.

All six Thunderbirds fan gracefully over show center during Gowen Thunder 2023.

The Thunderbirds’ two solo aircraft stage several high-speed head-on passes over show center while the four-ship formation is busy regrouping offsite for its next maneuvers.

Two USAF Thunderbirds F-16s cross paths over show center at Gowen Thunder 2023. (All Photos by Frederick A. Johnsen)

For more information: GowenThunder.org

About Frederick Johnsen

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