Utah Event Contends With Its Own Success

After a four-year hiatus, the Warriors Over the Wasatch Air and Space Show returned to the skies over Utah’s Hill Air Force Base. The 25–26 June event was attended by immense crowds eager to take in aerial displays, pyrotechnics, and world-class acts such as the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds and Hill Air Force Base's own F-35A Lightning II Demonstration Team.

The show also included eighty static aircraft displays chronicling the history, evolution, and diversity of military air-power.

Riotous attendance caused temporary delays at the show’s gates. Saturday, base officials tweeted Gate entry into the base has been temporarily paused to allow the lines inside to catch up and shorten. Admittance resumed shortly thereafter.

Micah Garbarino, a spokesman with the 75th Air Base Wing, stated the delays were attributable to back-ups at security checkpoints. 

Utah Air Show Foundation Executive Director Kevin Ireland described the excitement surrounding the show as "unmeasurable." Ireland added that planning and preparations for the 2024 show would commence immediately following the close of the 2022 event.

"It takes that long to work with our sponsors, to work with the state of Utah to get our performers in line and make everything happen the way it needs to happen because it is such a large show," Ireland said. "It's a full two years of planning, dedication and making this thing happen."

In addition to the Thunderbirds and the Hill AFB’s F-35A demonstration team, aerial acts on the 2022 schedule included the U.S. Army Golden Knights, U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet Legacy Flight, Bill Stein Air Shows, Yellow Thunder, Shockwave Truck, Mini Jet Air Shows, Vampire Air Shows, FacePay Air Demonstration, and FireWalkers Pyro. Military ground transport and fighting vehicles were also on display.

STEM City, a popular, recurring attraction that affords young people improved perspective on the STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics] fields, drew viewers with an engaging assortment of giant video games, drones, robots, virtual reality scenarios, welding simulators, and rocketry displays. 

The theme of the 2022 show—Innovate, Accelerate, Thrive: The Air Force at 75–acknowledges the upcoming [18 September 2022], 75th-anniversary of the United States Air Force’s founding.

FMI: https://www.af.mil