Learning About Popular Fighter Jets and Bombers in the Pacific

Photo Courtesy of U.S. Pacific Command

As old-fashioned as it may sound, our children recently rediscovered their passion for making paper airplanes. They have been using the construction paper that I had purchased for other crafting purposes.

Today, my older son made a black jet that flew really well and asked if there were any black jets or aircraft in real life. The first one that came to mind was the B-2 Spirit.

I suggested that he Google it.

He learned how to use Google since he was in first grade, and today, I showed him how to discover things beyond the basic search. First, he typed "B-2 Spirit", then I had him do an "Image Search". He thought that these Bombers were really cool and started to ask so many questions about them. That's when I instructed him to do a "Web Search" for "B-2 Spirit Factsheets" and select the information that comes for a credible source (this was a great opportunity for me to tell him not to believe everything he sees on the Internet, on TV, and other types of media). I explained that for this particular search, it would be good to select information from a .mil source, because it's from the military.

As soon as he landed on the U.S. Air Force's Factsheets page, he exclaimed,

"Cool! I want to join the Air Force now!"

"Why is that?" I asked.

"I want to make these jets and bombers."

I then explained, "My son, I don't believe the Air Force makes these planes. You don't have to join the Air Force to do that. You can work for big contractors like Northrop Grumman."

He looked puzzled and asked, "If we don't make them, does that mean they're 'Made In China'? They're not supposed to know our secrets!"

I chuckled then changed the topic. "Would you like to see the F-22 Raptor?"

He shook his head. "Nah. Isn't that the one they showed in the Avengers?"

"Yes, but the one they used in the Avengers is only CG." I recently read that there was limited U.S. military involvement in this movie and learned that Phil Strub, the Defense Department's Hollywood liaison, had given the following statement (according to the Danger Room article, "Pentagon Quit the Avengers Because of Its 'Unreality'"):

"We couldn’t reconcile the unreality of this international organization [S.H.I.E.L.D.] and our place in it.” 

I then showed him my photos of the F-22 Raptor "in real life" (they call it "IRL", for short).  These are from the 2010 Kaneohe Bay Air Show (with the Navy's Blue Angels) at Marine Corps Base Hawaii.





Just then, my middle child entered the room and saw the photos below. He laughed and asked,

"Is he getting married???"

He was referring to the F-22 Raptor because it was wearing a maile lei during its Arrival Ceremony in July 2010, at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. In Hawaii, this is the type of lei that men usually wear on their wedding day.

 My kids make me laugh!

My older son decided to go back to the U.S. Air Force's Factsheets page to find more Bombers.  As we were perusing the site, I picked up the phone to answer my husband's call. He overheard me say, "Hey! It's a B-52!"

"What?!" He exclaimed. "Is there a cockroach in the house?"

This time, it was my husband's turn to make me laugh. "B-52"--that's what we call the cockroaches here in Hawaii.

So, while one of the perks of living in Hawaii is seeing fighter jets take off and practice in the beautiful Oahu sky (to date, I have seen the Air Force's F-22 Raptors, F-15 Eagles, and F-16 Fighting Falcons, as well as the Navy's F/A-18E/F Super Hornets), we also have to learn to put up with the All-American B-52 Cockroach (arguably the most popular "Bomber" in Hawaii)!


NOTE:  Special thanks to the U.S. Pacific Air Forces (PACAF), U.S. Pacific Fleet (PACFLEET), Marine Corps Base Hawaii (MCBH), and the U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) for the photo opportunities in 2010 on Social Media Days.