Spectators Are Not Allowed to Touch F-35 Jets, But Some Lucky Spectators Touch Italian F-35A Lightning II at Belgian Air Show.
If you went to an airshow, you know there is always tight security surrounding the fighter jets. A rope cordon is normally patrolled by armed security guards to keep people at a distance from the exotic fifth-generation fighter.
But spectators at the 2018 Belgian Air Force Days airshow at Kleine-Brogel Air Base in northeastern Belgium got a treat when a new Italian F-35A belonging to the 13th Gruppo (Squadron) of the Aeronautica Militare (Italian Air Force), MM7359/32-09, was being towed so close to the crowd line that the right wing actually protruded over the orange spectator fencing.
This gave some quick-thinking spectators the opportunity to briefly and gently touch the aircraft to see what it felt like and be able to say they were among the first civilians at an airshow to touch the mysterious, stealthy plane.
Aviation photographer Stewart Jack was in the right place at the right time and caught a quick video of spectators reaching up and gently touching the plane.
From the behavior of the people seen in Stewart’s video, it seems like they have an understanding of how special the moment was.
Read Full Article At theaviationist.com
Spectators at Kleine-Brogel Air Base get a rare and not entirely authorized chance to see what an F-35A actually feels like. (Photo: Stewart Jack)
