For many (most?) Clevelanders, the roaring sounds of jets overhead in the days before Labor Day weekend aren’t alarming at all but simply (annoying? jarring?) reminders that the Air Show is just days away.

For some, however, whether they’re recent transplants to the city in general or downtown during the weekday, the sudden and unannounced presence of fighter jets flying low over the city and turning Cleveland into a scene from Top Gun is mysterious if not downright scary.


Anyway, yeah: The Air Show practice runs are underway and continue through tomorrow (Friday). There’s no cause for concern, though there is cause to wear headphones and vent.

This article appears in Aug 31 – Sep 6, 2016.

Vince Grzegorek has been with Scene since 2007 and editor-in-chief since 2012. He previously worked at Discount Drug Mart and Texas Roadhouse.

8 replies on “A Reminder That the Fighter Jets Over Cleveland Today and Tomorrow Are Just Practicing for the Air Show and Nothing to Be Worried About”

  1. There are people who live in Cleveland, particularly refugees from Iraq and Syria, for whom the sound of these jets is not some minor nuisance. They can trigger PTSD and flashbacks, which can significantly affect their mental health. The air show is dumb and pointless.

  2. The airshow is a celebration of the ingenuity of the human mind. A big f you to gravity. It isn’t bad, anymore than a sweet fireworks display is bad. The only thing i might suggest is to give people more warning that they’re coming. Other than that, ptsd be damned. This show is awesome.

  3. SSDY…what you’ll see and hear this weekend is the same thing you saw and heard twenty years ago. But back then, there were no airheaded twits and twats–and their tweets,–that whine about “like fighter jets” (gimme a break!)–same as they whine about (and worry about) everything else.

    Never could understood why so many people have to flock to the same spots every year to watch the same old same old. But it’s not really about watching the planes …that gets old fast. It’s more like an excuse to eat and drink outside with friends and family, one last time. I suppose there’s nothing wrong with that, if you like that sort of thing. And winter will be here for a long time.

    Chuckles the Clown

  5. ACTUALLY, this is false. While there are blue Angels and such flying the skies of Cleveland in preparation for this weekends air show, amongst them there were a few real ones. Vice President joe Biden flew into town in the early afternoon on Thursday and along with him came his “caravan” consisting of 4 REAL fighter jets. Yes…fully equipped with weapons and all. They coincidentally made their appearance around the same time other jets were doing there tests runs. They made themselves known, landed at Hopkins, and followed joe right the hell out of here.

  6. Were they a different color…or what?

    And no, he probably didn’t fly into town. He was coming from Youngstown and Lordstown, after schmoozing with auto workers…same thing he did here (UAW, Local 1005, in Parma…I was there).

    Air Force One and Air Force Two…and most other arriving aircraft…fly right over my house when the wind is from the south or southwest. The POTUS or the V-P arrive in much larger aircraft (than the normal commercial jet traffic) and they sound much different, much louder and much lower. Joe flew over my house earlier this year. He didn’t fly over my back yard yesterday. Or else the wind was from the north or northeast.

    That’s not to say that he didn’t have air cover. He probably did. But what makes me LMAO are all these kidiots who frantically twit and text because they thought it was 9/11 all over again. Turn off your electronic toys , get into the Real World, and turn on your TVs, dumbasses. If the talking heads aren’t jabbering hysterically with BRAKING NOOZE, there’s nothing to worry your little airheads about.

    Chuckles the Clown

  7. If the Iraqi / Syrian people don’t like the sound of the air show they (and you, please) can go away for the weekend or go back to Iraq and Syria. Our families liberated the world twice and we still fight the worlds battles (liberating Iraqis) frequently enough to earn the right to enjoy watching some taxpayer financed air planes.

    Go hide in your safe space.

  8. Infowars will probably announce that America is now under siege from its military — because the president wants to declare martial law and cancel the November election…..after working out a secret deal with the “Red” Chinese at the G-20 Summit.

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