Luke Air Force Base, Arizona

Fellow aviation enthusiasts.

What does a retired Air Force officer do when he has a spare day during a Baseball Spring Training vacation? Go watch airplanes, of course.

On our "day off" after a few hours soaking up the rays at the pool, we got in our rental car and drove over to Luke Air Force Base near Glendale. Using our trusty iPad GPS and Google map we searched for a good viewing spot to watch takeoffs and landings.

We found a place with other airplane enthusiasts near the approach end of Runway 3. From there we could see landings better than takeoffs, but that was fine with us.

A fighter jet on final approach for Runway 3 at Luke Air Force Base.

Along the side of the road, we could hear the jets approaching from a long ways away.

F-16s and F-35s flew in formation, breaking overhead before landing.

 Luke is a fighter training base. To me, they already looked proficient.

An F-35 overhead on final approach.

Then an unexpected surprise. What appeared to be Air Force Two landed in front of us. I wonder who was on board. Air Force Two is designated for the Vice President, but sometimes the First Lady, Secretary of State, and other high ranking elected officials. It's military designation is a Boeing C-32. It's commercial designation is a Boeing 757.

Air Force Two landing at Luke on 3/15/16

You hear a lot of rhetoric these days during campaign speeches that the United States is no longer a great nation. I challenge you to visit a place like Luke Air Force Base to see, hear, and feel our strength and courage. It sure helped me in these trying times. -- Margy