ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The planes and pilots are gearing up for the Rochester Airshow, which officially starts Saturday.
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Marine pilot from Victor
West-side residents might have heard and seen the practice run-through Friday. News10NBC got out on the runway Friday morning to talk with a Marine pilot from Victor who will be performing and a hometown hero who gets to fly with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds.
Major William Horn has been to the Rochester airport plenty of times before. But this week, he didn’t fly commercial.
He now leads a team of Marine Corps pilots that fly the F-35B. Horn went to Victor High School and then the University of Rochester, class of 2014, joined up in 2015 and has been flying the F-35 since about 2020.
“It’s really special feeling to be home doing our home airshow,” Horn said.
“We’re going to be doing about 400 miles per hour and then you’ll see a bunch of aerobatic maneuvers, a lot of over the top rolls things like that, and then at the end of the show, something really special that we do—we do a hover demo, so we’re going to come into a hover right in front of the crowd, you’re going to see us fly backwards a bit, it’s a perfectly hands-free hover so you may or may not see both my hands up in the air at some point,” Horn said.
U.S. Thunderbirds and Rochester police
The U.S. Thunderbirds are also in town. Before the big show, they’re giving a special ride to a hometown hero.
Officer Nichole Amatore of the Rochester Police Department was chosen for Friday’s flight. She was nominated for her bravery after helping to save lives during a shootout in the city last year.
“I’ve been with the Rochester Police Department for seven years,” Amatore said.
“It’s definitely an honor and I’m super thankful to the Thunderbirds and the Sheriff who nominated me for this,” Amatore said.
It’s no small task to fly with the Thunderbirds. Staff Sgt. Sebastian Romadac of the U.S. Air Force said Amatore had to get fitted for her g-suit, her helmet and her oxygen mask.
Then, she had to decide how extreme she wants to go.
“If you want to have a chill ride, you can have a chill ride, if you want to test the limits of what the F-16 can do, you can also do that as well, this aircraft, it can go up to 9Gs,” Romadac said.
Officer Amatore said with the encouragement of her family, she’s ready to push it.
“They were more excited about it than I was it seems which I was very surprised about, I thought they would be a little bit more nervous,” Amatore said.
Amatore was supposed to be in the air Friday afternoon. The rain pushed the schedule a bit, but News10NBC heard the Thunderbirds up about 10 minutes before going on the air.
Airshow details
Saturday, the airshow officially begins. Gates open at 9:30 a.m. and the flying starts at 10 a.m. Tickets are $45 per person, and kids under 13 are free.
For more information on the airshow, click here, and for a link to tickets, click here.
Rochester Airshow: Victor Marine pilot and RPD officer headline this weekend’s event WHEC.com.
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