By Mike Finney

DOVER — Visitors to the First State Air Show at Dover Air Force Base found out on Saturday that the mammoth C-5M Super Galaxy cargo plane is not just one of the technical wonders of the world, but its huge wings are also a great shelter to get out of the rain.

While it was a soggy day on the Dover Air Force Base tarmac Saturday, there was still plenty to see and do — and eat.

While the headliner F-35A Lightning II demonstration team tried to wait out the rain and the low flying ceiling — as well as the U.S. Army’s Golden Knights Parachute Team — hundreds and hundreds of visitors got to get up close with a wide variety of static aircraft, including cargo planes, refuelers, a B-52 Bomber, vintage propeller aircraft and modern-day jets.

The crowd's patience paid off as the rain finally began to dissipate just after 1 p.m. and a F-15 fighter jet demonstration thundered through the clouds just after 2. The F-35 A Lightning II was also able to take to the skies.

The show was finally on in full force.

Njuh Ezeike made the trip down from Townsend to check out the airplanes and everything that was going on with her young son.

“We just thought it was going to be really fun for the first time and we wanted to come out here and just have a great time,” Ms. Ezeike said. “My son said he wanted to get into a plane, so here we are. We just wanted to check it out and it’s all about history. It’s fun.

“Even though the rain is coming down I can see that people come out to this to really have a good time. We’re happy to be here and we’re excited to be out here.”

The good news for Sunday’s last day of the First State Airshow is that the National Weather Service is calling for high temperatures around 70 degrees and cloudy skies — but no precipitation.

Mike Stoltzfuz made the way down to the airshow on Saturday from Gap, Pennsylvania, with a couple of his friends. They found shelter underneath the wing of a C-130.

“I remember two years we came down here and it was really hot, and I was hoping for something like that again,” Mr. Stoltzfuz said. “We got here early, pretty much in front of the line, and got a spot here (under the wing).

“I was looking forward to seeing the F-35 fly. I’m not sure if that’s going to happen or not.”

Even with a persistent light rain falling, upbeat music over the public address system and the smell of food cooking on grills still gave the airshow a state fair-type feeling to those that braved the weather.

Dover’s Carter Smith, a young member of the Civil Air Patrol, stood at the top of the cargo ramp at the rear end of the C-5M Super Galaxy making sure people didn’t slip and injure themselves.

“I love the air show. I come to it almost every year,” he said. “I really like to see the jets fly but I don’t know if they will be able to. Conditions might be bad, but I don’t know yet.”

He said he could definitely see airplanes being a part of his future.

“I would definitely like to join the military if I could,” he said. “I really enjoy airplanes and it seems like it would be a great career.”

The First State Air Show returns to Dover Air Force Base on Sunday for its final day. Gates open at 9 a.m. with the opening ceremonies scheduled for 11:20 a.m.

The headlining F-35A Lightning II demonstration and a United States Air Force Heritage Flight with a F-35 and a P-51 Mustang will close out the airshow before it ends and the gates close at 4:30 p.m.

Staff writer Mike Finney can be reached at 302-741-8230 or mfinney@iniusa.org. Follow @MikeFinneyDSN on X.