SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Most people like to go to the Miramar Air Show for the aerial acrobatics, deafening jet engines and eye-popping explosions. Mike Simonds and Mike Mousseau find excitement away from the noise.
“A lot of history wound up in some of those old airplanes," Simonds said, staring at some of the static exhibits.
Now, it's part of their history. Two good friends, both living in San Diego, have turned this into an annual tradition.
“Mike is such a good photographer," Mousseau said of Simonds. "He’ll take pictures that could be in a museum."
Simonds, with a smile on his face, responded, “I take pictures of bolts and rivets.”
Before they met as former high school teachers in the South Bay, the air show still played an important role in each of their lives.
Mousseau has been coming to the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar since the mid-80s when he was a member of the California National Guard.
“We had static displays here at the Air Show, so I started coming out to be a part of it way back then," he said.
Simonds, as he told ABC 10News, has been coming for "many, many years." He guessed since either the late 1960s or early 1970s, not long after the event's inauguration in 1953.
“It’s bigger. The aircraft are newer," Simonds said about the show's evolution.
After all these years, Mike and Mike share more than just a name. They also now share this experience side by side.
“It is what we humans like," Mousseau said. "We like to see things that sheer power and awe. These are very awesome pieces of equipment.”
