At 2:35 p.m. yesterday, thousands of people in Waikiki craned their necks and held their breath as half a dozen low-flying F-16 Fighting Falcon jets screamed through the skies overhead.

The Air Force Thunderbirds had hit the air flying with a blast.

Faith Duh, 9, a Kamaile Elementary fifth-grader, wasn't taking any chances. For nearly 10 minutes before the show started, she stood by the beach not far from the Hawai'i Army Museum at Fort DeRussy, with her index fingers plugged in her ears.

"It may be loud," said Faith, who wore a pink backpack on her head to protect her from the drizzling rain. Her mother, Nova Duh of Makaha, explained that neither of them had been to an air show before.

When the jets did arrive, Faith squinted hard, momentarily frightened by the roar. Seconds later, though, she was lost in the excitement of the experience.

"Wow, it's spectacular!" she shouted with delight. "It's amazing! It's cool! Ya-hoo!"

Not far away, Daniel Erickson, 6, a Nimitz Elementary first-grader, was even more animated.

"They're flipping!" he screamed to his mother, Genevieve Erickson. "They're twirling! Are they Blue Angels?"

"No, they're Thunderbirds," said Stephanie Robey, the Ericksons' neighbor at Hickam, who was there with her husband, Jody, and daughters Kristin, 9, and Katelynn, 7.

"The Blue Angels are next month."

CAPPING AIR FORCE WEEK

The Thunderbirds' air show was the culmination of Air Force Week Honolulu, celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Air Force.

"The USAF Thunderbirds is the Air Force's premier aerial demonstration team," said Col. "Rojo" Herrera Jr., director of the eight-day event. "What they intend to do is show some of the maneuvers and demonstrate the capabilities of the planes, as well as the pilots."

Because of yesterday's cloudy and somewhat soggy weather conditions, the crowd was given the Thunderbirds' low-altitude show, which is different from the high-altitude performance the group practiced under clear, sunny skies Thursday afternoon, Herrera said.

Air Force regulations prohibit aerial demonstration teams from losing sight of the ground during a performance. And because some of the high-altitude acrobatics would have required flying above the clouds, the Thunderbirds switched to the low-altitude show, he said.

Still, overcast skies and occasional showers could not dampen the enthusiasm of cheering spectators who lined the beaches yesterday, some of whom arrived hours early to secure a choice location. Timothy Hayes and John DiNuzzo, who came in from the U.S. Vets shelter in Kalaeloa, had before 9 a.m. staked a claim on a partially shaded concrete picnic table on the lawn of the Hale Koa Hotel — touted by some as the best place to watch the aerial demonstration.

"Today, we need to say thanks to Orville and Wilbur Wright," said Hayes, an aspiring writer. "For if it was not for the two Wright brothers, we would not have been able to enjoy the performance of the Thunderbirds today."

FINE PLACE FOR A SHOW

Farther down the beach, F-16 fighter pilot Lt. Gen. Bruce "Orville" Wright, commander of the 5th Air Force in Japan, said he couldn't agree more. Wright, who had traveled to Waikiki to take in the air show, was able to offer some technical explanation about the capabilities of yesterday's overhead flying machines.

The F-16 jets were traveling between 300 mph and 500 mph — flying as low as 300 feet, the veteran pilot explained. Because of the small turn radius of yesterday's performance, the F-16 Fighting Falcons could be doing 400 knots (460 mph) and turning 180 degrees in less than half a mile, producing G-forces up to nine times the weight of the pilot.

And, according to Wright, yesterday's display of such awesome jet power couldn't have happened at any finer location.

"I don't know that there's a prettier, more impressive place to have a Thunderbirds show than on the beach at Waikiki," he said.

So much so, Wright said, that for this Waikiki Thunderbirds show, pilots were allowed the unusual move of bringing along their spouses — both husbands and wives. "There are two female Thunderbird pilots, you know," he said.

That was welcome news to Kristin Robey, a Nimitz Elementary fourth-grader.

"I want to be a pilot," she announced as the half-hour show ended and the crowds began to disburse. "I want to be the first female pilot to sit first seat in the Thunderbirds. And I'll set a world's record."

Reach Will Hoover at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.