The Pappy Boyington F-35 squadron visited the Coeur d'Alene Airport (Idaho) on June 17, 2023. It was spectacular seeing them come in. They parked the jets not far from the crowd on the flight line and the pilots and entire support crew spent a lot of time talking to us spectators.
The Coeur d'Alene Airport is named "Pappy Boyington Field" in honor of Pappy Boyington (full name was Gregory Boyington). He was born in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, on December 4, 1912. The Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 214 (VMFA-214) is known as the "Black Sheep." This squadron, which Boyington famously commanded during World War II as VMF-214, is currently based at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Yuma, Arizona. VMFA-214 now operates the Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II, continuing the Black Sheep tradition into the modern era.
The squadron came up to Fairchild AFB in Spokane, WA and came over to their namesake field in Coeur d'Alene for the day. We didn't see any thrust vectoring, but watching the STOL landings and takeoffs was incredible.
