The Cleveland National Air Show will soar above Burke Lakefront Airport with a full lineup of performers, including the return of a high-flying favorite, the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds.

“It’s an absolute honor to wear this patch and fly for this team,” said Maj. Lauren Schlichting.

It’s something she’s wanted to do ever since astronauts visited her elementary school. But it wasn’t outer space that interested her.

“Little eight year old me went home to my parents, and I was like, ‘Mom, Dad, I want to be a fighter pilot,’” she said. “And they’re like… ‘I don’t know how you know those words.’”

The Minnesota native is in her second year as a pilot with the Thunderbirds. She’s in jet four.

“I am the slot of the diamond, so I fly in the back of the diamond,” she said. “I complete it.”

Which, she admitted, can be a tough spot.

“You’re at the end of the whip and trails, but then sometimes it’s a really nice view,” Schlichting said.

The trails are from the smoke the pilots can blast out of the back of the aircraft.

“When it’s turned on, if we’re in military power to idle, it just shoots into the exhaust and then it burns,” she said. “And that’s how you see the smoke.”

A 55-gallon drum of smoke oil now sits where ammunition rounds used to be stored on her F-16 Fighting Falcon.

“It was actually flying in the combat Air Force from 1991, when it was made, all the way up to the beginning of last year,” she said.

That’s when it received a patriotic paint job and full transformation for the Thunderbirds.

Performances of the elite team are a way to connect people with the military.

“If I can give back to some 8-year-old, you know? Boy or girl, or 10-year-old, or 15-year-old, and kind of give them that dream that has shaped my entire life, like, that would just be an absolute dream for me,” Schlichting said.

Each pilot selected goes through rigorous training.

“I think the cool thing about the Air Force is, some people see gender and they see race, they see whatever,” she said. “We put a helmet on and we all look the same.”

Everyone wears special pants while flying in the aircraft to help with gravity’s pull.

“It plugs into the jet and when you start to pull Gs, it will schedule air flow and these big bladders will start inflating,” she said, pointing to the legs of her uniform. “And then it keeps all the blood up towards you head.”

She said the jets are capable of going nine Gs, which feels like nine-times your body weight.

“It’s like a roller coaster without rails,” Schlichting said with a smile. “It’s fun.”

It’s also an experience and an honor unlike any other.

“You just kind of look around and you’re like, ‘Holy buckets, I’m in a red, white and blue airplane, and my hands and brain know how to do this,” she said. “It’s just really cool.”

This weekend’s the first time the Thunderbirds are flying over Cleveland with their new show and Schlichting said it’s an emotional experience for everyone who sees it.

The Thunderbirds are scheduled to perform each day of the air show, Saturday through Monday. Tickets are available at clevelandairshow.com and must be purchased in advance.