If you are an armchair Walter Mitty-type like me, you may have imagined on occasion what it would be like to fly a fighter jet, one of the sleek, powerful, fast modern jets that seem to push the very edges of physics. If you are like that, this video will get your heart pumping.

When I came across this video and saw that it was a commercial, one written for the United States Air Force, I didn't think that it would be very interesting, but it was short, so I turned it, on and, woah! I felt an almost visceral need to buckle up. If you have ever attended an Air Force Thunderbirds show, or a Navy Blue Angels show, you know what these amazing machines sound like and even the feel of those sounds as they roar over your head. Just watching their precise maneuvers is nerve-tightening and thrilling enough, but again, if you are like me, you may have also had the strange desire to experience those maneuvers, that speed, and the power of those machines from inside the cockpit.

Photo: YouTube/U.S. Air Force Recruiting

The text for this commercial is simple, and, because it is, it is very direct and very effective. As the video begins, you see and hear two fighters sweeping across open water, and you hear these words spoken dramatically, "The earth is 70% water," and you think, Wait a minute; I thought this was an Air Force commercial. This looks like U.S. Navy territory. Then, equally dramatically, as you watch an A-10 warthog flying over a seemingly endless, desert landscape, and you hear the narrator's voice saying, "and 30% land" and you think this could be a Marine video. Then you see what I think is an F-22 Raptor swooping straight up into a cloudless sky, and you hear that voice again saying, "But the whole sky belongs to us."

Oh, yeah! This is an Air Force video, and it is in your face proudly so. And those three phrases are the only words you will hear. The rest of it is all sound and visual fireworks.

Photo: YouTube/U.S. Air Force Recruiting

The video gives you a brief look at some of the other Air Force assets, from helicopters to F-16 Fighting Falcons to B-2s and others. You get a clear sense of the immense power that the United States Air Force can bring to a fight.

This commercial is really quite effective. It is poetic in its use of words, that is to say, they are brief and metaphorically evocative. It is visually stunning, and the sounds of those jet engines can almost be felt. Enjoy!

Photo: YouTube/U.S. Air Force Recruiting

We thank all who have served and all who are currently serving in the United States Air Force. We honor the work of those who work in the hangars and all those who maintain and keep those assets in fighting trim and the pilots who fly them. You live and make the Air Force motto come alive every day: "Aim High...Fly, Fight, Win!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbNP0FUItjI