OK, so who remembers the last truly awesome display team? Has to be the Black Diamonds (?). Seeing (& feeling!) 9 Lightnings on reheat go vertical in formation was mesmorising, & quite unforgettable. Red Arrows are very pretty, but just don't do the same thing to your physiology....
Only thing that came close was the first time I saw the su-27 (I think -- my anorak is fading) doing its reverse tail-wagging -- the absolute reverse of reheat! I was in the trade then, & happened to be with a most senior USAF delegation at the Paris Air Show when this sequence was first shown in public. The Americans were beside themselves -- closest I've seen to a brown trouser job! We'd all just watched something that seemed completely impossible, beyond aerodynamics, & they knew they had no response at all!!
I suppose it's just the logical conclusion of boyhood '50's control line logic that you can fly a brick if you have enough power, but somehow you don't expect a simulation of a stationary engine (what a link ...) from a Mach whatever, very large, very heavy interceptor. Different type of fly by wire!
Sometimes I do like my engines a long way from stationary, but only when they are brutal. For a different engine experience, watch a live space shuttle launch. Quite splendid, if brief. Or be lucky. I was once on a 747 commuting from Orlando when a launch came past, unannounced by the crew. Spectacular sight, caught by accident. I did lecture the crew on missing a PR opportunity ......
Colin