Dad took us and a couple of guys from church to the air show last Saturday. I hadn't been in years, and kiddo had never been, so it was a fresh experience for both of us!
We started with the static displays- mostly of military aircraft- and then got settled into our seats for the main attraction. There were lots of demonstrations of skydiving, hang gliding, stunt flying, etc., but the big draw this year was the presence of the Blue Angels.
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| Inside the Blackhawk medical chopper. |
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| Inside the Chinook. |
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| Blue Angels lined up and ready for the final part of the show. |
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| The flag entered while the National Anthem Played. |
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| She was getting a little warm out there in the sun. Temps hovered in the high 90s. |
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| The Brentwood Horsemen fly F-86 Sabres in perfect formation. |
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| Stunt pilot Kent Pietsch landed his plane on top of the truck and then took off again. |
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| Dan Buchanan hang gliding- poetry in motion. |
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| Can you see the little yellow plane? He clipped the hang glider's streamers. All part of the act... |
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| Dan gets into his wheel chair. He is paralyzed from the waist down. |
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| Someone asked him why he flies and he responded, "Because I can't walk." |
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| Look in the middle, right above the flames. |
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| Renny Price in his little purple Sukhoi-29 (after the flames). |
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Bob Carlton in his Super Salto sailplane. It's jet powered. He gets up to altitude without a tow plane and then he starts his show.
He swooped and glided around forever, etching delicate trails in the sky. |
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| It was like ballet. |
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Heritage Flight- three fighter planes from three different eras/wars.
Top: F-16 Fighting Falcon (current), Mid: P-51 Mustang (WWII), Bottom: F-86 Sabre (Korean War) |
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| Kiddo with her Papa. |
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| C-130 Fat Albert- the support plane for the Blue Angels. |
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| This year, Fat Albert was flown by its first female pilot, Capt. Katie Higgins. |
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| Fat Albert is the largest plane to ever land on an aircraft carrier. |
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| Just me and my dad.... what a great time we had... (sing along!) |
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| Here we go...! |
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| Capt. Jeff Kuss narrated the Blue Angels show. |
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| Diamond formation. |
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| Delta formation. |
It was spectacular! I think I should have brought ear plugs, but other than that, the day was wonderful- lots of beauty, grace, and raw power involved in flight and I enjoyed every minute of it! Next time I will figure out my camera's video capabilities and see if I can capture some of this in motion.
