We visited our local air show this weekend. The weather promised sunshine and warmth, so we set out Saturday morning, armed with water backpacks, sunscreen, folding chairs, and the camera bag.
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| The "Japanese" planes flying in for Tora, Tora, Tora |
We hit traffic before we left the highway, and I was worried that I would miss one of my favorite performances -- Tora, Tora, Tora. A recreation of the attack on Pearl Harbor, it is full of explosives and beautifully timed flying patterns which mimic a ballet in the sky.
The older kids and I finally got out of the car and started walking toward the airport. We reached it before Timo arrived with the car, and we took that time to walk through the B-17 that was on display there. It was a beautiful piece of machinery, and walking through it was like walking into the past. The men who served in those bombing missions had very little room to move around, and my respect for them multiplied.
Once we met up with Timo, we applied sunscreen and set up "camp" by some friends we know from our homeschool group. I was pleased to see that we had not missed the best performers, and the "Tora, Tora, Tora" show had been rescheduled to a later time to accommodate late-comers.
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| The Stearman |
Some of my other favorites included the Stearman, the Yellow Pit Special (I have a thing for bi-planes, can you tell?), the Renegades, and the sky divers who used smoke trails. The stars of the show were, of course, the Thunderbirds. After they were done, most people left. We opted to stay a while to avoid the crowds, and my three oldest secured autographs of all of the officers involved in the Thunderbirds. It was well worth the extra time spent on the airshow grounds, especially since we encountered no traffic on our way out.
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| The Rocky Mountain Renegades |
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| The Beech 18 |
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| The Yellow Pit Special and Stearman |
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| These guys need no introduction |
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H securing an autograph from Number 6.
He went up to them and told them exactly where they needed to sign. |
I love air shows. The beauty of the machines combined with the talent of the pilots just gets me every time. I can't wait until the next one.
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