Destination: Aerospace America, Tinker Air Force Base
The ZZR and I set out to do something today that we haven't done in a long, long time: go to the Air Force Base on a day when I didn't have to go to work. Ack! I think the last time I went to the air show at Tinker was back around 1984, shortly after I started working there. Plain and simple, I just don't like crowds.
Aerospace America does a fantastic job putting on the show, and you really owe it to yourself to go if you're anywhere close -- after all, the admission is free: all part of making you proud to be an American. If you missed it today, it'll be going on tomorrow, too. Check their website for air show times.
Know what the coolest thing is about airplanes? I'll give you a minute to think about it. Need a hint? Remember that this blog is generally about motorcycles.
Of course, most people came out to see the Blue Angels do aerobatics in tight formation at ear-popping speeds. (Don't even ask, because I haven't a clue why an Air Force Base would have a Navy flight team performing as their headliner.) When I was a kid of about 11 or 12 years old, my dad was stationed at Naval Air Station Pensacola and we lived in base housing. This would have been in the early seventies. NAS Pensacola just happens to be the home of the Blue Angels, and they would practice right over my house all the time. Pretty cool. My Cub Scout troop was even sponsored by the Blue Angels. Somewhere, I still have my neckerchief from those years, emblazoned with the troop number and four Blue Angels flying in formation (they weren't flying the F-18 back then -- what was it, an A-6?), probably a valuable collector's item now.
But here we have some gen-u-ine Air Force planes, representing 50 years of air superiority. Top to bottom: F-16 Falcon, P-51 Mustang, F-15 Eagle, and F-4 Phantom. The jets are flying really, really slow, so as not to run the prop job into the ground. Ha.
There were performances by various stunt pilots, like this Oracle sponsored biplane.
And we were attacked by the Japanese (a reenactment of the bombing of Pearl Harbor using the actual planes from the movie Tora, Tora, Tora). Lots of explosions and smoke and totally cool.
The F-15 showed why it is still the fastest thing in the air (note the afterburners).
A B-2 Bomber snuck up on us.
There were more guys flying upside down and sideways and doing all sorts of things certain to make most of us mortals toss our cookies if we were onboard.
The Army's Golden Knights paratroopers did their thing, jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.
I like the flag a few of them were flying.
And much, much more!
All in all, a great way for the ZZR and I to spend the day, even if I did get nauseous going on base on a day when I didn't have to.
And what's the coolest thing about planes? They lean in the right direction when they turn, of course ... just like a motorcycle.
Aerospace America does a fantastic job putting on the show, and you really owe it to yourself to go if you're anywhere close -- after all, the admission is free: all part of making you proud to be an American. If you missed it today, it'll be going on tomorrow, too. Check their website for air show times.
Know what the coolest thing is about airplanes? I'll give you a minute to think about it. Need a hint? Remember that this blog is generally about motorcycles.
Of course, most people came out to see the Blue Angels do aerobatics in tight formation at ear-popping speeds. (Don't even ask, because I haven't a clue why an Air Force Base would have a Navy flight team performing as their headliner.) When I was a kid of about 11 or 12 years old, my dad was stationed at Naval Air Station Pensacola and we lived in base housing. This would have been in the early seventies. NAS Pensacola just happens to be the home of the Blue Angels, and they would practice right over my house all the time. Pretty cool. My Cub Scout troop was even sponsored by the Blue Angels. Somewhere, I still have my neckerchief from those years, emblazoned with the troop number and four Blue Angels flying in formation (they weren't flying the F-18 back then -- what was it, an A-6?), probably a valuable collector's item now.
But here we have some gen-u-ine Air Force planes, representing 50 years of air superiority. Top to bottom: F-16 Falcon, P-51 Mustang, F-15 Eagle, and F-4 Phantom. The jets are flying really, really slow, so as not to run the prop job into the ground. Ha.
There were performances by various stunt pilots, like this Oracle sponsored biplane.
And we were attacked by the Japanese (a reenactment of the bombing of Pearl Harbor using the actual planes from the movie Tora, Tora, Tora). Lots of explosions and smoke and totally cool.
The F-15 showed why it is still the fastest thing in the air (note the afterburners).
A B-2 Bomber snuck up on us.
There were more guys flying upside down and sideways and doing all sorts of things certain to make most of us mortals toss our cookies if we were onboard.
The Army's Golden Knights paratroopers did their thing, jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.
I like the flag a few of them were flying.
And much, much more!
All in all, a great way for the ZZR and I to spend the day, even if I did get nauseous going on base on a day when I didn't have to.
And what's the coolest thing about planes? They lean in the right direction when they turn, of course ... just like a motorcycle.
Labels: destinations
1 Comments:
It was a great air show! Even the practices sessions that ran a couple of days before the big event were a lot of fun to see ... before we were chased back into the building.
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