July 28th: Monday's Airshow

Dave and I weren't the only ones waiting for the airshow to start that afternoon...

...quite a few other people were out on the flight line, too. We didn't have to wait long, though!

The airshow started with a flag jump and the National Anthem...

...then the Aeroshell team did a flyby.

The first part of the airshow was a series of demos. NASA flew in a WB-57F. I'd never even heard of this one! It's a recon plane that can fly up to 70,000'. It came in and landed, and as it taxied up to Boeing Plaza you could see just how low the wings drooped toward the ground.

We got to see the HondaJet fly, too. It was so quiet.

A formation of T-34s. They had a few different formations fly overhead.

We got to see the FLS Microjet, too. It seems like an updated (and safer?) version of the BD-5 and man, did it look fun! I wouldn't mind a tiny jet one day...   :)

Even after the flight of T-28s landed, you could still hear them rumbling across the field as they taxied into their spots. This is hopefully the next warbird-type plane I'll be flying (eventually)...I found a place here in Virginia that offers T-28 flights, so I'm saving my money!

The Lucas Oil Pitts was the first hardcore aerobatic flight of the day. Michael Wiskus does a really nice job!

I even managed to just catch the ribbon cut.   :)

Otto the helicopter was one of the next routines. It had a smiley face on the front, and at one point it actually blew a bubble out of the front.

The Aeroshell T-6s came back and flew again later in the show. They're so photogenic!

After a little while you could hear rumbling from the far corner of the airport. A V-22 popped up over the hill!

I get to talk to V-22s once in a while at work, and a few weeks ago a couple of them flew over my house, but it was really cool to get to see one up close.

They did a pretty neat flight demo. I never knew that they always transitioned their rotor position while they're turning, so that was cool to see.

Some of the winners of the Valdez STOL contest in Alaska had a mini competition during the airshow. The distances they were putting up for takeoffs and landings were insane! Even the announcers were cracking up as they were announcing takeoff distances as short as 72 feet and landing distances as short as 62 feet.

After the airshow we walked back through Warbirds to the North 40, dropped our stuff off at the plane, and grabbed dinner at the cafe. We had planned to spend a little while out at the flight line, watching arrivals and departures, but got sidetracked when we bumped into...

...everyone hanging out at Sherman's plane! Sherman is on the left, and I'm standing between his wife Camelia and our buddy Ken. The guy on the right is another Virginia pilot, too, and I cannot for the life of me remember his name. I'm sorry! At any rate, Dave and I wound up hanging out with Sherman and Camelia at their plane until it got dark, then eventually grabbed showers and headed to bed. It was a great first day of AirVenture, and we still had a couple days to go!