Airpower Over The Midwest

We're spending just about a month on Scott Air Force Base and are able to participate in many of the events that take place here. This weekend, Sept 20-21, is the annual air show. The title for 2008 is "Airpower Over The Midwest". We thought the air show at Oshkosh was pretty spectacular, and it was in its own way, but the air show at Scott is geared more toward the military end of aviation and the tremendous airpower that is available to our military. More than just impressive - it's awesome. When I was in the military (in the 1960's) I was an Air Traffic Controller in an Army Aviation Company. In spite of being in the army I spent a lot of time on Air Force Bases training and working. As I compare the aircraft of the '60s with the aircraft of the present it makes me feel like we were playing with model aircraft then because what is in the arsenal now is much, much hotter, better, and more sophisticated.

Saturday started out rainy, but got better as the day went on. Sunday started rainy as well, and it's still too early to see which way the weather is going. As of 11 am we're still in our RV in the base campground, but can see and hear the air show as it is just now beginning. If the rain holds off a bit more and the thin spots in the sky hold their promise we'll go back out to the flight line and watch some more action. After noon the fighter planes perform and then the highlight of the show, the Air Force Thunderbirds, perform at 2:30. No problem watching them two days in a row.

Yesterday, Saturday, we were on the flight line with our son Steve, and his two boys Daniel and Maciek. It was a great air show: a B-52 made a low pass, there were performances by F-15's, F-18's, and the Thunderbird's F-16's. Static displays included some huge Air Force transport planes and a B1 bomber, to name just a few. In the photo of the F-18 you can see the ring of fog that forms behind the plane as it accelerates. The near-vacuum that forms over and behind the wing is what causes the fog to form. Pretty impressive.

Enjoy the photos. Thanks for looking. We'll have more to tell soon.

Dave & Pat

It's Illinois, again.

We drove back to Illinois on Labor Day. While in Saint Paul, we were beginning to notice the 'feel' of autumn creeping in. On the trip across Wisconsin to Illinois the visible signs were quite obvious. Color is forming on the trees, and in some cases leaves are already falling. No doubt about it, winter is not far off. We're gradually moving south to a warmer climate, but we will be lingering in Illinois for a month or more.

Check back often.

Dave & Pat