So we appreciate what they do

I was surfing through YouTube tonight, and found this from an air show gone by in Idaho.  The Thunderbirds make it look easy.  This reminds us that it isn’t.  There is another video from inside the cockpit.  According to the write up that accompanied the video, the pilot ejected .8 seconds before impact.  Yikes! 

Update:  A press release on why it happened. 

Indy Air Show Pictures

Here are my pictures from the Indy Air Show.  I’m still working on the Thunderbirds video that was taken.

Just like Dayton, we went to the air show with Mike and his son Matt.  Here is Mike’s entry.  He has many great pictures, too.  Man! I need a better camera.  The difference is obvious when you compare Mike’s shots to mine.  (If anyone can recommend a good digital camera, feel free to leave that in the comments!)

Now, a summary of the fun moments:

• 11:45 – Eating hot dogs in the food tent while it just poured outside.  It was raining so hard, that the rain would pool in the tents wherever it sagged.  Workers were running around with brooms pushing out the sags so the water would run off and not ripped the tents.  What’s so fun about that, you ask?  People watching!  People can be very creative when they attempt to stay dry.  One guy used his folder chair as an umbrella.  It didn’t look like it worked too well though, or he already got soaked before thinking to use the chair.
• Deb got a smoothie in a tiki mug.  Unfortunately, she got a leaky tiki.  The vendor did replace it.
• After the rainstorm, while heading back to our seats, Matt wanted to play in the “rivers” that were created by the rainstorm.
• Matt’s creative naming of the airplane stunts.  I wish I could remember some of the names he gave us – they were quite creative.

I also found this picture from someone else (Bill Gentry) who attended the Indy Air Show.  This is a great shot during the F/A 18 Hornet demo, where you get the clouding affect just before the sound barrier is broken.  This was an awesome shot.

Air Race News: 8/30/06

This may be old news, but I just stumbled onto it when doing some searches.  The Thunder Mustang website says that all the assets are for sale due to the company going out of business.  It also mentions there will be five Thunder Mustangs at the Reno Air Races this year.

I found an interesting website, called Swiss Mustangs.  The site is very informative and includes a page for racing Mustangs.

Here is another good resource for warbird information (they have an air race section too):  http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/

Farewell to a hero

A hero was honored today.  As stated before, our sympathies to the law enforcement community and families.  Our thanks to those in law enforcement.  (Related post)

9/21 update: No charges to be filed against the truck driver.

Plane crash on Indianapolis’ West Side

Local news yesterday broke this story about a plane that went down on my side of town.  My wife’s best friend lives in the neighborhood where the plane crashed into a retention pond.  The most fascinating part of the follow-up story though, is that the pilot’s son appears to have saved the rest of the occupants by deploying the safety parachute, a feature of this model of plane, while his father was incapacitated by a stroke, or other medical ailment.

Air race news: 8/29/06

The Rare Bear team has posted some pictures from the past of their beloved airplane.  It is interesting to see how the paint schemes have changed (and the name, too).

Here is another website for the team that owns the NXT Relentless:  http://www.sloair.com/.  According to this post on the bulletin board, they will be running a Glassair III this year in the Sport Class (I’m assuming they are still putting Relentless back together.  More on the Sport Class can be found at:  http://www.sportclass.com/

I found some more interesting insight on the Reno Air Races, at MustangsMustangs.net.  Additionally, they have some updated information on Dago Red, one of the Unlimited Racers that is – you guessed it – a Mustang.  There are plenty of great pictures on this site too.  Search to your hearts content.  There is plenty to learn.

Indianapolis Air show and symposium

As we posted before the weekend started, our weekend started Friday night at the Indianapolis Air Show Symposium.  We listened to some fascinating air combat stories from some of the pilots, but the night belonged to Dr. David Wolf.  He had some amazing facts to share, showed us a video of some of his time in space, and kept us laughing with his whit.  He truly is an amazing man.  He kept us laughing when he talked about the power outages while he was on the space station for his “extended stay”.  When the power went out, there was no communication with Earth, so he and his cosmonaut friends had to rectify the situation on their own.  He also shared that he lost 40% of his muscle mass while there, and he endured about a year of extensive physical rehabilitation recuperating from that trip.  

There was also a young man there (and I wish I had written down his name) from Fishers Elementary School, who said he wanted to do something for the kids at Riley’s Children Hospital here in town.  The air show and the symposium both benefited kids who needed surgeries.  He helped by selling $16,000 worth of tickets to the air show.  Absolutely amazing!  Does anyone want to recruit a future sales rep?

We went to the air show on Sunday, which turned out to be the better day.  We battled with thunderstorms all weekend.  The Thunderbirds only performed for ten minutes Saturday when they stopped due to weather.  We got a full show Sunday, despite an early down pour at 11:45am (the show started at noon) that created rivers of water, and a very muddy parking area (cornfield).  The Thunderbirds did a full routine, even if it was the low altitude version.  The high altitude routines were eliminated due to the low cloud deck. I will have pictures, and some video, to post later this week.  I have a lot on the plate, so I will post them as soon as I can.

Here is the story, with some video, from the local TV station.

Thunderbird pilot Nicole Malachowski

I meant to post this Sunday before I left for the air show. An Interview with Maj. Malachowski appeared in our local newspaper.  As a follow-up, The Star also posted a brief history of the Thunderbirds.  Complete info found on the Thunderbirds website.

Dinner and then the weekend airshow

Tonight Deb and I will attend the symposium for the Indianapolis Air Show tonight.  I’ll be sure to post a few of the stories that are shared tomorrow.  I’ve been looking forward to this all week.  Then, we will attend the air show Sunday with some friends. We’re hoping the weather will hold.  They are forecasting thunderstorms for both Saturday and Sunday.  Fingers crossed!

Camarillo and Atlantic City

I did some digging around today, but this was all I could come up with for Atlanta Atlantic City and Camarillo.  I am watching Technorati for any good blogs that might post more pictures, and I’ll link to those when, and if, they turn up.

Pictures of Atlantic City Air show

Article.  2006 Pics.

2005 Pictures.

Update:  Found this post, by Jeff, of the Atlantic City Air Show.  He has some great pictures.

Pictures of Camarillo Air Show.

A new attendance record was set, too.

And of note:  Deb called me at work today to make me jealous.  The Thunderbirds flew over our house today while landing at Indianapolis International Airport.