Grandfather Mountain and the Blue Ridge Parkway viaduct from 8000'.
Early morning fog in the Tennessee mountains
Sky dancing in the clouds
Indianapolis IN
We stayed on top of the cumulus layer most of the day
On the ground in Kankakee IL, B-17 and B-24 in the background
Two Skyhawk drivers
Wind Farm in Wisconsin
Sunset at Scholler Campground at Airventure 2008
Very cool cockpit in new Icon A-5 Light Sport Aircraft
Fold the wings - it's an amphib you can put on a trailer!
Ron with one of his idols - Mark Henley of the Aeroshell T-6 Aerobatic Team.
Glacier Girl - a P-38 found 300 feet deep in the ice of a glacier in Greenland
Flight of Russian and Chinese fighter trainers to celebrate 50th anniversary of their manufacture
Airshow officially starts when Old Glory arrives by skydivers from the Liberty parachute team
The Collaborators - Sean D Tucker in his highly modified PItts, Eric Tucker (Sean's son) and Ben Freelove in their Extra 300Ls, Bill Stein in the Edge 540
Patty Wagstaff - one of the best aerobatic pilots in the world
The Red Bull helicopter does things a helicopter shouldn't be able to do. It is flown by Chuck Aaron, who holds the distinction as the only pilot licensed in the United States to fly aerobatics in a helicopter. It is a BO-105 CBS helicopter, a stock Eurocopter/Messerschmitt Boelkow Blohm. It has two 425 hp Allyson Rolls Royce C-20B turbine engines that drive composite rotor blades mounted to a solid titanium fixed rotor head.
Mike Wiskus in his Pitts
Super Decathalon
Kyle Franklin in the 1940 Waco "Mystery Ship" JMF-7
Debbie Rihn-Harvey has been flying aerobatics over 25 years. She put on a show in her Cap 232 named Hurricane 2
Gene Soucy in his Ag Cat, with Teresa Stokes wing walking
Teresa Stokes doing a headstand!
Ken Pietsch in the Jelly Belly 1942 Interstate Cadet
The Aerostars in their Yak-52s
The AV-8B Harrier II was LOUD!
Harrier over an F-4 Phantom
Harrier heats it up on landing
Chuck comfortable watching the airshow in his Wolfpack chair
Love the AT-6
Past Grand Champion
Past Grand Champion - Cessna 170, the forerunner of the 172
HondaJet - made in Greensboro!
Thursday morning at the Main Gate
Chuck finds a Sbach 300 to take home, very hot aerobatic airplane. Plus, it's in one of Sherry's favorite colors!
Wendy has always said Ron should have a Breitling - he found one!
For those of you who like to fly closer to the ground, they have Roush Mustangs here
View of some of the 15,000 airplanes on display. This is the homebuilt section
Nice B-25 passes by
Chuck talking to the Gobosh people about their very nice Light Sport Aircraft made in Poland
There are young P-51 pilots too!
Chuck driving the Mule - he claims to have driven one from Ft Bragg to Seymour Johnson AFB (top speed 35 mph)
A row of P-40 Warhawks
A whole bevy of P-51 Mustangs
Can you spot Ron in the picture of this gorgeous P-51?
How about now?
P-51 carries 250-500 rounds of ammo for each of it's six .50 cal guns. Gotta be selective when you fire!
Jack Roush on the wing of one his P-51s
He drove the WWII staff car on the left of the picture
A row of colorful CJ-6 Nanchangs
More color with a yellow AT-6 in front of a multicolored WWII amphib
DC-3 (aka C-47) under the wing of a B-25
A-26 Lady Liberty
Ron getting some right seat time in Lady Liberty
Wide view of the A-26
This is the exact spot on the ramp of a Caribou where Chuck used to leave a perfectly good airplane (and was paid by Uncle Sam to do so).
U-2 makes a surprise arrival
Ford Tri-Motor on takeoff
Ron tries out the JetPack. For only $100,000 you can own one too!
Closeup of the JetPack
Jeff Dunham (who was hilarious Wednesday night) built this Rotorway helicopter
The fabulous Julie Clark in her pristine T-34
Julie Clark during her patriotic routine
Julie Clark on the ground, Can you tell we like her?
The Iron Eagles fly a matched pair of the Super Christen Eagle I
Sean D. Tucker in his solo routine
Matt Younkin did an aerobatic routine in a gorgeous 1948 Twin Beech
Sean D Tucker's highly modified Pitts - over 400HP
F-22 Raptor
Heritage Flight - P-51 Mustang and F-22 Raptor
The Aeroshell Aerobatic Team in their T-6s
Ford Tri-Motor arrives to pick up passengers
Cabin of the TriMotor
View back toward the passenger cabin
Notice there are three throttle levers
Engine instruments are mounted on the engine pylons
Ron after his ride in the TriMotor
B-17 breaks ground on takeoff
Takes a lot of people to support the TriMotor
TBM Avenger - just like the one flown by Lt (jg) George Bush when he was shot down in the Pacific
Goodyear blimp cruising by
Ron with a beautifully restored 1956 Cessna 172
U-2 on static display
Homebuilt helicopters - yep, you can build one of these in your living room!
Spent some time at the Ultralight field
Ultralight on short final
My favoritte ultralight - looks like he covered the wings and ran out of money
a Very Blue Cheetah ultralight
Chuck (82nd Airborne) with WWII veteran Glenn Derber. Mr. Derber parachuted into Normandy with the 101st Airborne, also into Holland. Fascinating individual.
Mr. Derber's medal collection. He is one of so many that we should thank for our Freedom...
Arrival at the seaplane base
LSA Seaplane under the wing of a Cessna 185
It's a laid back lifestyle at the Seaplane Base. Time to chill.
Repositioning a 185 with the help of Mercury outboards
Mr. Derber's t-shirt showed the theaters where he served
The EAA replica of Charles Lindberg's Ryan monoplane. This replica was constructed in 1977 for the 50th anniversary of Lindberg's flight. It landed at Le Bourget on the same day 50 years later.
Chuck gets some sugar from WASP Bee Hayvu
Want to fly into space? This is Spaceship One, the suborbital vehicle that won the $10M prize for the first private spaceship to make it into space.
The EAA AirVenture museum is filled with the history of aviation.
Wonderful gathering of Women Aviators. L to R: Jill Jones, A-10 pilot; Carey Jones (call sign "Mamba"), F-15 pilot; then the remaining WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots) who ferried all kinds of aircraft in WWII: Dawn Seymour, Jean McCrary, Bee Hayvu, Jan Goodrum, and Marty Wyall
The Goodyear blimp up close. It stayed on the ground due to an approaching thunderstorm
Bell 47D helicopter just like you see in M.A.S.H.
Pioneer Field, site of KidVenture - and helicopter rides (can you spot all three helicopters?)
The Airshow opens with the Liberty Parachute team bringing in Old Glory. That's the new control tower on the left.
Julie Clark flies through the fireworks in the middle of her patriotic routiine
Julie Clark drives by the crowd after her performance
A line of P-51s ready to depart
Formation of T-6s and SNJs pass overhead
T-28s pass in review
The Trojan Horse T-28 team
Entertainment by Gary Sinise and his Lt Dan Band
Sinise plays bass - he lets others sing!
Control panel inside DC-3, this was used to check FAA airway radio beacons
Instrument panel of the FAA DC-3
DC-3 used by FAA to check airway radio beacons. This aircraft has over 25,000 hours
Piper Comanche - Dale's Dad had both the 180 hp and 250 hp models of this airplane
Gull wing Stinson Reliant
BOTH of Sky King's airplanes - Cessna 310 and Beech 18
Another gorgeous Comanche
Cessna 150 like Ron learned to fly in
Beautiful Swift - this airplane is being raffled off by the Swift Owners Association
Skyhawks keep flying
Chuck beside a nice Citabria - that is the airplane Chuck owns and flies out of Bradford Field, a grass strip near Huntersville
Colorful row of Cessna 195s
Trio of Cessna 195s. The radial engine makes this a sweet ride.
This ultralight looks like someone ran out of money after he got through covering the wings!
Homebuilt helicopter, modeled after the Bell 47 you saw on M.A.S.H.
Homebuilt Rotorway helicopter
Goodyear blimp passing over the ultralight field, that's a Rotorway homebuilt helicopter on the ground
Extremely personal transportation - a one person Mosquito homebuilt helicopter
The enclosed version of the Mosquito homebuilt helicopter
This is the way we'll come here next year - camping under the wing!
Can't you just see Wendy and Maddy enjoying such luxury? Notice they pulled the seats out of the airplane to use in the "living room"
Closeup of the living room
row of Ercoupes. The first models of this airplane had no rudder pedals, just a steering wheel like a car. Kinda tough in crosswinds
Biplane (can't remember type) used for hauling mail and cargo in the 30s
Kids love it when Daddy gives them a closer look
Three Wacos - L to R: 1940 UPF-7, 1931 QCF-2, 1935 YPF
1940 Ryan STM-S2 open cockpit monoplane
Step back in time, yet it's today - the Goodyear Blimp passing over a J-3 Cub
The Blimp on Maximum Performance Climb...at 35 mph!
The Rocket Racing League planes are fast and LOUD
Aeroshell Square had lots of Military Hardware on Saturday
E-6B Prowler
V-22 Osprey Tilt Rotorcraft
How many blades can you put on a prop?
Heritage Flight - P-38 Glacier Girl leads a P-51 Mustand and the F-22 Raptor
This is the airplane we plan to win - $1 buys a chance on a Cirrus SR-22
Caribou makes a low pass. Chuck jumped from as low as 300 feet off the ground back in his 82nd Airborne days
This is the view of the Caribou as you are hanging from the canopy
Another colorful arrival for Old Glory, brought in by the Liberty Parachute Team. That's one of the Aeroshell Aerobatic Team in his RV-8 circling the skydivers
B-25 being towed back to its tiedown
This is a Caribou like the one Chuck used to jump out of
Two things you don't see much of any more - a WWII Jeep and a pay phone booth!
Sunday morning we broke camp early, drove to Milwaukee, turned in the RV, and were preflighting 64328 by 0730
Climbing out from runway 7L at Billy MItchell Field (KMKE) you can see downtown Milwaukee to the north along the shore of Lake Michigan
We took the "VFR Flyway" along the shore of Lake Michigan to see the Chicago skyline up close. To our left, there sure was a lot of water!
Chuck and Ron early in the flight
The Chicago skyline comes into view
We are cruising at 2400 feet MSL, about 1800 feet off the water
Navy Pier to the right, Sears Tower to the left. Sears Tower is 1,450 feet high, less than 400 feet below our cruising altitude
Wider shot showing the Hancock Building to the right and the breakwater in the forefront
One last shot of the skyline of the Windy City. With everyone wanting to restrict flight patterns for our little airplanes, this trip may not be possible in the future.
Shot of the Garmin 496 GPS as we are near Gary, Indiana (KGYY) headed to KGEZ, Shelbyville, IN. The red and yellow blobs to the right of the screen are storm systems churning about 100 miles to our west. We are glad we made the decision to leave on Sunday (notice the clear weather for our flight path) and glad to have onboard NEXRAD weather on the GPS. Amazing what technology has done for General Aviation
South of Chicago, the Indiana countryside is green and flat with lots of very straight roads
The White County airport (KMCX) just south of Monticello, IN makes for a pretty picture. That's the Tippecanoe River. Not sure where Tyler is...
Look at how long and straight that road is!
Final approach to runway 19, Shelbyville, IN (KGEZ)
Crossing the Ohio River where Vevay , IN is across the water from Ghent, KY
One of NASCAR's newest tracks, the Kentucky Speedway at Sparta, KY. That's I-71 going by the track
Strip mining for coal in Kentucky. It's not pretty but we saw some nice looking reclamation sites.
After landing at Tri-Cities Airport (KTRI) in Bristol-Kingsport-Johnson City, TN we parked beside this nice 737 with a Miami Dolphins logo on the tail. Notice the tail number N737WH? Yep, it's the private airplane of Wayne Huzienga, one of the Dolphins' owners. Seems he flew a few of his friends up for a weekend at his place in the mountains.
N64328 looking almost as good on the other side of the ramp. See how the flags are hanging straight down? On short final, they were blowing ACROSS the runway. Really. That's my excuse for a little more wear on the right main tire than the left.
Climbing out from KTRI to head over the Smokies and home.
Continuing our NASCAR tour, this is Bristol Motor Speedway. Nothing else like it in the country. Put 160,000 fans inside the fishbowl and another 100,000 surrounding the speedway and it's a hot summer night in August!
Boone and Appalachian State University from 9000 feet MSL
Of course there was just ONE cloud layer, it was ONLY 1000 feet thick - from 8500 to 9500. Yep, we were cleared for 9,000! Punched in and out for a half hour or so to get over the mountains
What goes up must come down, in this case we pick up some airspeed on the descent. 134 knots (154 mph) looks good in a Skyhawk!
