Nearly Airshow time!

Duper · Post by **Duper** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 6:47 pm

Ok.. not until August but we're gearing up.

I was poking around on the AirShow Site and found last years highlights film. It's only a couple minutes long but is Very well done. We had a private jet team call the Patriots. Mostly retired officers (one ex-Soviet pilot)they own and maintenance their own jets. I believe they are a French made fighter. (the French have and air force??)

If you like jets and flying things.. Check it out.

Flatlander · Post by **Flatlander** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 5:19 am

Cool

I've gone to three airshows so far this year:
Tico, MacDill and Sun 'n Fun (still uploading this year's Sun 'n Fun pics, I got a lot).

Tunnelcat · Post by **Tunnelcat** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 4:36 pm

A couple of years ago the B-17 Flying Fortress 'Nine-O-Nine' flew into Corvallis, OR. I coughed up the $300 fee (it's over $400 now) to take a half hour flight. But since it was the second flight of the day, we got to fly all over Corvallis for an HOUR! All I can say was WOW! It was fantastic to fly around in an old WWII bomber. We even got to crawl around to all the stations while in flight! I'd post the video, but it's long.

Duper · Post by **Duper** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 5:03 pm

Oh.. did I forget to mention we're tryin like crazy to get it in for the show??

Seriously. It's not posted because it hasn't been confirmed, but it's our goal and we should have a confirm in the next month. We've hoping to get all out statics and acts wrapped up by the end of May.

Also, we'll be hosting the Viet-Nam Memorial Wall. It's a scaled down version of the one in DC. It's escorted from show to show by Vets who ride motorcycles (in this case up to 2000, we're not sure yet.

) It's set up and they provide charcoal and tracing paper for those who want to trace off names. It's all quite cool and I've only scratched the surface of that particular event.

We average about 70k guests over the entire weekend (plus or minus) We aren't sure what the Wall is going draw in the way of additional folks. It should be busy!

So yeah, TC, if you want another ride, start saving and come on up. Buy your tickets early, and there are lots of specials. Of course that's a long way to come. It's almost the same distance to the Kalamath Fall's Airshow.

flip · Post by **flip** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 5:19 pm

Best Air Show I ever went to was in Chattanooga TN. They lined 55 gallon drums full of Gas I believe along the runway then ignited them to simulate bombing runs. Fireballs 2-300 feet in the air all the way down the runway in succession and was awesome to see. Probably just a fraction of the chaos real munitions would cause. The Thunderbirds were also there. They pulled one maneuver where all four planes would head straight towards each other and pass within the same airspace all within a second and a half. Best Stunt ever!! Probably my favorite though are the Golden Knights. Year before last at Dobbins in Marietta GA, they jumped with the winds blowing steady at about 30 miles an hour ground level. They would head into the wind where they would just standstill, then flip over and drop about 30-50 feet. I will never forget that one. Neat stuff.

Duper · Post by **Duper** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 6:37 pm

yeah, watch that vid, there is something similar. the wall of fire isn't that HIGH but it's 150 yards long and you feel the HEAT from that thing instantly as in NO lag from a half mile away.

The Golden Knights are featured in the first part of the clip. also, that person landing piggy back is our Airshow President.

That high winds stunt sounds cool, I'd like to see that.
One year (06' I think) the Sean Tuckerhat flying the Oracle held the plane on it's tail for about 2 minutes without so much as 5 degrees rotation or a foot slippage. That was amazing.

HERE is the list the folks we have booked so far. You'll probably recognize most of them.

i love that rocket car. oh also, the choppers that are lifting off did that on Sunday after the show was over the field was clear. Some of them like to show off on their way out.

Zantor · Post by **Zantor** » Fri May 01, 2009 2:54 pm

The St. Louis Fair & Air Show is every Labor Day weekend. On the official site of the Fair & Air Show, they announced that 2007 was the last year.

It's quite sad because as the site describes, it is a very big event for the region. I looked forward to going every year, but apparently people care more about other things than community events.

Business development in and around Spirit of St. Louis Airport in Chesterfield, however, has reduced the ability of the venue to adequately accommodate visitors. Accordingly, after careful review and discussion, the Board of Directors of the County Fair & Air Show announced today that 2007 was the last year for the event.

Duper · Post by **Duper** » Fri May 01, 2009 9:13 pm

oh man. That sucks!

We kinda got lucky. Most of the area around the north half of the airport is industrial. Intel and Fujitsu have facilities there. Heck 3/4 of the airport is surrounded by Intel stuff. It's also an international airport. One that knows that the airshow brings in a lot of money for the community. In the last 7 years we've donated nearly 2 million to local charities and community that hosts the event.

Our Pres does an Awesome job of PR and watches the budget like a Scottsman.

The VN memorial wall will probably save our bacon in this economy. we would have done ok, but next year's show would suffer.

Good luck man. :\\