We made it to the big show today. Weather is beautiful, if just a bit humid. My glasses create IFR conditions when leaving the air conditioned car. We got all six of us in the house, and it looks like we’re really glad we’re not camping after looking at the radar image right now.
There was one bad situation today when a Beech Premier jet landed very hard after an apparent stall and partial recovery. Jack Rouch was piloting the plane and is reported to be in serious, but stable condition. The plane broke apart between the wing and the engine, but there was no fire.
The afternoon airshow featured mostly warbirds. Only 3 DC-3’s were flown for the Liberty Parachute show opening today. The mass formation that was hoped for, didn’t take place. We do have video of the 27 planes that flew in a loose formation at Whiteside airport on Monday, which will be posted when we get back.
I’m still learning where to get the best bargains on the field. Today’s find was the $1 water sold at the Vintage store. That’s not as cheap as the free water out of the fountains, but it’s a lot colder.
The big announcement Monday was the introduction of Rod Hightower as the new EAA president. He is a Stearman owner, and has had management positions in several business. He takes over as president on September 7.
The Goodyear blimp arrived this afternoon. The wet conditions have largely disappeared. There’s a lot of space in the aircraft camping areas that are open. The North 40 area is mostly tents right now. The homebuilt parking area seems to be well filled. I haven’t been down to the vintage and ultralight areas yet. The warbirds area has a good contingent of planes, but I’m not sure how that compares to past years. The Army reinactors seem to have a larger camp set up. It’s really a nice display they’ve put together. I’ll get a closer look at it soon. We saw several truck loads of wood mulch piled up near a road ready to be deployed in soft ground. Fortunately, it’s not needed yet.
Got to get to bed. More tomorrow.