I had the pleasure this weekend of attending
my first ever airshow. It was held in association with Daniel Webster College (an aviation school) at KASH... a GA airport in Nashua, New Hampshire.
The "theme" was heavily WWII aircraft. There were all sorts of craft from that period, and most did flying demonstrations. This included the B-17G "Nine O Nine", B-25J Mitchell "Tondelayo", the B-24J Liberator "Dragon and His Tail", TBM-3E Avenger, AT-6 Texan, PT-17 Kaydet Trainer, Cessna UC-78 Bobcat, P-51 Mustang, P-40 Warhawk, P-47 Thunderbolt, the Corsair, and the DC-3 / C=-47 Skytrain. There also was one German aircraft...... a Fieseler Fi-156 Storch, which was an observation aircraft. (Pretty unique bird!) Then there were civilian craft of all sorts... from a 1929 WACO ASO to a Grummam Widgeon, to a Sikorsky S-39 to stuff like the brand new Cirus planes with galss cockpits... and a number of the new class of aircraft supporting the new FAA "Sport Pilot" license (only 20 hours, no aviation physical).
Some of the WWII planes (among others) gave rides .... if you had the money
. With all the "period" aricraft in the air and parked and taxiing at the same time....... it was sort of like being in a "time warp".
Another pleasure (and honor) of the day there was to hear the many veterans there chatting with others about their various experiences. I was amazed at how many WWII airmen were there.
One of the most interesting and historic aircraft there was the
LAST still flying B24J Liberator. "The Dragon and His Tail". Truly an awesome sight. If you had $400, they would take you up on a 1/2 hour flight. They did three flights with a 9 person "crew" (the public) while I was there at the end of the day. Wish I had that kind of money.
The money is used to help the Collings Foundation keep the plane flying.
Got to walk thru the B-24 and the B-25. That experience gave me a bit more of the "measure" of the brave men who flew those aircraft in warfare conditions. The interior is all function, offers little protection from incoming rounds, and by today's standards is amazingly "primitive". Anyone who had to walk thru and work in that bombbay on the
tiny "rail" that served as a "floor" over the wide open space below was truly an AMAZING person.
I will post more pictures in this thread in a while. But these are just to get it started. These were from my digital..... which is not a great camera. They are the B-24J "The Dragon and His Tail" and the B-17G Flying Fortress "Nine O Nine". I will have the 35mm shots developed soon. Those should have the good "flyby" shots.
best,
........................john
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