I can think of a few Jimmy Buffett songs that would fit my condition right now, but I’ll just quote him about it for now – “It’s my own damn fault!”

Today was round 1 of my time at Aviation Nation 2009.  This has been a superb airshow all around   Between the quality static displays and the awesome aerial acts, I’d say this is one of the best airshows I’ve ever been to.  And considering I’ve been to something like 15 days at Nellis, 40+ days at Miramar, quite a few trips to El Centro, and a few others, I’d say I might just be qualified to speak on the subject

My photographic equipment for today consisted of my Canon AE-1 Program SLR with a 28-210mm zoom lens, my Canon EOS Rebel T2 with a 28-90mm zoom lens, my Canon PowerShot A1000 IS digital point and shoot, my friend Aaron’s Sony digital point and shoot, my Sony Handycam camcorder, one full size tripod, and a few accessories.  I decided to leave my old Polaroid and TLR  cameras at home this year.  I’ve carried them all before and it’s a real hassle, not to mention very heavy when you’re on your feet all day!

I must confess that I thought I really should have taken more pictures.  I went through eight rolls of film in the SLRs, but I thought I was neglecting the digitals.  I’m going to wait until Monday to start getting film developed and I wanted something to post tonight   Turns out I might have been worried about nothing after all.  These pictures are only about half (the usable half) of the pictures I took with my digital.  There’s lots more good stuff where these came from

On with the pictures

Commodore Aerospace is a great bunch of guys.  They restore military and civilian Cessna Skymasters and fly them as well.  Military Skymasters were used as Forward Air Controller (FAC) aircraft during Vietnam, but also make great civilian airplanes as well as they’re pretty close to the civilian planes they were derived from.

I made my way over to the Thunderbirds’ hangar as I was hoping to find their gift shop (run out of a closet in the back) open.  Sadly, it wasn’t and I had to go through security again, but I always enjoy going through it and seeing all the cool memorabilia anyway

Bill Reesman flies the Red Bull MiG-17 and his wife, Julie, narrates his performances. Bill flew against MiGs during the Vietnam War, but now has more time in them than any other American.  Julie’s a pilot herself and certainly knows how to work a crowd

I’ve seen them on the airshow circuit for years, but I’d never had the chance to meet them.  I truly can’t say how awesome these two people are   They took time to really chat for a bit and are truly down to earth, nice people.  Bill not only gave me an autographed picture and chatted with me, but as you can see, he also took the time to get some pictures, as well.

I found a quote on Bill’s page on the Red Bull website that I can now say is very exemplary of the way he comes across:

“Air shows aren’t really about flying,” he says. “They’re about evoking emotion.” And those feelings can be up close and personal, too. “I have a risk-oriented personality,” he says. “Risk and stress can be positive things. They let you know you’re alive.”

People like Bill and Julie Reesman are what make airshows so great.  They make the effort to get out and share their love of flying and history along with leading by example in the way they treat their fans.  We truly can’t have enough people like them

Expect more pics of Bill (and maybe Julie) in the very near future

Danny Summers has brought his Skyraiders to Nellis quite a few times and I’ve got pictures of them posted elsewhere on this blog from those appearances.  These aircraft have a rather interesting history (click here to read about it) and you can see patched bullet holes in the aircraft if you know where to look   Yeah, there’ll be more pictures of these, too

The Horsemen are a formation aerobatic team which is sponsored by Air Show Buzz.  What makes them unique is their choice of aircraft.  Nobody else that I know of is doing formation aerobatics in P-51 Mustangs   Click here to go to their homepage

The A-10 Thunderbolt II is more commonly known by its nickname – the Warthog.  It truly is the terror of the Taliban

The entire aircraft was designed around the gun you see sticking out of its nose.  That’s a seven barrel, 30mm Gatling gun that fires 70 rounds per second.  Due to the heat generated by firing and the massive recoil which could actually stall the aircraft, it can only fire for three seconds continuously.  That may not sound like much, but when you consider that it carries 4200 rounds of ammo and that ammo comes in varieties such as depleted uranium (which goes through any tank’s armor with ease), high explosive incendiary, and armor piercing incendiary, you can start to understand some of the destruction it can bring to the enemy

The F-22 Raptor is the world’s greatest fighter.  Ever.  No comparison.  Period.

You can’t see this aircraft – it’s stealthier than the F-117.  You can’t catch it – it can cruise at over Mach 1 without using its afterburners and can accelerate at an incredible rate due to a total of 140,000 pounds of thrust.  You’ll never know what happens when it kills you if you’re an enemy – it doesn’t have to turn on its radar to guide its missiles and even if it does transmit, an enemy’s radar warning systems wouldn’t know it because of the way the Raptor’s radar works.

If you’re an enemy of the USA, you’d best be afraid if there’s a Raptor in the area

With its capability to operate under much less than ideal conditions and to even back up under its own power, the C-17 is an incredible aircraft.  I have a friend online who’s now a loadmaster on these aircraft and he can’t say enough good about them

The AC-47 Spooky was the first gunship of its time when it arrived on scene in Vietnam.  Those miniguns you see sticking out of the side of it (those are replicas, but you get the point) can fire around 3,000 rounds per minute each.  The NVA and VC didn’t care much for spooky

Attu Warrior is a PV-2 Harpoon which served the US Navy during WWII.  Maritime patrol would be the Harpoon’s mission – searching for and attacking enemy vessels.  I’ve never seen one of these planes before (yes, I was shocked, too ), so I’m glad I had the chance here

Yep, I looped back around to the Skymasters again towards the end of the day   These are just plain cool airplanes

This Stearman was actually used to train the famous Tuskegee Airmen in WWII

The Stearman biplane is a benchmark in aviation history.  It’s still prized by warbird aficionados due to its great flying characteristics

I don’t know much about the Ryan ST3KR, but I love the styling   It just oozes the feeling of the Golden Age of Aviation

You’re bound to find other cool military vehicles around airshows – things like this jeep   Now, who here knows the story of Kilroy?

I’ve known about snake eye bombs for a while, but I’d never seen one up close like this.  They’re used when dropping from a low altitude and the fins slow the bombs so that the aircraft which drops them has a chance to get out of danger before it goes off.

Yeah, it’s probably a gas hog.  I’ll give you that.  Still, I could take all my guns, most of my friends’ guns, a shade structure, a barbecue, and even more into the desert with ease.  See that black thing towards the back of the roof?  It’s a satellite TV receiver

The original, “normal” F-15 is optimized for air to air combat.  This is a later version which has been adapted for ground attack but which still retains its aerial combat capabilities.  I thought this was a pretty cool picture

And that’s the end of the pictures from day one.  This is a pretty typical sunset for Las Vegas – not a cloud anywhere in the sky and a gradually receding glow on the horizon.  I might go on and on about the color in clouds at sunset, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like these, too

Have a great day and wish me luck at Sunday’s airshow