2012 Cleveland Air Show

Time....No matter what that damn clock keeps ticking. No matter how much stuff piles up it never stops and as I know all to well time keeps on going no matter what. I'm still trying to blog. I still think about doing it, but well that damn clock.... I'm determined to post at least once a month. Yeah some months are going to slip by, but i'll do my best to make it up. This month I'll go back a few weeks and give a brief review of the 2012 Cleveland National Air Show.

It was awesome as usual.... Seriously Cleveland puts on a great air show and amongst enthusiasts it is a don't miss as they always manage to grab more than you expect. This year they had some extras for the Sunday crowd and the Monday crowd. The downside of course is if you want it all you need to go all 3 days plus practice plus fly ins.....You get it. Well the 2 hour drive from central Ohio was not going to allow it although I was in Cleveland on Sunday as well for hockey... In fact had I not won 4 free tickets via a trivia contest on Facebook (Thanks Fox Sports Net Ohio!)I probably would have skipped this year. Friday I was Chief Instructor for a high performance driving school at Mid Ohio Sports Car Course in 93˚ heat. Saturday was recovery from Friday and I was supposed to be the pace car driver for SCCA club races at Mid-Ohio(too tired). Sunday was Hockey in Cleveland and that left Monday and the photos you see below!

A few of the highlight aircraft: FA-18F Super Hornet FA-18 CF-18 F-22 C-130 "Fat Albert" B-17 P-51 F4U-5 T-6 C-31A/Golden Knights Of course there were many more primarily Air Show legends like Sean Tucker, Jane Wicker Wing-walking, and Michael Goulian, but I tend to focus on the Military and former military aircraft on this blog.

I'd also like to point to a great writeup on flying with the US Army Golden Knights that can be found here: http://www.theclevelandsound.com/?p=14002

I took the kids for Monday because I had recovered and it was another opportunity to see the F-22 Raptor make a brief appearance after finishing up at the Ft. Wayne Air Show. It also had a very rare US stop for the Canadian CF-18 which is of course an FA-18 as seen in the Blue Angels squad. We had hot weather but it was mostly sunny with a breeze off the lake and the normal hour and 40 minute drive was stretched out to over 2 hours not due to traffic, but our *friends* at the Ohio State Highway Patrol and their 16 speed traps... The humidity made the vapor trails pretty spectacular and I missed the best one of all off the FA-18F Super Hornet which formed a huge vapor cone while at transonic speed. Even the CF-18 got a big cone which I caught a part of as seen below. Enjoy the photos. I had camera issues and didn't o to well, but I have plans to fix that for next year. With the end of summer its full on hockey time and I'll have so much to blog about. Tons of stuff has happened with that already!

Andrews AFB Air Show Open House

Over the previous weekend Andrews Air Force Base opened its doors for an open house and air show. The weather was perfect and here are some amazing shots. If you have never been to an air show you really should go and experience one. There are many free shows across the country as well as many high powered shows featuring the big acts like the Blue Angels, Thunderbirds, Golden Knights, Viper East (F-16), Raptor F-22, and the solo acts like John Mohr and Patty Wagstaff among dozens of acts. Many local airports host free shows put on by the EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) and these are so much fun with vintage warbirds like B-17's or B-25's. Sometimes even a P-51 Mustang will be there. In any case enjoy some great shots from Andrews!

Now THAT was a great way to end the summer!

Took Poppy and Frudoch up to Cleveland for the airshow. If you missed it and could have been there you are a fool. That was one fantastic airshow. I took about 350 photos and have many to go thru, but I got a few pics for you to see tonight. Lets just say it was well worth the 120 mile drive! Oh yeah the CLK500 got more than 26MPG on the way up and just a fraction less on the way back including the 45 minutes where we only went 3 miles and at that point were averaging around 9MPG. enjoy these pics. Lots more to come in the next few days.

Getting Pumped for Cleveland Air Show

This is what you're missing. Will be back soon.....

Weekends Come and Go

It's Monday evening and I'm already thinking about the weekend. This past weekend was a blur. Frudoch did the Laura Stamm Powerskating Camp at Chiller Easton. He even managed to forget his shoulder pads on Sunday morning which gave me the opportunity to check out the ultra high speed aspects of the CLK500. Lets just say its glued to the road at 130 mph. I love this car. So last weekend was a blur and this one will be too. Only in another way. I'll be heading up to Cleveland for the Air Show. The blur will once again be of jets at mind numbing speeds. It will be my first opportunity to see the Blue Angels in person. The show will also feature the F-16 Viper demo and F-15C Strike Eagle Demo as well as F/A-18F Super Hornet demo. These jet teams are awesome. We saw Viper east last week at Lancaster and i've seen the F-15 and F/A-18 demos at Chicago and GML among other times. Add in the C-130 and of course the Blue Angels (with Fat Albert the C-130) along with a stellar static display and you have an awesome show. It will be a more than 2 hour drive, but I'll find my way up there and have a blast. Heres a few more pics from Lancaster found on the web.