{Up Up & Away}

At 4:00 on a Saturday afternoon two weeks ago it was HOT.  Oh yeah, it's STILL hot!!  For some reason we decided to go to the air show that Gardner airport was putting on.  It seemed like a good idea at the time, and it was fun, but it was soooo hot!!  We packed 6 bottles of water and lots of teether rings just to hold on our skin.

Yeah, I  think I would have rather been IN a fridge (like the teethers)!

Planes have fascinated me since I was little, so little I don't even remember.  In fact everyone thought I would grow up and do something with the sky, which I did want to be an astronaut or an aero space engineer!

Yeah about that....calc sucks!  Change of plans.

The air show that was going on was to honor those that had served.  So.... more than just your cesna's or your boeing planes were there.  It was WAR planes!  They even had the ONLY flying B-29!  I know it doesn't take much to excite this girl!  Oooo, Ahhh, have I ever mentioned how much I love war planes, the 40's, old stuff?  I do, I do, I do!!!  At just a young age of 12 my father started a job at cesna in Wichita, so I got my fair share of being around aircraft, tarmacs, and hangers.

Ever wondered why they're called a 'hanger'? Something about a pig pen, horse stable in Europe.  I bet you look it up now too!

Our time at the air show was brief due to the fact that the tar was melting and you were literally sticking to it!  It was like walking in one big glob of gum over and over again.  You'd probably leave too.  We started out just by looking at the planes, which the boys liked. There were so few people at the show at this time of day that I got the chance to take some really awesome shots.

This plane had it propeller in the rear.  Not sure how that flies, wish we could have seen it.

This next segment is on Fifi...What a huge plane!  Gave me some of my favorite shots! 

Left: one propellor (my fave) Right: almost a full view of the front

Left: the rear of Fifi (rear shooter) Middle: front cockpit Right: middle window w/Brent & Sterling's reflection

How would you like to fly this beast!?!

Another fave!  This is the exhaust off one of the propellers.  Just love the lighting!

Ha, this one makes my belly ache!  I was trying to get the boys to stand by the tires to compare how big those wheels were!  After much convincing  they did it, but not long enough for me to get a good picture, but what I did get was them complaining to each other about the "stink" under there.  A strong smell of oil.  We wouldn't want those wheel parts gettin' rusty on us!  

Another favorite!  Just a reflection from the window of the plane.  You know one of those artsy kind of shots.

Next the boys got a chance to go into the second biggest plane on the tarmac.  I think they wanted to go into this one because it had the ghostbusters logo on the side!  After they went in their Mimi and Opa bought them a plane.  This supported the fuel for the giant beast.  You'll never guess how much it costs to keep this one up in the air....

.....$600.00 an hour to fly her! Did you guess??

The boys enjoying some time sitting on some old army vehicles.  Would you believe it their Opa had to go with them?  They didn't want to sit on them!  Hey I guess I don't blame them the army can come up with some crazy looking vehicles!

This next plane was just cool.  I think I liked it because it was blue.  Yep, blue that's all.  We did get to see her start up and take off.  They even let us stand about 30 feet behind her while she started up.  Man I tell you the wind one of these things puts off is unreal!  I was blown backwards several times.  Good thing I didn't wear a skirt!

For a good chunk of time we got to see some planes take off and fly, which April really loved!  Hey maybe she'll be like me :)

I had my heart set on this next plane the second we walked in, but I waited until our time at the show was almost over to catch these pictures.  You know me I had to have my lighting just right for them.  They were beautiful and I was in love with their prop and engine!  Geek boy move aside I've got myself a plane!  Wait maybe you could just buy me the plane?

At the end of the day the boys got to check out a helicopter engine.  Pretty cool huh?  But when we left we still didn't get to see the show part of the air show so guess what?  We went back the next day!  Yep another HOT one!

Day 2:
This day was all about watching the planes do some cool things!  We sure did have fun even though it was still hot!  Can someone please tell me when this heat wave will be over?

Today they had a 40's something or other car that was super cool to look at!
1st thing out of Sterling's mouth, "Hey where are all the seat belts?"

My favorite of April!  Despite the heat she was having a blast, which just makes me happy!

These next planes are the ones that are going to do the formations.  No fancy tricks, but what they did I wouldn't want to do.  There was six of them that formed several different formations, and they took off in two groups of three.  That in itself was pretty cool.  The guys that do this practice several times a year, but only get to preform about three.  

What's with the V for the rear wing?  Maybe my dad can answer that one?

This next one just made me giggle as we walked back to the parking grass!  Doesn't it just make you smile :)  Happy air show everyone!