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This year's Air Show was a huge success with over two dozen warbirds from as far away as Texas and California! Scroll down the page to see some of the planes, people and exhibits that made this year's air show so special.
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Many of the planes came from our own Minnesota Wing of the Commemorative Air Force and flew down from Fleming Field in South St.Paul to the Red Wing Airport. |
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This is a Harvard, the Canadian version of the AT6 (Advanced Trainer 6). These WWII planes were used to train all pilots, whether they were headed for bombers, cargo, gliders, or fighter planes.
Surprisingly, this is not an easy plane to fly, once you mastered this you were ready to learn how to fly anything. |
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Friday was Education Day at the show. Students from many surrounding communities came to learn about history, often from those who lived it. |
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CAF Colonel Stan Ross talks to a group about the Red Tail Project. A group of African-American pilots known as the Tuskegee Airmen flew P-51 Mustangs with a distinctive red tail during the war and distinguished themselves in combat over and over again. After years of work by CAF members, a fully restored plane set about on a mission to tell their story so it won't be forgotten. Tragically, the plane made a forced landing at last year's air show because of a mechanical problem and pilot Don Hinz was killed. He is sorely missed and we are dedicating the rebuilding of the plane to his memory. |
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Dr. Harold Brown, one of the actual Tuskegee Airmen was on hand to greet visitors and share his stories. |
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Air shows are a great place for kids to have fun . . . |
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. . .no matter how old they are! |
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And no air show in the Midwest would be complete without a little rain. |
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This type of plane has had many names and many uses over many years. It is said that the only thing that can replace the DC-3 is another DC-3. Called a C-47 in military service, they were used as gunships as recently as the Vietnam war. -More Info- |
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Planes and people moved into the spacious hangars to stay dry. |
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This reflection of a wing on the wet airport pavement shows the promise of the sun peeking out and the rest of the afternoon turned out to be pretty nice after all. |
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Tom Lymburn was our able emcee for the air show and had many interesting facts and stories to tell about the planes and the people in aviation history. Here, he announces the arrival of an F-15 Strike Eagle fighter jet. |
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Taxiing in, the pilot gives the crowd a thumbs up. |
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Were you fooled? The plane was actually one of a dozen or so remote controlled planes flown at the show. This one had a real jet engine and it sure sounded like the real thing even if it wasn't quite the right size! |
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Then it was time for the big planes to fire up and do their stuff for the crowd. It appears this grandpa has started a new generation down the runway of warbird appreciation. |
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"Show Me" is a B-25 bomber that belongs to the Missouri Wing of the CAF. The B-25 was made famous by Gen. Jimmy Doolittle and his Raiders who made a daring flight off the deck of an aircraft carrier to strike the first blow against the mainland of Japan just months after Pearl Harbor. -More Info- |
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