Posted on 10/23/2002 12:08:44 PM PDT by concentric circles
– The 2002 Open House and Air Show at Edwards is scheduled for Oct. 26 with the gates opening at 7 a.m. and the flying tentatively set to begin at 9 a.m. and the event closing at 4:30 p.m. There is no admission or parking fee. This event showcases the aircraft systems and capabilities of the Air Force Flight Test Center, NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, the Air Force Research Laboratory Propulsion Directorate, Marine Aircraft Group 46 and other local and visiting units.
A pair of aerospace legends, retired Brig. Gen. Chuck Yeager and retired Maj. Gen. Joe Engle, will join up in two F-15's high above historic Rogers Dry Lake to launch the event. Their careers span an extraordinary era in experimental flight research that took aviation from 400-mph prop-driven fighters to manned space flight at speeds in excess of 18,000 mph. Gen. Yeager has said that this will be the last time he will fly military aircraft. You can read more about that in the article Flight test legend visits.
During the one-day event, visitors will see new and unique aircraft in the Air Force inventory, and some of the best aerial demonstration pilots and teams performing today. The various demonstrations are tentatively set to include Air Force aircraft such as the F-117, F-16, KC-135, C-17, B-1, as well as NASA aircraft among others. This is also a once-a-year opportunity for taxpayers to see the kind of equipment they buy for the Air Force, and the abilities of the people who test, fly and maintain this equipment.
Chuck Yeager kicks things off with an F-15 mach 1 boomer, later a B-1 will cast its own boomer across the desert and echoing off the mountains. Peace through strength.
Quite the opposite. Think about it. It's called patriotism for our country!
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE -- Test-pilot students training to test the Air Force's next generation of aircraft will get a chance to fly one from three generations ago -- a B-17 Flying Fortress.
The Air Force pilots are expected today to take turns flying the 57-year-old bomber named Aluminum Overcast in a session worked out as part of the bomber's visit to Saturday's Edwards Air Force Base air show.
Just finished with a weekend visit to Van Nuys Airport, Aluminum Overcast will be at Lancaster's Fox Field on Thursday to take people up on half-hour flights -- at $350 or $390 a person. The plane takes seven people up at a time, and at least one flight is booked. People can take tours of it on the ground Saturday at Edwards.
Aluminum Overcast is owned by Oshkosh-based Experimental Aircraft Association Aviation Foundation. Built in 1945, the airplane never saw combat in World War II and was sold as surplus in 1946. It was used as a cargo hauler, for aerial mapping and in aerial spraying.
A group of investors bought it in 1978 to restore it to military condition, and the investors donated it to the EAA in 1983. The plane is painted in the colors of the Army Air Forces' 398th Bomb Group, whose veterans helped finance its restoration. The original Aluminum Overcast was shot down over France in 1944.
H-3, NC-141, SR-71, T-46, YA-7, YA-10B, C-9, C-141, CF-18, CT-33, Dauphin, LAPD, T-1, T-6II, T-37, UH-60, B-52, B-747, DC-8, ER-2, F-15, F-18, X-43, X-45.
AF Stearman, AT-6, B-17, B-25, C-46, C-121, CAP 182, Casa Jet, Drakken, F-6, F-8, F-86, Hawker Hunter, L-19, L-39, L-29, MB-326, Mig-15, N9M Flying Wing, Navy Stearman, P-38, P-51, RocketLongEZ, SBD Dauntless, T-6, Yak-18.
F-117, KC-135, Marine Helicopter Demo, T-38, Test Parachute Team Demo, A-10 Aerobatic Demo, C-141 Cargo Drop (frozen mango marguaritas?), F-18 Aerobatic Demo.
Golden Knight Parachute Team, Navy Leap Frog Parachute Team, AT-6 Texan, Aerobatic Glider, F8F Bearcat, Marine Helicopter, Mig-17, N9M Flying Wing, P-51 Mustang.
Absolutely Not. You have to let people hear and feel what that shriek before the boom is like. It is a good reminder to any terrorists what the last thing they are ever likely to hear is going to be like.
I wish they would bring back the 'boom' for all airshows! I'd like to see a demo of a four-flight making a supersonic 'break' for landing approach! I've read that the planes and the 'boom' arrive at the same instant! *sigh*
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