Fighting Irish Forums

Sunday 28 & Bank Holiday Monday 29 May 2006

http://www.southendairshow.com/

I'll be looking to pay a visit this year.

i love going to airshows. i mean it. last one i went to (it's been a little while ago) was with my (then still living but sadly now passed away) father in law. we went to Trenton, or rather outside of Trenton where a B-17 training base had been built during WW2. a huge, honkin' place, as you might expect for such big, beefy bomber training... miles and miles of concrete runways. most of the buildings long gone, with only a handful of hangers still standing and the control tower (though the tower was in disrepair.)

the airshow didn't sadly have any B-17s there, but it did have a flying mustang, a corsair, and several T-6 Texans....and some Russian prop birds---Yaks, i believe.... and several static ones, even a static P-40. and the mustang and corsair mock battled the russian ones... with accompanying fake explosions on the ground and such... not very realistic, but great fun.

the most fun however was just hanging out with my father in law, a man that always treated me more like a son than the guy that married his daughter. it was cool walking along with him, checking out the old warbirds, listening to him meet, greet, and talk to other old time WW2 vets. man, those guys could tell some great stories!

and standing there on the concrete listening to the vets, with that old corsair and mustang screaming by overhead and doing barrel rolls...smelling the Av gas... i could almost close my eyes and imagine the runways brand new, the hangers repaired, the control tower fully operational again, and newly painted B- 17s all lined up with their engines turning over and packed with eager, fresh faced new pilots and crews out for their first spin in a deadly WW2 flying fortress.

a great time.

Beowolff