COOL NEWS: California Capitol Air Show 2007!

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A beautifully restored P-51 Mustang that made flybys with an F-15 and a F-22.

Hi Everyone,

I attended the California Capitol Air Show 2007 this past weekend on Sunday and it was HUGE! There must have been thousands of attendees and it was one heck of a way to wrap up Air Force Week 2007. I bumped into a couple of friends at the show and even someone I served with back when I wore the uniform. The famous Thunderbirds aerial acrobatics team was there and they were GREAT!

At times, the Thunderbirds must have flown about hundred feet off the deck!

They performed in a roughly thirty-minute show...
...with amazing acrobatics and precision flying.

There was tons to see and it was the first air show that several of my sister's children had seen. Unfortunately, the "portable video game" generation didn't seem to be as excited by the air show as I remember being as a child. One of the highlights of the show was getting my photo taken by a Russian airplane (a Yak-11 with the moose from Rocky & Bullwinkle painted on its side) by my sister. I'll share that photo when I get it from my sister... if I don't look too much like Quasimodo. Speaking of which, both she and I took lots of photos and I've added a link to the best of the photos I took near the bottom of this post.

Some of the biplane shows were breathtaking.

A beautifully restored PT-17 Stearman Kadet, my bro-in-law's favorite plane.

Another highlight was seeing the Air Force's latest fighter, the F-22, which was nothing short of amazing to see... its flying capability seem to defy nature and it is so capable as to make other jets seem obsolete. Amazing to see. I brought home a 60th Anniversary Of the USAF (1947-2007) T-shirt and a Thunderbirds ball cap as well as making sure that each of my nephews and my niece left with good presents as well.

The F-22 in flight was truly beautiful.

Even on the ground, the F-22 looked beautiful.

It's several generations more advanced than every other aircraft in existence!

You can find the best of the photos I took here:
http://s44.photobucket.com/albums/f23/Maksim-Smelchak/Personal_2007/Mather-Air-Show_6-10-2007/

My nephew, Vincent, has a very active imagination! And the kid loves camo!

There were a few downsides to the air show:
1. We had a bit of a wait (...about 10 to 15 minutes) to get on the buses at the end of the air show.
2. I got one hellacious "boiled lobster" sunburn... even the tip of my nose! My roommate joked that I finally gave meaning to that classic crayon colour: "burnt sienna"
3. Concessions were overpriced as they always are at these events. However, when compared to many other such events, they weren't so bad.

The tail of a California Air National Guard F-16.

However, the improvements this year were many:
1. Far more aircraft and events to watch.
2. Lots of food and souvenir choices. I made sure that my nephews, niece and I all left with a hat and a T-shirt if wanted.
3. Extremely efficient public transport. We took the RT Light Rail and buses the whole way and avoided the hassle of crowded parking lots.

I also posed in an Army scout chopper.

I had a great time at the air show and I'd highly recommend attending next year if you get the chance!

You can learn more about the California Capitol Air Show here:
http://www.californiacapitalairshow.com/

Have a great Tuesday!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.