My favorite part of the place was the innovation hall and environs. I wouldn't have thought that compressed natural gas would have enough power to compensate for the overhead of the heavy tank, but apparently at these pressures it has 38% higher octane than aviation fuel. And there was an ultra-high altitude glider, a display of heads-up display, the new Orion project exhibit (I wonder how often names are reused), and others. I spent quite a while talking with a fellow with a 40-pound electronics crate, used to plug in avionics modules for rocket guidance. That beast was solid. I'd seen how light everything had to be in a rocket, and hadn't realized how rugged some components had to be (outside of the nozzle).
True to its origins, the show offers a thousand ways to buy/build/rent and equip your own airplane. Proud owners show off their accomplishments, hobbyist groups maintain old military craft (including the only DC-3 to actually drop its men in the right spot at Ste Mere-Eglise). Larger tents hosted talks about safety, construction, regulatory nuances, and dozens of specialized topics as well. The big manufacturers were there, and so were a couple of mission groups looking for pilots. (Meanwhile back at the museum, a man who'd spent 13 years in prison after his spy plane was shot down over the USSR gave a talk on spying during the Cold War. I couldn't stay for it all, and English was not his first language so he was reading his PowerPoints. Did you know that spying is the second oldest profession, and the only one enjoined in the Bible? Actually farming is mandated too...)
The aviation show starts with the military bird show; a few overflights and then a re-enactment of Pearl Harbor (Zeros piloted by Americans, and dynamite/gasoline blasts or so we were told; the black smoke suggested heavier oil; maybe FAE). Later airplanes sometimes made "bomb" runs too, including (rather incongruously) a trainer with no bomb bay or weapon mounts.
The volunteer pilots practiced long and hard with their birds, and it showed in the tight formations they achieved. The announcer mentioned their long hours, and it occurred to me that these men had more flight time than the lads who flew them to war. Though of course the latter had to master the art of not getting killed by alert enemies, which is a whole different set of skills.
The acrobats did amazing things with their planes. Some snide cynic said that we go to auto races in hopes of seeing a crash, but that's not so. We want the acrobats to overcome the danger and do the apparently impossible. The danger has to be there, but we want the victory.
Yves rode the side of the helicopter to 6500 feet, and tried to get all the engine lights OK. They finally lit up and he fell off, and after enough of a dive he started his pulse jets. It took me a while to spot him, and I lost sight regularly. The jumbotrons showed the view from a camera on his wing, and when he reached his flight limit of 2000 feet he opened his chute. Which means we could hear the man flying his jets, and see the on-again/off-again contrails, but we couldn't get a good look at him until he reached the ground. He's not a daredevil--developing that kind of rig he'd have been dead already if he was.
Tomorrow the sunburns will be annoying, but today we had a good time.
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