Dayton Airshow Update

Hi All,

I just got back from the 2003 Dayton Air Show. Totally awesome! I don't
know what was most impressive, so I'll just list what I saw today and you
can decide...

1. Snowbirds, Blue Angels, and Thunderbirds all 2 hours apart.
2. F-18F, F-15C, AV-8B, S-3 demos
3. B-2, F-117A Flybys
4. F-86, P-51, P-47, F4U, F6F Demos
5. B-17, B-25, P-3 Demos
6. Spirit of St. Louis, Ford Tri-Motor, several DC-3 demos
7. Wright B Flyer, Bleriot demo
8. Many Great Civilian Performances
9. Ground Displays: B-1B, A-10, F-16, F-18, F-14, DC-10, C-17, B-52, Super
Guppy, F-117A, Predator, Global Hawk, Luftwaffe Tornado GR1, NASA F-18 (Wing
Warping), T-38, AH-1, UH-1, OH-6, C-141, C-130, P38, Connie and more!
10. An indoor pavilion with full scale replicas (many flyable) of all the
Wright brother's planes/gliders--even bikes & toys they made!

And, last but not least, a Long-EZ with Pulse Detonation Engine!! That's
right: a working pulse detonation engine just like the elusive (mythical?)
Aurora. It was part of a display by AFRL (Air Force Research Lab). It had
the strangest design I have ever seen. This "contraption" was literally
hanging off the bottom of the fuselage. It was made up of (no kidding!) a
Hirth F30 2-stroke engine, the cylinder head off a GM Quad4 engine, some
bicycle chains/sprockets, 4 straight steel exhaust tubes, and ran on Avgas.
An engineer there told me that "The exhaust velocity is Mach 5 and Rutan is
going to fly the other one just like it out in California soon." As for the
technical side of it, I'm an engineer, but this guy was talking way over my
head...didn't seem like he got out the lab much!

BTW, NASA also had a fuel cell plane there, but I'm not sure if it had flown
yet.

All in all, it was the best air show I've ever seen--and I've been to a lot
all over the world. This was the best depiction I've ever seen of just how
far we've come in 100 years.

Today was a good day!

Mike Dennis wrote in message
...
Hi All,

I just got back from the 2003 Dayton Air Show. Totally awesome! I don't
know what was most impressive, so I'll just list what I saw today and you
can decide...

1. Snowbirds, Blue Angels, and Thunderbirds all 2 hours apart.
2. F-18F, F-15C, AV-8B, S-3 demos

Not seen a S-3 in a LONG time, and never a flight demo.

3. B-2, F-117A Flybys
4. F-86, P-51, P-47, F4U, F6F Demos

Same goes for the F6F.

5. B-17, B-25, P-3 Demos

Or P-3. Seems to be a trend shaping up here.

6. Spirit of St. Louis, Ford Tri-Motor, several DC-3 demos
7. Wright B Flyer, Bleriot demo

How far does the Wright B Flyer fly?
Hmm, was that the model sold to the Signal Corp, not the
"we flew first" plane?

8. Many Great Civilian Performances
9. Ground Displays: B-1B, A-10, F-16, F-18, F-14, DC-10, C-17, B-52,
Super
Guppy, F-117A, Predator, Global Hawk, Luftwaffe Tornado GR1, NASA F-18
(Wing
Warping), T-38, AH-1, UH-1, OH-6, C-141, C-130, P38, Connie and more!

Is the P-38 Glacier Girl?
I've never seen any of the Guppies.

10. An indoor pavilion with full scale replicas (many flyable) of all the
Wright brother's planes/gliders--even bikes & toys they made!

And, last but not least, a Long-EZ with Pulse Detonation Engine!! That's
right: a working pulse detonation engine just like the elusive (mythical?)
Aurora. It was part of a display by AFRL (Air Force Research Lab). It
had
the strangest design I have ever seen. This "contraption" was literally
hanging off the bottom of the fuselage. It was made up of (no kidding!) a
Hirth F30 2-stroke engine, the cylinder head off a GM Quad4 engine, some
bicycle chains/sprockets, 4 straight steel exhaust tubes, and ran on
Avgas.
An engineer there told me that "The exhaust velocity is Mach 5 and Rutan
is
going to fly the other one just like it out in California soon." As for
the
technical side of it, I'm an engineer, but this guy was talking way over
my
head...didn't seem like he got out the lab much!

That would/will be interesting.

BTW, NASA also had a fuel cell plane there, but I'm not sure if it had
flown
yet.

All in all, it was the best air show I've ever seen--and I've been to a
lot
all over the world. This was the best depiction I've ever seen of just
how
far we've come in 100 years.

Today was a good day!

Wa, wa, boo-hoo, sniff, no Dayton for me: six straight days
on the urban range is what I get.

I was so busy I forgot to look to see if the P-38 was Glacier Girl. Either
way it was painted green. IIRC, Glacier Girl was silver, so it most likely
was another one.

Another cool thing about the Pulse Detonation project: its name is Project
Borealis, a tongue-in-cheek reference to Aurora.

About the guppy: they opeen and closed it during the show: fascinating to
watch a plane crack open like an egg!


"John Keeney" wrote in message
...

Mike Dennis wrote in message
...
Hi All,

I just got back from the 2003 Dayton Air Show. Totally awesome! I
don't
know what was most impressive, so I'll just list what I saw today and
you
can decide...

1. Snowbirds, Blue Angels, and Thunderbirds all 2 hours apart.
2. F-18F, F-15C, AV-8B, S-3 demos

Not seen a S-3 in a LONG time, and never a flight demo.

3. B-2, F-117A Flybys
4. F-86, P-51, P-47, F4U, F6F Demos

Same goes for the F6F.

5. B-17, B-25, P-3 Demos

Or P-3. Seems to be a trend shaping up here.

6. Spirit of St. Louis, Ford Tri-Motor, several DC-3 demos
7. Wright B Flyer, Bleriot demo

How far does the Wright B Flyer fly?
Hmm, was that the model sold to the Signal Corp, not the
"we flew first" plane?

8. Many Great Civilian Performances
9. Ground Displays: B-1B, A-10, F-16, F-18, F-14, DC-10, C-17, B-52,
Super
Guppy, F-117A, Predator, Global Hawk, Luftwaffe Tornado GR1, NASA F-18
(Wing
Warping), T-38, AH-1, UH-1, OH-6, C-141, C-130, P38, Connie and more!

Is the P-38 Glacier Girl?
I've never seen any of the Guppies.

10. An indoor pavilion with full scale replicas (many flyable) of all
the
Wright brother's planes/gliders--even bikes & toys they made!

And, last but not least, a Long-EZ with Pulse Detonation Engine!!
That's
right: a working pulse detonation engine just like the elusive
(mythical?)
Aurora. It was part of a display by AFRL (Air Force Research Lab). It
had
the strangest design I have ever seen. This "contraption" was literally
hanging off the bottom of the fuselage. It was made up of (no kidding!)
a
Hirth F30 2-stroke engine, the cylinder head off a GM Quad4 engine, some
bicycle chains/sprockets, 4 straight steel exhaust tubes, and ran on
Avgas.
An engineer there told me that "The exhaust velocity is Mach 5 and Rutan
is
going to fly the other one just like it out in California soon." As for
the
technical side of it, I'm an engineer, but this guy was talking way over
my
head...didn't seem like he got out the lab much!

That would/will be interesting.

BTW, NASA also had a fuel cell plane there, but I'm not sure if it had
flown
yet.

All in all, it was the best air show I've ever seen--and I've been to a
lot
all over the world. This was the best depiction I've ever seen of just
how
far we've come in 100 years.

Today was a good day!

Wa, wa, boo-hoo, sniff, no Dayton for me: six straight days
on the urban range is what I get.

Mike Dennis wrote:

I was so busy I forgot to look to see if the P-38 was Glacier Girl. Either
way it was painted green. IIRC, Glacier Girl was silver, so it most likely
was another one.

Glacier Girl IS painted green, just as she was when she went down..
tail number is 17630
She was scheduled to be flying at Dayton as part of the Heritage flight.

I stand corrected. It may have been that one. However, it did not fly.
The heritage flight was an F-15 and 3 P-51's completed with invasion
stripes.

Glacier girl was there. I spoke to the project manager and pilot - a 80th TFS
Headhunter a couple of years after me.

There were two P-38s there, one flew on Fri when I was there in a mock WWII
attack. I think it was the other one - name Popeye IIRC, Both were supposed
to fly, not sure what happened.

On Sun, 20 Jul 2003 21:21:29 GMT, "Mike Dennis"
wrote:

I stand corrected. It may have been that one. However, it did not fly.
The heritage flight was an F-15 and 3 P-51's completed with invasion
stripes.


Glacier Girl flew with the Heritage Flight on Sunday, at least (per
photos in the Dayton Daily News).

I was there with my family on Saturday (150 feet to the show line side
of the B-1B). First time I've ever been to an air show that was 'sold
out'--they closed the gates because they completely ran out of
parking. We heard estimates of 70,000 people. Sold out of programs
Friday (damn). Food and drink was running short at many booths by
mid-afternoon.

It was a great event, but there was just too much--you'd really have
to go at least two days, one for the static displays and the exhibits,
one to watch the air show from a comfy folding chair. And one day
might not be enough for the displays.

Miracle of the day: it took less than ten minutes from turning the key
in the car to being northbound on I-75.

Michael


--
Michael P. Kube-McDowell
Warbirding and other bad habits: http://www.sff.net/people/K-Mac/warbird.htm
Warbird sighting album: http://mywebpages.comcast.net/K-mac/

The latest attendance figures suggest the final numbers will be between
150,000 and 200,000. That's as impressive as the show itself!


"Michael Kube-McDowell" wrote in message
news:4ETSa.101014$OZ2.20736@rwcrnsc54...
On Sun, 20 Jul 2003 21:21:29 GMT, "Mike Dennis"
wrote:

I stand corrected. It may have been that one. However, it did not fly.
The heritage flight was an F-15 and 3 P-51's completed with invasion
stripes.


Glacier Girl flew with the Heritage Flight on Sunday, at least (per
photos in the Dayton Daily News).

I was there with my family on Saturday (150 feet to the show line side
of the B-1B). First time I've ever been to an air show that was 'sold
out'--they closed the gates because they completely ran out of
parking. We heard estimates of 70,000 people. Sold out of programs
Friday (damn). Food and drink was running short at many booths by
mid-afternoon.

It was a great event, but there was just too much--you'd really have
to go at least two days, one for the static displays and the exhibits,
one to watch the air show from a comfy folding chair. And one day
might not be enough for the displays.

Miracle of the day: it took less than ten minutes from turning the key
in the car to being northbound on I-75.

Michael


--
Michael P. Kube-McDowell
Warbirding and other bad habits:
http://www.sff.net/people/K-Mac/warbird.htm
Warbird sighting album: http://mywebpages.comcast.net/K-mac/

Only other bad part was that Cripes did not wil the Rolls trophy.
VL

There were two P-38s there, one flew on Fri when I was there in a mock WWII
attack. I think it was the other one - name Popeye IIRC, Both were supposed
to fly, not sure what happened.

Yes There were two P-38's there. One was Glacier Girl, and it was on
'static' Display, only flew in and out .. the other was Porky II From
Chino California's 'Planes of Fame' And I believe, it flew every day,
and was in formation with the F-15 and P-51.
I work at The FBO 'Aviation Sales' at the Airport and Porky II stayed
a few days with us. I snapped it's picture for Our new Advetising
Slogan :

http://home.woh.rr.com/directoryww/VisitP38.jpg


Here's the engine Start-up (to taxi to the airshow) on Porky II It
was a real media event! ..

http://home.woh.rr.com/directoryww/P38Start512x384.jpg



We also had this plane:

http://home.woh.rr.com/directoryww/WarbirdASISmall.jpg

... I'm not sure what it is .. an F-7f maybe ? can anyone Identify?

Woody

On 22 Jul 2003 08:25:17 -0700, (Dr Bach) wrote:

Yes There were two P-38's there. One was Glacier Girl, and it was on
'static' Display, only flew in and out .. the other was Porky II From
Chino California's 'Planes of Fame' And I believe, it flew every day,
and was in formation with the F-15 and P-51.

Ah, I never saw a second P-38 on Saturday, and I'm 99% sure no P-38
flew that day. The Heritage Flight on Saturday was F-15 and three
P-51s.


--
Michael Kube-McDowell - author of VECTORS, THE QUIET POOLS, and EMPRISE