Winston-Salem Airshow 2011

Hi kids! Once again its time for the W-S Airshow, and this time we're starting out with a biggie! The "Aluminum Overcast" itself, the B-52! It was delayed flying in from Greenland, or Guam, or maybe North Dakota, but it got here! It made a brief appearance, just a single flyby, but I guess it'd take a couple counties to turn around and come back. One of the few planes where you can build a campfire and sing a few songs while on a 24 hour mission. Bomb runs by these are called "roto-tilling."

Ok, ok, I took a lot of pictures of the thing. So sue me.

And you thought we have a wierd hobby. Here's a financial analyst practicing her relaxation technique, wingwalking. And that's her ex-husband flying the Steerman biplane. Good luck.

One of two F-104 Starfighters that did a flyby from GSO. Guess the runway at IRT was too short. One had a mechanical shortly after arriving and returned to GSO. They said it's the fastest single engine plane ever. Possibly the loadest, too.

A-4, A-1, and F4U fly in formation.

A-4 Skyhawk, this is the type of plane McCain was flying when he was shot down over Vietnam.

The RV Demo team, they said they were the largest demo team in the world, flying the "RV" design by Dick Rutan. Not sure how big the Snowbirds from Canada are, but 12 is a lot of planes!

Same again.

An aerobatic performance by what the annoucer said was a Yak, the program said was a Sukhoi. You just can't trust those Commies! The engine is an illegal copy of a western design, only it rotates the opposite way; supposedly due to the stolen photos of the blueprints being printed backwards. Commies. Go figure.

Speaking of commies.... I think it's either a Yak-18 or maybe a Yak-50. Who can tell anyway?

A small helicopter set up for search and rescue. Don't know what kind.

Remember what I said about strange hobbies? Once they pay their admission, they'll let anybody in.

A-1 Skyraider, Vietnam era ground attack plane par excellence! They could carry anything, and lots of it! I've got some pictures of them with actual kitchen sinks hanging on the hardpoints, just to prove they could drop everything on Charlie.

A-4 Skyhawk, this one is from the Navy Surplus facility near Tuscon, AR. They bought it around 2004. It's the Playboy squadron, you can see the emblem on the tail.

F4U Corsair, when a P-51's 1600HP just ain't enough! There were two P-51's at the show, but they're so common you can't swing a cat without putting it through a P-51 prop disc. Why take more pictures? Why the inverted gull wings? So the 14ft prop won't hit the ground!

A P-3 Orion. Doubt if they're going to find any subs in the neighborhood.

F/A-18 Hornet. You can tell it's a late model "Super" by the square intakes.

A homebuilt aircraft called a Highlander from Just Aircraft. It just looks absolutely fabulous! And with tires like that you could land anywhere, backyard, gravel, sand, maybe on top of a B-52.

Biggest thing at the show, a Fed/Ex. Probably an Airbus. The commies. If it ain't Boeing, I ain't going!!!

The new HondaJet, currently undergoing FAA trials. They're built in GSO.

Well, that's about it for this installment. The show repeats Sunday Sept 11, so you still have time to get out there and see the action. And yes, I did buy another t-shirt, this one with a picture of an F-4 Phantom, since it's the BEST PLANE EVER. So why do I now have six t-shirts with Phantoms? Maybe because its THE BEST FREAKING PLANE EVER.