The sky was mostly clear, with only a few clouds here and there. A good day to look at shiny metal and colorful paint jobs. There was a little bit of a breeze, which I gathered isn't so good for taking off, but was nice for us stuck on the ground as it kept things from becoming too hot.
These were mostly personal airplanes that people owned, so the paint jobs were about what you would expect. There were a couple unusual ones, however, like this one, that had Japanese printed on the side.
"FIRST GENERAL AVIATION" said this one.
We even had a couple of the Civil Air Patrol folks show up. This civvy branch of the Air Force brought several airplanes to show off.
At any rate, my camera was just a going a mile a minute. Every so often someone would need to take off, but someone else was always landing, so every so often we had something new to look at and take photos of.
The pilot of this plane obviously has a good sense of humor, either that or he really likes snoopy (or should I say, "The WWII Flying Ace!") At any rate, this was one of the shinier planes. Nothing like flying a tin can..... It practically glitters from the end of the runway.
Someone even brought their pontoon boat. I always associate these with old jungle movies, where the pilot has to land in the swamp. This one didn't look like it had gone to the everglades or whatever, in a while, if ever.
There were also several helicopters. This one was from Carolinas Medical Center, probably Charlotte. They opened up the back doors and let everyone see the equipment and everything.
"You'll have to excuse me if I don't want to be in the situation where I have to ride in it," says Dent. Me, either. You're in pretty bad shape when they have to call this thing to come get you.
Another Medevac helicopter, this one is probably based down in SC (Shelby is fairly close to the NC/SC border).
This one didn't have space for a stretcher, though.
And then of course, there is JAARS. They also brought a couple of planes, and if you paid them some money, you could go for a ride. JAARS is apparently a Christian-based service that does Bible translations, or something. But apparently they're also pilots.
I am not sure what was going on with the paint job on this one; I guess they were making an attempt at camo here. Either way, it stood out from all the other planes that were red or white or yellow.
Dent said he suspected they'd put more into the paint job than the plane itself. I kinda wondered, myself.
I wonder if this fellow gets teased about the paint scheme on his plane. What's the arrow for? Are you pointing out the tail, or reminding yourself which direction you need to be in?
"THIS END UP"
Seems having it pointing forward ought to be better, I don't know.
I can't be the only one who did a double-take at the ID number on this one......
I think the most used color I saw today was yellow, with red a close second. I guess if you wanted to be highly visible, this would be the way to go, wouldn't it?
I jokingly referred this color scheme as "mustard and ketchup" Dammit, now I got a hankering for Micky D's french fries....
Yet another yellow one. This one had red and white and blue as well. It was very colorful.
This one was put together as a kit, made to look old even though it's only from 2011 (according to the sign on the prop).
Dent was absolutely FASCINATED by this thing. It's apparently a jack to move the heavier planes where they need to be, so you don't have to crank the plane every time. It also has jumper cables so you can jump your plane if you need to.
All in all, it was a lot of fun. I got a little bit of a burn despite wearing a hat (or trying to--every time a plane took off I would have to hang on to it for dear life..not to mention the steady breeze that kept trying to take off with it!) We even got lunch--for a donation you got a plate with a hamburger and chips.
Amusingly, I found this the other day, thought it would be appropriate to put it here.
The countdown has begun!
Aye,
Kraneia
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