Temple, Texas

This last weekend, G-Man and I were left to fend for ourselves, while my wife and daughter traveled to Calgary, so my wife could perform in the Time Out For Women event in that city.  So, in the spirit of an "all boys" weekend, we decided to go to the Central Texas Air Show.

Based in Temple, Texas, this was a small, but fun collection of planes, jets and helicopters from the last 70 years of aviation.  I've been fascinated with aviation for a long time - not just because I fly over 100,000 miles a year ; )  The type of aviation I'm most interested in, is military aircraft.  This show had several plans from the WWII era.

 The backside of a restored B-25

 Closest I could get to a Navy AT-6 "Texan"

Another AT-6 heading out to for take-off

I continue to remember the WWII-generation with a tremendous amount of respect.  The number of young men that sacrificed their lives just learning how to fly the fighters and bombers is astounding.  The men that put their lives on the line in dogfights and bombing runs in both Europe and the Pacific Theater is humbling.

At the same time, I guess I channel my inner child watching the miracle of flight.  There's a smile on my face while watching the AT-6 and P-51 planes taxi by us, as you could "feel" the power of the engines.  It's intoxicating:

One of my best friends' father actually flew in B-24s over China in WWII.  The stories he would tell us as young Boy Scouts were pretty cool.  Here at the show, they had a trio of B-25s that simulated a bombing run.  The most famous use of B-25s in WWII was the "Doolittle Raid" on Japan.  This was the first air raid over Japan in WWII.

Check out this gorgeously restored B-17 (aka Flying Fortress) from a group called the Texas Raiders:

The weekend was special, because I was able to take G-Man with me.  He was excited to see airplanes, but his favorite was helicopters:

G-Man sitting in the back of a Vietnam-era UH-1 chopper

G-Man as the pilot of a "Huey" helicopter

At the show, they held a Vietnam-era demonstration of aircraft - which was fun to watch:

From the modern era, they had two F-16s on the airfield.  We didn't get to see them fly, as I had to get G-Man out of the 95-degree heat:

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G

Here are a couple of videos showing two sides of the small airfield.  You can see a variety of AT-6s, as well as the B-25s and the B-17:

The sad thing was that - after the simulated bombing run - the fireworks that they used on the ground actually lit the airfield on fire ; )  It's a very dry time in Texas, we're in the middle of a horrible drought.  The show was suspended for over an hour while firefighters from several nearby cities came to help put it out:

Taken from a local newscast video feed

As we were leaving the show, we saw what I thought was the coolest part of the day - a fly-over by a B-2 Stealth Bomber.  This is an incredible piece of technology.  It's quiet and has a tiny, tiny profile.  As G-Man said:  "It doesn't have a back part, Daddy!!" He also said it looked like an arrow:

Overall, it was a really fun time for my son and I.  He found the airplanes and helicopters fun, which is what I hoped for.  He wanted me to buy one of these huge remote-controlled planes:

Sorry buddy, I didn't bring enough money ; )

I can't wait until next year...