Air Races 2008
 

Some pics...

(note that it is a <$400 3yo camera, but not bad)

Sweet!

Lisa and I were talking about going out tomorrow. Somehow, I'm a huge aviation buff and yet in 7 years have never actually gone to the races. I think we'll try to catch the Unlimited final race, and I really wan to see the F-22 demo, since I've never seen one of those beasts in person.

How bad are the crowds?

F22 Raptor...

Party Central - scissor lift rental FTW!!!11!!1!

my daughter took these pics...

We don't usually pay to see this stuff. All this was taken from outside the fence. See below for how we roll at duh Air races, yo!

The F22 demo would be best from the stands for sure. Also the static displays - lots of nice planes to see, touch, and climb aboard on the tarmac. The unlimited, sport, and jet races are *better* from the fenceline by far. Those 3000+hp unlimiteds usually fly 50' above your head at 400+mph on the first lap or two when they are bunched up.

If you want to join us we will be hitting the fence and "the hill" tomorrow again. Call me...

I like the way you roll... I'd come hang out with you if I wasn't working on my engine.

You beat me to it - my first Air Races with kids, it was worth doing but definitely a different experience. Did not go to the pits this time.....booohooo.

However, in between showing my son all the airplanes, I took a few pics with my old Fuji S5000.

The crowds are big, go early. The F22 was worth the trip, it was doing stuff only reserved for stunt planes with lots of wing area and a killer power:weight. The pics don't do it justice.

The F-22 did some crazy moves, back flip, floating?? The Thunder Birds are not bad but there are no Thunder Birds on Sunday. I'm not much in about the race.

That picture of the F22, P38 and P51 is awesome...Scott, you should definitely go walk through the pits, it's worth it...

Yesterday, the Thunderbirds came and made a turn around over our house in Sparks, before heading back towards Stead. pretty bad-ass looking.

The Raptor really is amazing. When I saw one do a demo in Goldsboro a couple of years ago, his last sequence was to scream down the runway in a low pass, then stand it on its tail with full burners and simply disappear straight up. It took maybe 10-15 seconds before he was so high you just couldn't see him anymore. Incredible aircraft. :cool:

Cool pictures.. I remember being able to see them from my old place in Golden Valley.

Great pics! The F22 was the coolest. I enjoyed the shade as I watched from my backyard.

Well, I bummed I missed it. Lisa and I were going to try to get out there before going over to her dad's for dinner (he lives near Stead), but I really needed to change the oil on the SVX (it was way over-due, and then some).

Since the WRX is parked down at BBR waiting on getting the suspension patched up, my garage was empty for the 1st time in forever, so I figured I'd change the oil and finally install the tranny cooler and filter I've had sitting around for like a year. Of course the tranny filter required about an hour more time to mount that I was expecting... and when I went to re-install the splash guard I come to find all the damn screw holes are stripped (I'm guessing it's Jiffy-Lube's fault, since the splash guard has to come off to get to the oil filter), so that's another 30 minutes drilling and tapping all the holes to 8mm. :unamused: So anyway, I wasn't done 'till like 1:30, and we were planning on heading out there around noon... so we scrapped going out and just watched the F1 race instead.

At least the race was awesome!

Here are some pictures I took. That F-22 was awesome. I thought it was going to plumit when it did the flat spin.