I got a rush out of seeing a F-14 go over today, in the process of the wings sweeping in. Woo hoo! What's cool is that every year the Blue Angels come to town (originally founded here) and they come right over my parents' house lots of times practicing the week before the show. Just about don't need to go see it at the base. :-)
Last year when we had the annual airshow at NAS Jax, a few days later I was at work and I swear I saw a Su-27 go over very slowly. I pointed and told one of the women I work with that it was Russian, and her eyes got big and I think she thought we were under attack or something. LOL! I'm sure someone brought it in for the show and was taking it back to wherever.
What got me into helicopters was the slick Bell 222 in "Airwolf". I used to get in trouble for drawing it in class. Then I took a ride in a JetRanger over the Smokey Mountains and we were going along and came over a ridge, just over the trees, and wham - it dropped off beneath us and we went from just over trees to having nothing beneath for a long ways down. Very cool, especially with the clear floor panels. That really hooked me. Now I do it any time I get a chance. Most recently NYC with Liberty Helicopters - that was real cool by air. Poignant too, seeing the WTC site and all. Next time I'm there visiting my bro, I want to fly at night. That must be something to see. Would love to see Las Vegas that way too. Heck, any excuse to get in the air works for me... I don't care where. :-)
Ever seen Showcopters perform? They take a R-44 (not exactly the fastest helicopter around) and race it against a nice and fast Walter Extra 300S stunt plane flown by aerobatics star Patty Wagstaff, a Jacksonville area resident. The helicopter wins every year.
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