 July
28, 2009: It was off to the annual
EAA (Experimental
Aircraft Association)
AirVenture show at Oshkosh, WI. That airport is the
"busiest in the world" for the one week each year the event is held.
Not bad sky writing on that sunny day!
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(l-r) Wally Christensen from Pipestone, MN,
and I (Mark Persons) traveled together. We are shown
here at the EAA
AirVenture Museum in front of a
1912 Curtiss Pusher. |
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Click
each photo for a better/larger view |
The
Virgin Galactic mother
ship Eve White Knight Two was shown to an admiring crowd. This
unique craft will ferry Space Ship Two and other cargo into sub-orbital
space. |
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There were thousands of aircraft and
thousands upon thousands of people at this 57th annual event. |
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Click each photo for a
better/larger view |
 One
of my favorite airplanes is the
Curtiss
P-40 Warhawk that served so well in the 1930's and 1940's. This one
has the famous sharks mouth paint scheme, which was first seen on planes
of the
Flying Tigers which served in China during World War II. |
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 Here
is a
P-51 Mustang, which is a hugely upgraded P-40. This turned out
to be the world's best fighter aircraft in World War II with the Packard
Merlin engine and bubble-top canopy. It is thrilling to see a
fully restored vintage airplane of this type. |
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Click each photo for a
better/larger view |
 Of
course I can't help but brag about the U. S. Army's
OV-1 Mohawk.
This is the aircraft that I serviced the avionics (aviation radios and
electronics) during my 1968-69 tour in Vietnam. When I worked on these
planes, they had a brown paint scheme and I had brown hair. This one was
upgraded to grey color as was my hair.
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 Here
it is again making a fly-by to the delight of the onlookers. Most people
have never heard of this "ugly duckling" high-tech surveillance plane that could
spot enemy movements in the jungles of SE Asia. |
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Click each photo for a
better/larger view |
