Wings Over Dallas - 29Oct2016

View a slideshow of ALL of the pictures (33) taken at Wings Over Dallas: Wings Over Dallas Slideshow

The mighty Archer got to mix it up with some WWII classics on Saturday, October 29,2016 at the Wings Over Dallas airshow at Dallas Executive airport. Mark Armstrong had the Archer reserved for Saturday with a tentative plan for a couple of us to make a lunch hop over to Pelican's Landing at Cedar Mills. It worked out so that only Mark and myself were able to go flying on Saturday. Since we both planned to attend the airshow anyway, Mark did some checking and confirmed the airfield was not NOTAM'd to be closed or under a TFR and that with a bit of patience you could get in and out of there during the airshow.

We launched from Majors around 0915 with beautiful blue skies and a considerable headwind. DFW ARTCC provided direct to KRBD through Class B with traffic advisories so it was a short and easy flight. The goal was to land before the airshow began at 1030 which we accomplished thanks to the well run tower at KRBD. However they had FIFI (THE B-29) set up to give rides and she was taxiing into position with her first load of the day as we were landing runway 13. We had the good fortune of being directed off the runway at taxiway D and to hold short for clearance across 13/31. We were rewarded with a front row seat as FIFI rolled down the runway and climbed away. It was awesome. We parked the Archer at Ambassador Jet Center outside of the ropes of the airshow and in the general vicinity of the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) airplanes being used to give paying customers rides. We spent the first two hours of the day hanging out around the CAF airplanes and talking with some of the Lancaster CAF pilots and one of our own, Kurt Mueller. Kurt is working in Waco and is now a member of the Lancaster CAF. We made some fast friends with pilots Fred and Keith, looked at the Vultee BT-15 and the Stearman PT-17 they will be bringing to our Breakfast Fly-In on November 5th, and had lunch with them. Apparently the Majors Flying Club had talked to Keith in the past about being an instructor for the club. It took Keith and Mark a couple of minutes before they realized they kind of new each other. It was good to see Kurt in that element and catch up with him. He really seemed to be all in in his role as a member of the CAF. It was a great way to start the day but it was time to get inside the ropes and look at some of the static displays.

Throughout the morning and all day long there was always something going on in the air. Between the airshow elements, the CAF giving rides in eleven different types of aircraft, and the tower landing and launching general aviation aircraft, there was always something going on overhead. Listening to Lt. Col (ret) Dick Cole, the last surviving member of the Doolittle Raiders at 101 years old (he was Jimmy Doolittle's co-pilot) speak was amazing. What a legacy. We met up with other club members Ryan Kozial and Craig Wheeler and hung out with them for most of the afternoon. FIFI was coming and going all day and it was a sight to see each time. We were up close and personal for an engine start and taxi for the Texas Raider B-17. Those radials are beasts when they are starting up. But the Tora, Tora, Tora finale was the icing on the cake. What a show with about fourteen planes in the air, some of them dive bombing and making low passes, machine gun fire from the ground, and big, loud, black smoke explosions simulating bomb drops really finished off the day! We overheard some of the folks involved with the event saying both parking lots were full and they were at maximum capacity. It wasn't crowded but it sure seems like it was well attended.

We loaded up around 1530 for an uneventful trip home. The tower got us right out, DFW ARTCC cleared us through Class B direct to KGVT with traffic advisories, and we caught a very nice tailwind. We even maneuvered a bit to check out Mark's neighborhood on the way back to Greenville. You can see what a great day it was for flying from Mark's pictures over Lake Ray Hubbard.

Great trip, great day, great airshow.

Check out the link to the 2016 Wings Over Dallas website:
http://wingsoverdallas.org/