Aerospace and Aviation seems to be the theme for July 2012. Remember our “Super Guppy” post earlier this month? Two weekends ago we made yet another impromptu visit to the Museum of Flight. In our usual “Seattle Routine” fashion we find ourselves in the area only this time we decide we’re actually going in! Not many changes from the last time we visited but we did get to check out the new Charles Simonyi Space Gallery to get an up-close look at the Space Shuttle FFT. These are the images we took during our visit. More can be seen here.
Then this last weekend we learn the Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) Air Expo is going on after hearing about the USAF Thunderbirds practicing over Tacoma skies via a friend’s Facebook post. We made a last minute decision to head South to check out the show. The JBLM Air Expo happens every year but the return of the Thunderbirds after a 4-year absence was a big deal. That of course meant crowds and traffic, probably more than usual. Quite honestly we were only down there for one thing, the B-2 Stealth Bomber. Reading about its development as a kid in Air Force magazine and never having a chance to see it in person until now, it was the one thing we had to see. We just hoped we didn’t miss it! Rather than sit through traffic we chose to pull off the highway and find an empty parking lot just a few miles away from the air show. Timing is everything and had we not done that, we likely would not have been able to get these shots!
The B-2 did two figure-8’s over the JBLM flight deck and it flew right over us as it turned around each time. Show goers wouldn’t have been able to see this thing bank up close like we did! Who says being lazy doesn’t pay off? =P The B-1 bomber and B-52 Stratofortress also flew over head before we decided to head back North for a car show. (More on that, later!)
A few more of the pictures we took from the Tacoma skies are hosted here for your viewing pleasure. Today is also Amelia Earhart’s 115th birthday so it only seems appropriate this sequence of events have lead us to this post. Wondering if any other coincidences lead us to more Aviation or Aerospace related topics in the near future…
