This weekend we went to the CAF Air Fiesta
Like good little winter Texans, we brought our folding chairs as one does for all outdoor activities and paid what I thought were kind of high prices ($5 to park and $15 each to get in) only to find that for yet another $10 each you could get these bleacher seats on the other side of the fence. And even better seats were available for some sort of VIP club.
Apparently that is where they held the check on the PA system because we couldn't hear any one complete sentence where we sitting on the ground in our miserable little folding chairs.
I was a little irritated at this point . Seems like we could have stayed in the parking lot and seen just as much as all this money grabbing outfit was offering us..... it is, after all an AIR show.
Well, our vantage point wasn't so bad after all.
And we were right in front of the planes on the ground. This is Jan Collmer and his Extra 3000
We got to see the pilots as well as the plane. Paul Fiala in a great lakes vintage biplane.
As well as some great flying that even someone like me who knows nothing about stunt flying can tell that this looks dangerous.
Plus there were some pyrotechnics to give reality when the military type planes flew.
And once or twice the pyrotechnics left smoke rings. Cool.
The pilots can't hear you if you applaud their act, so you show appreciation by waving.
Some of the pilots even gave autographs and posed for pics.
But this guy, Kyle Franklin, was the one everyone was waiting to see. He comes from a stunt pilot family. His father, father in law, brother in law and wife were all in the business. The father and father in law were killed in an air accident in Canada years ago and two years ago his wife who was a wing walker on his plane was killed in an accident here in Brownsville.
His plane caught fire and he called for her to come in off the wing of the plane but she couldn't make it and was very badly burned. There was so much heat from the fire that her helmet melted on her head.
Someone asked Kyle did he think about getting out of the business and he answered, "It's all I know. What else would I do?"
So here he is in Vampire, a plane that he and his father designed and he personally built. He gave a great show and the applause was deafening when he finally landed safely.
Kyle's brother in law, Matt Youkin also flew this weekend, but the PA system was so bad that I couldn't tell you which plane was his.
This is Issac, who told me the story of Kyle and Matt. Issac used to be a government inspector and mechanic at this yearly show.
Last flight of the day: Aeroshell Aerobatic Team in AT6 Texans which are vintage trainers originally used to train pilots in WW2. They were awesome.
It was at this point that I drew in my horns and thought that the show was definitely worth the coinage.
There was an opportunity for kids to have their pic taken sitting in the cockpit of a fighter plane and getting a salute.
There were, however, some pretty shady people in attendance.
I personally saw this pickpocket in the act.
This flasher kept dropping his drawers.
And this loiterer never did watch any of the show.
On the way home we saw this photo op where kids could have their pic taken with a whole passel of super heroes. Man, kids today have so many great options.
I wanted to have my picture taken with the heroes, but Neil pretended not to hear me and drove right past.
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