The flag flew at half mast all day in honor of Chandy Clanton, who died while practicing for the air show.
The family and I camped out near this beautiful orange biplane.
The show started with three daredevils jumping out of a perfectly good C-130.
The United States Navy was represented at the show also, with a booth you see here, plus three Navy SEALs who performed some impressive maneuvers while skydiving. One gentleman stunned the crowd with how fast he appraoched the ground, only to land softly on target. Very impressive display.
The United States Army landed two helicopters, including the Blackhawk you see above. One of the uniformed soldiers near the aircraft said it was the one that ferried Saddam Hussien to his execution, hence the skull and crossbones on the seat he supposedly sat in. Great story, but I never saw the seat in question. It’s tough to get kids out of that thing. In fact, I’m fairly sure they took a couple with them back to base!
Here’s the other helicopter, the AH-64D Apache Longbow, flown by Sean Defenbaugh of Tarkio. I hope I spelled that right. His dad was principal of my high school and I know from experience he can swing a paddle. So, if I didn’t spell it right, I’m REALLY sorry.
One of the highlights for me was the display put on by the pilot of the A-10 Warthog. I love the Warthog. I just love the tough, no-nonsense attitude of it. Anyway, here’s one of the fly-bys I was able to capture with my little point and shoot Olympus:
Like always, there were plenty of historic aircraft there, like the one below. It’s not a Zero, but a replica created for the movie, “Tora, Tora, Tora.”
Another classic airplane at the show was the P-51 Mustang:
However, my favorite photo from the show had nothing to do with aircraft or skydiving or stunts. I caught it at lunch and think it’s terrific.
She was a little less than pleased with me.
The B-2 Stealth did a fly by also, but sadly, I didn’t get any really good photos of it. If you have any you would like to post here, send me an email and I will post them with credit to you.
Next year the show will be in St. Joseph, but then the best little air show in the world comes back to Tarkio.
