Eau Claire 2008 Airshow

Unfortunately the 2008 Chippewa Valley Airshow was a dismal failure.  The day started out cloudy, so the show was put on hold.  As the day progressed the rain got stronger and after fourhours the event was cancelled, with nothing flying. Very disappointing after driving 150 miles at $4 per gallon of gas.  Not a show I will be attending again.

The show would have consisted of the Blue Angels (F/A-18C), the F-16C Viper East Demo  and the F/A-18F Super Hornet Demo.  Static displays were F-15Cs of the Missouri ANG and a T-38 from Whiteman AFB.

SA-20

Apparently the biggest threat we face is the SA-20 . It seems strange to me that we would retire the F-117 while aware of this threat to 4th generation "conventional" aircraft. I can't help but think that the F-117 was retired because its already been replaced. And not by the F-22, which we simply don't have enough of, or the F-35 which isn't even in sight yet. The F-117 existed in our arsenal for nearly a decade before being revealed to the public. I imagine we have a similar situation now, with a second-generation tactical stealth attack craft available. If its not a F/A type plane, then I would think we at least have a highly capable (deadly) stealth UCAV ready.

As for the SA-20, its fortunate that we have purchased some for evaluation and that they are used in NATO exercises by former Eastern Bloc countries, so we at least have some kind of plan for defeating them.

B-52 begins retirement

The first of 18 B-52H's have been retired for funding reasons. I wonder if the Air Force will have any planes left by the time it gets the F-35.

Duluth 2008 Airshow

Full Photo Album


Ok, so this year didn't go as well as the last show. The Duluth organizers can't seem to get things right. In 2006 they had the wrong start time listed, so I was late - missing the B-2 and The F-16 demonstration. This time traffic at the gate was so congested, I was late again, missing the F-16 takeoff. This show also had less attractions, no B-2, B-52, KC-135 and only one demonstration - the A-10, (vs the F-15 & F-18E last time). This was compounded by bad weather, rain started before the Blue Angels started their performance resulting in a very short demonstration. I was also unable to take a number of photos I wanted to given the rain. Note: the Duluth weathermen are completely incompetent - they predicted clear weather for Saturday afternoon, with rain coming later and continuing through Sunday, but in fact Sunday was clear and they got the Blues' High show. I'm begininng to hate seeing these shows come and go, as the 2003 performers - the F-14 & the F-117- are now lost to history. Fortunately the MN government is working on getting the 148th new F-16s (Block 40) by 2014, so hopefully I'll have many more shows to get up close to their Vipers.

The End Continues

The Air Force retires the F-117