Yesterday was the first day of the 3-day event and set the stage for today and tomorrow. The Minnesota Wing of the CAF opened up their WWII-era Quonset-style hangar.
The Wing volunteers arranged all of their available airplanes on the tarmac Many of the planes had volunteers stationed by them to help visitors climb onto the wings to peer into the cockpits. Some lucky youngsters even got to sit in the pilot seat.
The Squadron’s own P-51C Mustang was the only airplane left in the hangar. It is getting an oil change and other maintenance required by the number of hours flown. It looks a bit forlorn, doesn’t it? Not to worry – it will soon be winging off to air shows in Kansas City (Kansas City Aviation Expo on Aug. 20-21) and Waterloo, Iowa (Thunder in the Valley, August 27-28). The RISE ABOVE Traveling Exhibit will also be going to those air shows.
As happened when the exhibit was at AirVenture Oshkosh, visitors of all ages were anxious to register and watch the “RISE ABOVE” movie in the climate-controlled theater. Hearing (and seeing) the story of the Tuskegee Airmen and watching the Mustang flight sequences on that 160-degree curved screen is a thrill for all viewers.
Three young World War II re-enactors were also at Thursday’s event. Andrew Sahli (seated) was “the German” and Matt Stone was the US soldier.
Tyler Befort demonstrated a rudimentary machine gun set up. He and Matt even dug the trench by hand.
These open houses have something for just about everyone. If you’re in the mood to see something interesting and out-of-the-ordinary today or tomorrow, we hope you’ll drive over to Fleming Field to see the movie and the airplanes and the hangar and the volunteers and … well, you get the idea.
[I apologize for the odd spacing in this blog entry. Just couldn’t get everything to even out.]
