I originally planned on staying in RI for the show until I realized that
my SWA voucher expired on the 21st. Rats!!!

JT

(Who did manage to fill up on Italian and seafood though..)




Tom wrote:
I made the trip down to North Kingstown, RI(KOQU)from New Hampshire for
my first show of the season on Saturday June 23, 2007. It was a
beautiful day with a deep blue sky and scattered puffy clouds as a
backdrop. There was a refreshingly nice breeze from the northwest that
made the day very comfortable. Nothing like the smell of running jet
engines & food cooking on the grill when you're down wind. The show was
packed with families, former military, aviation enthusiasts, and many
other quite unique sights(smile).

This was my fourth trip to see the Rhode Island Air Guard show since
2003. Last year was a wash out of sorts. Parking was a lot different
for this year. Several large distant satellite parking areas on
undeveloped grassy fields. Air Guard Shuttle buses moved the masses to
the flight line for the action.

The Blue's were the main act with lot's of interesting stuff prior. I
hesitate to say it, (cringe & duck) but I didn't stay for the Angels
show. With the huge crowd I just didn't want to fight the lines and
traffic. So once Fat Albert blasted off (yes they used the bottles) and
made a high speed pass, I was on the history channel.

This tactic made for an easy break from the event with little to no
traffic. Even better, I got to see, hear, and feel the diamond passing
by overhead through my open sunroof as I egressed the parking areas.

The flying portion of the show was great! There weren't many static
aircraft on display and getting a photo op was tuff despite getting to
the show at the start of the day. Some interesting notes about the F-22
Raptor and it's appearance for the show under a double-billing deeper in
the thread.

Another note of interest, there was a Black helicopter filming
throughout the day. According to the Public address announcer it was in
the production of a Discovery Channel reality program. That'll be one
to watch out for...

Lot's of vendors with the usual airshow food and souvenirs. It maybe my
imagination, but it seemed like a lot more "Sponsor" based information
from the Master of Ceremonies and around the show. That includes the
"Commercial Acts" during their live broadcasts from the aircraft. I
guess everyones got to get paid one way or the other.

There was also the expected military recruiting efforts underway with a
noticeable heavy usage of technology (large screen plasma displays,
games & audio) by the Army folks. The masses always swirl to the "Free"
stuff. Don't misunderstand me here, I am pro-military having served 14
years for Uncle Sam before figuring out what I really wanted to do when
I grow up.

I've selected a few highlights from the day to share with you and
provide a sense of the sights I was pleased to witness. The show sure
"Made my Day". Thank you Rhode Island Air National Guard and show
sponsors! The images that follow are my feeble attempts at photography
and post processing.

Seems like when you get one aspect of the photo right you then encounter
some new challenge to overcome. I still haven't been able to just press
the shutter and get that perfect shot. I see so many great photos
posted to this group. My goal is to try and mimic the excellent work
posted here. As I do for you, I ask that you please respect my copyright.

I've posted an index here for the start of the thread and replied to the
thread with the image files. I thought that would make things a little
neater keeping it in one thread. Enjoy!

Tom

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