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| By Carmelo Turdo |
The Cape Girardeau Air Festival returned to the Midwest last weekend, and The Aero Experience shared the enthusiasm of the local media as we gathered at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport for the arrival of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels Demonstration Squadron. We continue our coverage of this great Midwest Aviation event with a look at our visit on Thursday as the six Blue Angels Hornets and several other participants assembled on the apron. Prior to the arrival of the Blue Angels, we captured some images of the TA-4J gate guard and memorial, the Cape Aviation terminal, the arrival of a United Express flight, the Shockwave Jet Truck in its trailer and Thom Richard taking a flight in the only dual-control TP-40N Flying Tiger, American Dream.
There was no shortage of media personnel at the airport when the Blue Angels arrived, and we enjoyed meeting the other photographers and members of the Cape Girardeau KFVS-TV Channel 12 team. We thank the Cape Aviation and airport event staff for providing the access we needed to obtain our coverage in a safe and organized manner.
Later in the day, the Blue Angels flew an orientation flight and a practice session, and we captured some views of the ground crew preparing the jets for the flights after arrival. Also included here are some of the formations and maneuvers performed during the afternoon flights. Much more coverage of the airshow will be included in our next story.
The Aero Experience continues our signature year-round coverage of EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2019, sponsored by Elite Aviation, with this look at the Shockwave Jet Truck. Airshow audiences around the country immediately recognize this amazing machine - the custom race truck powered by three J34-48 jet engines. Shockwave lives up to its name when Driver Chris Darnell lights the burners - you feel the shockwaves roll across the crowd. Shockwave is often pitted against an aircraft in a runway drag race, this time featuring Kyle Franklin in Dracula. It is also a spectacular sight during night airshows, as shown in previous stories. Here we include coverage from the Friday and Saturday airshows.
