[MilCom] Thunder In The Valley Air Show review

[Mike Riffle]

http://www.thunderinthevalleyairshow.com/
Location: Columbus Metropolitan Airport (KCSG) Columbus, GA
Date: 19-20 March 2005

[FREQUENCIES]
  034.650   Silver Wings discrete
  120.100   Show Boss (normally KCSG tower)
  121.900   tower (normally KCSG ground)
  123.150   common air-air (warbirds, Otto the Helicopter)
  136.575   A-10 East Demo discrete and A-10/P-51 Heritage Flight discrete
  467.6125  Silver Wings ground/safety team (FRS ch #10)

[FLYING AIRCRAFT]
  A-10         (80-0194 23FG)
  Bell 47      (N3575)
  AT-6D        (N3771M)
  DC-3A        (N143D) "Darla Dee"
  F-51D        (N151TP) "Sweetie Face"
  Harvard MkIV (N7757) modified to represent a Japanese A6M Zero
  Hughes 269C  (N7505B) "Otto the Helicopter"
  P-47D        (NX647D)
  P-47D        (NX9246B) "Hun Hunter XVI"
  P-51D        (N851D) "Crazy Horse"
  PBY-5A       (N287)
  Pitts S2S    (N540S) Skip Stewart
  SNJ-4        (N7062C) modified to represent a Japanese Type 97 Kate
  SNJ-5        (N777AP)
  T-33         (NX99184) "The Red Knight"
  T-33         (NX556RH)
  UH-60A       (##-#####) Silver Wings and Ranger SPIE demo
  TBM-3E       (N4170A)
  WACO UPF-7   (N2369Q) Jimmy Franklin

[STATIC AIRCRAFT]
  A-10         (78-0596 23FG)
  F/A-18       (165214 VFA-34)
  F/A-18       (165406 VFA-34)
  T-28C        (N187GH)
  UH-60A       (82-23741 Ft Benning)

[COMMENTS]
  This show was much smaller than last years show in terms of flying and
  static aircraft. However show organizers estimated 15,000 people attended
  the show each day which is close to a record. One thing to note is the cost
  of the show is paid for by the sponsors. Most of the money from the ticket
  sales is given to the Boy Scouts, with the rest going to other youth
  organizations.

  Nearly all of the flying aircraft were on static display before and after
  their performances.

  The A-10 East Coast demo was flown by Capt Jason Erb both days. He also
  flew the Heritage Flight with Lee Lauderback in the "Crazy Horse" P-51.

  The appearance by Robosaurus was being filmed by a crew from the Travel
  Channel for an upcoming show.

  Several incidents occurred during the Sunday show. First the DC-3 suffered
  a flat right main tire following his performance. Second the Paul Stender
  Dodge RamJet truck had a very slow-to-inflate drag chute following his run.
  This resulted in lots of tire smoke from heavy braking and a hair raising
  high speed exit at the end of the runway. Lastly, and the most serious, was
  the performance by Otto the Helicopter. During his routine he is supposed
  to capture an intruder on the airfield by dropping a line and airlifting
  the person to a makeshift jail. On Sunday when he dropped the line the
  buckle at the end of the rope fell off! The volunteer who was playing the
  role of the intruder looked very disappointed and even tried to put the
  buckle back on the rope! Perhaps they should be counting their lucky stars.

  Photos: http://www.pbase.com/mriffle/titv05

Mike Riffle
Cataula, GA
http://www.geocities.com/kc8mzm