[MilCom] River Region Air Show @ Maxwell AFB, AL

[Mike Riffle]

Great airshow report Keith! A little followup on the F-86 accident. It was
Wyatt Fuller's "Desert Rats" (N86FS). From the radio traffic the problem was
the right gear door would not release. In addition, Wyatt could not raise
the remaining 2 gear. Thankfully he had the drop tanks on and this appeared
to me to have saved the wing from significant damage. Following the
emergency landing they jacked the wing up and released the gear door
allowing the gear to drop down and locked in place. They then towed the F-86
off to the side of the runway to allow the show to continue. Here's a photo
showing the F-86 landing on the right drop tank. Note the generous use of
left rudder to keep the F-86 on the runway.

http://www.geocities.com/kc8mzm/photo/N86FS.jpg

Mike Riffle
Cataula, GA


On 09-Apr-06 00:44, Keith Coleman wrote:
> Today was the River Region Air Show at Maxwell AFB, AL. The gates opened at
> 8:30am; however, I was not operating at full throttle that soon on a
> Saturday. The bad weather that blew through early this morning threatened my
> thoughts of going at all. With my eye on the weather and a quick call to
> Public Affairs, they assured me the show was still on.
> 
> My oldest son came along and with my digital camera, Pro-97, and rain coat
> (just in case); I was ready to Air Show! We arrived just after 11am. Weather
> was starting to break a bit and looking a little more promising that we
> might have a descent afternoon. We arrived in time to admire the static
> displays and immediately the scanner came to life with the Air Boss talking
> to DARK-61, a B-1 that was holding in the area to do a fly-by, which was
> very impressive.
> 
> Before we made it to the flight line viewing area an F-86 & Mig-17 were
> doing a dogfight demo. The F-86 developed a landing gear problem, this
> cancelled an air drop that was schedule for one of Maxwell's own C-130H's.
> The F-86 pilot did a marvelous job of softly landing the plane, the right
> gear was not extended as it should have been and the wing did drag the
> runway. This delayed the flying for a little while. But, give the Air Boss
> and the crash crew credit. Once they cleared the runway things kicked off
> again with the Thunderbirds leading the way. 
> 
> Tora! Tora! Tora! Historical reenactment had to be the highlight of the air
> show for me! In the air shows I've been to over the years, this was a first
> for me and I would recommend you see these guys if you have the chance. We
> stuck it out for the balance of the afternoon, and I might add here that by
> the time the Thunderbirds took the stage, the weather was 100% better from
> the early morning outlook. 
> 
> We wrapped up the afternoon with the Army's Golden Knights, an A-10 demo and
> an F-15 Eagle Demo. This was the first air show I had been to since I
> retired from the Air Force in 1999. I'm glad I went!     
> 
> Air Show Frequencies Heard:
> 
> 118.150 KMXF Tower
> 122.850 Air Boss
> 123.150 Air Show Common/Discrete
> 123.475 Golden Knights
> 127.150 KMXF Ground
> 136.575 (Heard activity, not sure if it was show related)
> 143.850 Thunderbirds
> 235.250 Thunderbirds
> 376.025 F-15 DEMO Flight
> 396.900 908 AW Command Post
> 
> 
> Static Display:
> 
> F-16C	#87-0336 AL ANG 160 FS "City of Enterprise"
> C-21A	#84-0093 311th AF  "AMC"
> T-37B	#56-3536 37 FTS/41st	 Columbus AFB, MS "CB"
> C-12	#23-541
> T-1A	#95-0058 48th FTS Columbus AFB, MS "CB"
> T-38A	#68-8136 560th FTS "RA"
> A-10A	#79-0153 917th Wing "Marryin Sam"  "BD"
> T-38A	#68-8150 7th CTS Holloman AFB, NM "HO"
> F-16C	#01-7050 79th FS Shaw AFB, SC "SW"
> F-16C	#00-6035 79th FS Shaw AFB, SC "SW"
> F/A-18A #163161 DR-202 VMFA-312 Beaufort, SC
> F/A-18A #163153 DR-213 VMFA-312 Beaufort, SC
> AT-6C #42-48884 Tuskegee Airman Display
> GA-8	#N606CP Civil Air Patrol Maxwell AFB, AL
> HH-65B #6592 Coast Guard Humboldt Bay "New Orleans"
> UH-1V	  #70-16393 "Flat Iron"
> UH-1H  #74-22326 1-212th AVN Ft. Rucker, AL
> AH-64D #35406
> OH-58D #10548
> C-130H  #85-0035 908 AW Maxwell AFB, AL "City of Montgomery"
> C-17A	#96-0004 437th AW Charleston AFB, NC
> Douglas C54-R5D Berlin Airlift "Spirit of Freedom
> F-117 #81798 49 FW Holloman AFB, NM
> F-22A #01-4018 43rd FS Tyndall AFB, FL
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> ===============================
> Keith
> Monitoring Central Alabama
> PRO-2052/2055 w/Scantenna @ 25'
> PRO-93/95/97 w/Diamond RH77CA
> ===============================
> 
> 
> ______________________________________________________________
> MilCom mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/milcom
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/faq.htm
> Post: mailto:MilCom at mailman.qth.net
> 


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