"There is nothing like living in the flight path of F/A-18 fighterjets for a day or 4."
The Great Minnesota Air Show featuring the Blue Angels - another reason to love St Cloud MN - Day 3
My love of flight and planes began early, with projects like building models. For a while as an adult I persued aviation as a career and to this day I am still in awe watching maneuvers like you see in the picture above taken during their practice today at the St Cloud Airport.
My wife Liz emailed me mid-day saying there were interesting planes in the sky (we live close to the St. Cloud airport). By early afternoon I was driving toward home and catching glimpses of The Blue Angels flying around St. Cloud. After a stop, to grab the "good camera", and watch as the blue and gold F/A-18s skirted the edge of our neighborhood at low altitude, it was off to the airport.
I pulled right into the main lot and walked over to the fence and started searching for planes. The Blue Angels were parked about a 1/4 mile away, next to 2 F-22 Raptors that had flown in just this afternoon. I hope to see the Raptors fly sometime this weekend. After several minutes the PA system announced The Blue Angels were going to taxi out, and we were soon watching a full dress rehearsal, with some jaw dropping maneuvers. I began talking with two men in my little corner of heaven, and one of them was a retired F-18 pilot, Kirt Eckstrom (Captain, USN Ret.). He was the Executive Officer for one of the teams pilots at one point, Captain Eckstrom made pleasant and interesting conversation, in between loud jet action. Thanks for your service Kirt, and thanks for teaching us some cool stuff and answering my questions.
I am going back again this weekend to the Great Minnesota Air Show, even though I got to see The Blue Angels for free today, as there are several great acts I will enjoy. One area of interest for me is the World War II aircraft on display. Saturday and Sunday (26th & 27th) 11-4pm at the St. Cloud Airport, (purchase tickets) just off US 10 on the southeast side of St. Cloud. Also, since it is Granite City Days, there are other activities such as a hot air balloon rally at sunrise and 7pm at Whitney Park (Sat.), and a parade Sat. at 10am. I can't wait!
For those of you reading through my series on wonderful reasons to live in St Cloud MN, you will note that I already posted about Granite City Days from June 24 - 27, and yes, the The Great Minnesota Air Show Featuring The Blue Angels is part of the events list. But I have such a special place in my heart for flying, that I really wanted to cover the Air Show as a separate post in this blog series.
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