Blue Angels II Hooooo - aahhhhhh! Marine Corps translation = Uhhh - Raahhhhh !
April 1, 2012 NOT an April fools day joke.
Northport, Alabama NOT Tuscaloosa, Alabama .... even though that's what was advertised. maybe the jurisdiction lines are for Tuscaloosa... you drive down past Northport, AL and hang a left.
This is the second Tracks of the StoneBear visit to the Blue Angels airshow at the Tuscaloosa, AL airport.
I rember back 2 year ago.... two year ago... was the kickoff of the Tracks of the StoneBear ITW = Into The West journey... and it was a great start !
We got to the field when the preliminary shows ... the Army Golden Knights Paratroopers were finishising up... Wow! Those guys can jump, fall several thousand feet and land on a dime ; litterally... they are that good. Then some stunt pilots in aerobatic aircraft... warm ups for the main show. I;m excited now... ready for the Blue Angels. -- also,.. thanks Tuscaloosa for sponsoring this airshow ! Tuscaloosa is my 2nd home after living there a few years going to UofA. It's good to come back home. I flew out of Van de Graff field at times as a private pilot... and a couple of times took a Southern Airways Martin 404 out to Memphis and St louis.
Sky is beautiful. Alto stratus clouds at 4 to 6,000'. Plenty of blue sky. Hot... it's about 85*... Sun... coming down hard so T-bird gets a Blue Angels umbrella for some shade. Wind 8 to 11 knots from 060*.
The Navy / Marine Corps team can't be beat ! These are the best pilots in the world ! and the men and women on the ground crew make it possible. Thank you for the hard work to make the show great. There's a ton of support work to make this show come off good.
This is the fun stuff of our military guys.... they are at their best. We thank you for a show. But we also know there is a ton of sacrifice from your nostop hours of training... families back home keeping the home fires buring while you are on this post.... You are our team ! Thank you ! I worry about our country sometimes... then get a look at these pilots, ground crew... crew chiefs and staff,... the rest of the crew that doesn't get up into the spotlight.... when seeing how squared away they are... the leadership that resonates... I feel better knowing these guys are on the job. Riding the top of the wave for these Naval aviators and Marine pilots is a big feather in their cap; their pride resonates. Truth is... when this post / billet is over and they return to the fleet without the spotlight of the Blue Angels... this team will carry their leadership to then next duty station and they won't change one iota; they are rock solid. That's what makes our military men and women top shelf ! It's a treat to see the Blue Angels ! Thank you for a wonderful show !
You'll have to pardon me for a couple of extra thank yous for the Navy / Marine Corps team. Dad was a WW II Marine, I'm about the last Marine out of the Viet Nam era, Son Lee served with BLT 2/9 and was in firefights in the streets of Mogodishu, Somalia, and Nephew David did tours in Afghanistan and Fallujah. ?Are you getting my drift here? I bleed marine Corps blood. My family is Marine Corps blood. So to see our guys operating at top shelf... a lot of pride.
Also... our military is about ~ 1 million strong in a country of 315 million citizens. That means when you go to anytown, USA.... you have to knock on the doors of 315 houses to find a family that has a Son or Daughter doing the job.... up on the line. That's how scarce and special they are. A Thank You is not enough.
That's all well and good. But here at Tracks of The StoneBear it takes on a historrical dimension. Grampa Wood taught me to fly. He was a barnstormer in the 20s and 30s/ he flew the first mail routes in the united states when there were bonfires on mountaintops to mark his route. Grampa wood was a pioneer of aviation. Flying through fog and storms to deliver a sack of mail in 1932.... no Flight Service from the FAA... No approach control.....
RADAR was NOT even INVENTED at this time ! And he climbed into a Stearman in Cleveland, OH .... No VORs... No DMEs ... they weren't even invented at tis time. So to see this flight fo these F - 18s screaming by in close formation at 350 to 400 mph... this is my kind of day.
This was a great day! ... and i'm thankful for the abundant blessings to see the Blue Angels... again. You never drink twice from the same stream.
PS: Grampa Wood was a Private in the 167th infantry in WW I ... a mud soldier in the trenches and survived the battles at Croix Rouge Farm in the Chateau-Thierry, at Somme, the Aisne-Marne, and the Meuse-Argonne ...and watched some of the aero- dogfights. I would have liked to have taken Grampa Wood to this Blue Angels airshow. I know he would have been proud.
BLue angels 2
Tracks of the StoneBear Odyssey
Blue Angels II Hooooo - aahhhhhh! Marine Corps translation = Uhhh - Raahhhhh !
April 1, 2012 NOT an April fools day joke.
Northport, Alabama NOT Tuscaloosa, Alabama .... even though that's what was advertised. maybe the jurisdiction lines are for Tuscaloosa... you drive down past Northport, AL and hang a left.
This is the second Tracks of the StoneBear visit to the Blue Angels airshow at the Tuscaloosa, AL airport.
I rember back 2 year ago.... two year ago... was the kickoff of the Tracks of the StoneBear ITW = Into The West journey... and it was a great start !
We got to the field when the preliminary shows ... the Army Golden Knights Paratroopers were finishising up... Wow! Those guys can jump, fall several thousand feet and land on a dime ; litterally... they are that good. Then some stunt pilots in aerobatic aircraft... warm ups for the main show. I;m excited now... ready for the Blue Angels. -- also,.. thanks Tuscaloosa for sponsoring this airshow ! Tuscaloosa is my 2nd home after living there a few years going to UofA. It's good to come back home. I flew out of Van de Graff field at times as a private pilot... and a couple of times took a Southern Airways Martin 404 out to Memphis and St louis.
Sky is beautiful. Alto stratus clouds at 4 to 6,000'. Plenty of blue sky. Hot... it's about 85*... Sun... coming down hard so T-bird gets a Blue Angels umbrella for some shade. Wind 8 to 11 knots from 060*.
The Navy / Marine Corps team can't be beat ! These are the best pilots in the world ! and the men and women on the ground crew make it possible. Thank you for the hard work to make the show great. There's a ton of support work to make this show come off good.
This is the fun stuff of our military guys.... they are at their best. We thank you for a show. But we also know there is a ton of sacrifice from your nostop hours of training... families back home keeping the home fires buring while you are on this post.... You are our team ! Thank you ! I worry about our country sometimes... then get a look at these pilots, ground crew... crew chiefs and staff,... the rest of the crew that doesn't get up into the spotlight.... when seeing how squared away they are... the leadership that resonates... I feel better knowing these guys are on the job. Riding the top of the wave for these Naval aviators and Marine pilots is a big feather in there cap; their pride resonates. Truth is... when this post / billet is over and they return to the fleet without the spotlight of the Blue Angels... this team will carry their leadership to then next duty station and they won't change one iota; they are rock solid. That's what makes our military men and women top shelf ! It's a treat to see the Blue Angels ! Thank you for a wonderful show !
You'll have to pardon me for a couple of extra thank yous for the Navy / Marine Corps team. Dad was a WW II Marine, I'm about the last Marine out of the Viet Nam era, Son Lee served with BLT 2/9 and was in firefights in the streets of Mogodishu, Somalia, and Nephew David did tours in Afghanistan and Fallujah. ?Are you getting my drift here? I bleed marine Corps blood. My family is Marine Corps blood. So to see our guys operating at top shelf... a lot of pride.
Also... our military is about ~ 1 million strong in a country of 315 million citizens. That means when you go to anytown, USA.... you have to knock on the doors of 315 houses to find a family that has a Son or Daughter doing the job.... up on the line. That's how scarce and special they are. A Thank You is not enough.
That's all well and good. But here at Tracks of The StoneBear it takes on a historrical dimension. Grampa Wood taught me to fly. He was a barnstormer in the 20s and 30s/ he flew the first mail routes in the united states when there were bonfires on mountaintops to mark his route. Grampa wood was a pioneer of aviation. Flying through fog and storms to deliver a sack of mail in 1932.... no Flight Service from the FAA... No approach control.....
RADAR was NOT even INVENTED at this time ! And he climbed into a Stearman in Cleveland, OH .... No VORs... No DMEs ... they weren't even invented at tis time. So to see this flight fo these F - 18s screaming by in close formation at 350 to 400 mph... this is my kind of day.
This was a great day! ... and i'm thankful for the abundant blessings to see the Blue Angels... again. You never drink twice from the same stream.
PS: Grampa Wood was a Private in the 167th infantry in WW I ... a mud soldier in the trenches and survived the battles at Croix Rouge Farm in the Chateau-Thierry , at Somme, the Aisne-Marne, and the Meuse-Argonne ... and watched some of the aero- dogfights. I would have like to taken Grampa Wood to this Blue Angels airshow. I know he would have been proud.
