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Randy Harris of Bearfeat Aerobatics and his assistant John talk to Mike Whaley. Randy's plane isn't exactly your typical Skybolt... it has a lot of plywood on the wings and a lot of other mods for the high-stress airshow flying he does.
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David takes the microphone in the announcer stand to narrate Barrett's fly-by passes.
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Barrett takes off. The rate of climb on the Yellowbird is very fast and the climb angle is very steep.
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The "It's A Small World" Department: Paul ran into three guys he went to college with, whom he hadn't seen in 20+ years.
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Lori and Gordon Penner of IAC 34 chat with Barrett Brummett.
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Bruce Bohannon's Exxon Flying Tiger... a very much modified RV-4.
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Van's Air Force treated us all to an outstanding display of formation flying. Amateurs or not, these guys really fly like pros.
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A Cessna O-2 makes a flyby. This was a mainstay of the USAF's Forward Air Control fleet from the mid 1960s until the late 1980s.
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This was a very effective display, showing all the stuff that you can pack into a GlaStar.
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Merritt Island-based Aerocomp had their new single-engine CompAir Jet on display. Like their other offerings, what it lacks in sleekness is compensated for by sheer internal payload volume.
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Actually, it's not really all *that* boxy.
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A new USAF T-6A Texan II taxis to the warbird line. Pitts S1-C/SS owner James Shoenberger got to bring one of these to SNF from NAS Pensacola (it looked very similar, except his said NAVY on the side...) Shame they didn't get to perform in the show... last year's T-6A demo was WAY cool, to say the least.
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Two exciting planes... a twin-engine, six-place Rutan Defiant in the foreground, with the new M14-powered Radial Rocket behind. The Radial Rocket is a lot like a mini F8F Bearcat.
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The Virginia Aviation Dept. used a little tongue-in-cheek double entendre to get their point across.
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Aeroshell kicks off their performance with lots of smoke.
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There weren't any mosquitoes left after this show.
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You can NEVER have too much power, can you?
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This monoplane made some LOOOOOW passes!
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Glacier Girl heads out for the Heritage flight.
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Yes, kids, you're not imagining things. That's a real, live F-4 Phantom II!
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The F-16 put on a fast and LOUD demo.
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The F-16 is captured in slowflight in this patriotic shot.
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This is the one moment that Sun N Fun attendees will probably remember above all others. It can't get any better than this.
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Just to add to the spectacle and noise that is the F-4... he used his drag chute on landing. You don't see that done so much anymore.
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The Friday Night Biplane Cookout got going right after the end of the airshow.
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We met up with a lot of old friends, and met some new ones as well.
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Sandy Lanza tries to shake off the paparazzi.
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Jeff Long ably mans the grill, serving up some great burgers, dogs, and chicken. Mmm mmm good!
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There was quite a spread of food and snacks to be enjoyed.
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After a long, hot day at the airshow, it was nice to kick back and relax with other aviation nuts.
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Food, drinks, and conversation flowed freely.
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Paul introduces folks to his young son Ethan... almost everyone who sees Ethan says "Wow, he looks just like his daddy!"
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Paul hopped into Ed's hot-air balloon, Wild Goose...
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And in true aviator fashion, he tests it's ability to roast hot dogs. (This could be a very handy skill to have if you ever land your balloon out on a deserted island someplace.)
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Of course, what's a balloon-borne hot dog blasting without an appreciative audience to cheer you on?
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Our friend Doug Ripley brought his family by a little bit late... no problem, we still had food (and plenty of beverages) left!
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