The best thing is probably when I receive a message from someone 6 months later, telling me they just completed their Private Pilot’s Certificate and flying with me was the catalyst.

I snapped back to reality as I looked to the right and saw the L-2 formation closing in. It was game time. I raised my camera and found the lead L-2 in the viewfinder, and fired away.

…I did what I could to see outside as the pavement began to move through my view much more quickly. All of the sudden the subtle vibration from the tires on the runway ceased. I heard one of the pilots call for “gear up” and then it hit me. I was really flying in a B-29. 

A wise man once wrote, “When a body exerts a force on a second body, the second body simultaneously exerts a force equal in magnitude and opposite in direction on the first body”. Lynne and Carly are two of those forces that when combined, are more powerful than Ali’s one-two punch.

My own story with RIAT can be traced back to 1993 when my father won camping and show tickets for weekend. We had only been to two shows previously and far more locally in Wales, but this would set the precedent for the rest of my life, and one I have always been grateful for. IAT 93’ is ever etched in my mind as spectacular but tragic at the same time. This year would see the arrival of Russian Air Force hardware the likes of the West had never seen.

Isn't that what all this is about anyway? Love? Love for historical aircraft, love for the poetry of flight, love for one another?

Flying over the beautiful landscape of Loudoun County, Virginia as well as the Harper's Ferry area of West Virginia offered some spectacular scenery for Adam's bright red Pitts

The evening air made for a very smooth ride. Once Vic had the Stearman safely on the ground, Greg entered the traffic pattern. I set my camera on the seat and enjoyed the rest of the ride in disbelief of what had just happened.

That being said, the weather was still a factor. With dense tropical moisture in place, there would be periods of heavy rain and storms throughout the weekend along with an abundance of humidity; hardly ideal for an airshow…or is it?

One by one, I come across those photographic treasures. Each one evokes a unique emotion and transports me back though time, to that place, and that moment. I begin going through the photos like a librarian would go through a card catalog... flipping past a dozen… pulling one out… flipping past another… pulling one out.

"...and I'm focused, right? 'Cuz you're at 200 feet, going 700 miles per hour, pulling 9 Gs. The tolerance for any error doesn't exist."

It's hard to describe seeing a C130 down to less than 500 feet, meandering through the twists and turns of the Welsh valleys, but it is just awe inspiring to say the least.

This was a particularly reverent moment for us; Joe has hundreds of arrested carrier landings flying F-14s and on the 1998 NASA mission STS-89 he piloted the space shuttle Endeavor to the Russian space station Mir and back.

One of the coolest and most desired airshow acts is that of a Harrier, and outside of seeing the US Marine Corps Harrier AV-8B Demo, there is only one other way to witness a Harrier Performance: Art Nalls.

Full Disc Aviation got to spend a few minutes with Chef Pitts (Clemens Kuhlig) at the fenceline before the Manassas airshow and he was kind enough to answer some of our questions. Chef flies a crimson and black Pitts S1S with a mustache on the cowling, his signature triple smoke trails and outside loops wowing audiences along the east coast.

Adam pulled the aircraft out and lined her up for us just as the rain started to fall, typical of Virginia in the spring. Undeterred, he climbed in the cockpit and fired her up for us. If that wasn’t enough, he asked us if he should hit the smoke. The photography tells the rest of that story.

I recognized that I was not as sharp with everything as I would like to be so I took my sweet time with my pre-flight.  I even sat in the cockpit for a few extra minutes rehearsing my panel flow. Finally, after feeling a little more comfortable, it was time for the fun part to begin:

What do you think about when you think of the US Air Force? You think of the jets, the level of service, and the people that strap on their boots and throw their uniforms on every day. But what you may not think about are the men and women who wear a suit and tie, the men and women that are in the car next to you on your commute, who may very well commit to a level of service before self.

To anyone who follows the Blue Angels, there is one place that always seems to be at the top of their lists for seeing them: Naval Air Facility El Centro. Follow along with our adventure as we make our inaugural trip to the witness the greatness that is El Centro.

Winter is officially over (although no one told mother nature that) and Full Disc Aviation has some exciting things coming to you in the weeks ahead.