Places I'm Visiting: Santa Rosa Air Show (August 20, 2011)

I spent the day today at the Santa Rosa "Wings Over Wine Country"Air Show out at the Santa Rosa Airport. I had never been before. I've lived in Santa Rosa for 10 years now. Every year at this time (usually the third weekend in August) I hear about the show and consider going. On the Sunday at the end of the show it's common to hear the sound of vintage aircraft overhead, which usually sends me out with my binoculars to look at the old WWII fighter or odd transport plane flying over as it leaves Santa Rosa after the end of the show. My house seems to be on the flight path out of town. That always makes me wish I had been at the show to see what I missed. This year I determined to go. Parking cost $3 and the $20 entry fee ($5 for kids 12 and under) seemed steep, but it was worth going at least once. There were many, many aircraft parked on the runways for viewing, including military, commercial, and private aircraft, and there was a stream of displays in the air, including workhorses like the DC-3 and planes as exotic as a U-2, which made a brief appearance before disappearing into the clouds at an alarming angle.

I most enjoyed seeing the aerobatics--particularly the stunt flying of Vicky Benzing and five-time world champion stunt flyer Kirby Chambliss (first photo)--and the WWII vintage aircraft. Chambliss flew sideways, backwards, upside down, and just about every other way airplanes don't normally fly. Among the vintage aircraft, seeing (and hearing) a flight of five P-51s, a P-47, and a Yak fighter evoked an era long past (pictured here on the runway), but I especially enjoyed seeing a Hawker Sea Fury fitted out with smoke generators that did some excellent flying (bottom photo) in Royal Air Force livery. Watching the streams of smoke and vortices created was almost as much fun as watching the airplane, which is a handsome design reminiscent of the Spitfire and the Hawker Hurricane--planes I built as a child from model airplane kits more than once. Note the tailhook on the Sea Fury for aircraft carrier landings--something I didn't see until I looked at my photographs.

There was a lot of standing around waiting for things to happen. I got some sunburn despite a hat and sunglasses, but it was still fun. The show continues tomorrow, Sunday, August 21, 2011.