Mon, Aug 18, 2003
Aerobatics, Remembrances Take Center Stage
All eyes were on the
skies in Frederick (MD), this weekend, for the 10th Annual Wings of
Freedom Airshow. It was a chance to watch some primo aerobatics. It
was also a chance to hear first-hand what happened in aviation
battles gone by.
"A lot of us are World War II veterans. We have a little
experience in certain areas and in my case I was a tail gunner of a
B-29 and we talk with everybody about that," said A.I. Smith, with
the Air Force Stars and Stripes Wing.
But there was fun for kids of all ages at the Frederick show
over the weekend. The good folks of Stepping Stones Aviation were
there with their miniature F-117s, Mustangs and other models
designed to give kids a great first impression of aviation
practices and procedures. "We have small airplanes," said one
Stepping Stones employee. "We put children in and we teach them
what it's like to be a pilot. It really grabs them and
instead of just showing it to them in a book or showing it to them
on the ramp we get to put them right in the cockpit and they use
the airplane. Even the miniature instruments you see up in
here are exactly what you have in a single engine land
airplane."
Kids did have a chance to marvel at technological
advances from yesterday. "The jets are spectacular," said Smith,
"but the younger people, look at these propeller driven aircrafts
and can't believe the speed, like we were talking the speed of that
P-38, over 400 mph. They can't believe that they would do
that back then. But they did."
As for the youngsters themselves, Smith says a lot of them got a
good first-look at the insides of aviation. "An air show is a
fantastic thing to start with. I hope they go away with a
good feeling and want to come back next year."
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