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."

FMI: www.avialantic.com/caf/photohighlights.html