|
High fuel prices proved no match against blue skies and light
winds at the 26th annual Stearman Fly-In which was held in St.
Francis, Kansas, on June 14-15, 2008. Large crowds arrived to
see the 70
aircraft which attended the free event. In addition,
more than
100 motorcycle riders arrived en masse from the Denver
area.
Notable aircraft included a rare 1929 Alexander
Eaglerock flown
by Glenn Cruz, a lovely Beechcraft
Staggerwing, a 1931
Waco ATO,
and five Stearman biplanes. The featured
Stearmans are fabric
covered, open-cockpit biplanes, used as primary trainers in
World War II. Four Russian built
Yak 52s provided a special
treat, as they flew over in a fine
diamond formation complete
with smoke. To see a video of that flyover, click here.
Hot air balloons flew on both Saturday and Sunday mornings,
thrilling the crowd with their graceful ascents. The seven-story
tall aerostats hold two tons of air which is heated with a
powerful
propane burner to provide buoyancy.
Skydivers made more than thirty jumps, as their colorful
canopies dove and swooped down to soft landings in front of the
spectators. One of the skydives was from a balloon, a rare
combination. To see a video of the balloon skydive, click here.
The Balloon
Bust contest was won by Eric Baldwin, and
Dr. Curt
Kimball, Sterling, CO, the originator of the event, attended
again, keeping his perfect attendance record intact.
If you have photos of this year's Fly-In that you'd
like to share, please
click here.
|
