We mentioned last week that Lexington, Kentucky's Blue Grass Airport (KLEX) would be hosting a rare opportunity by opening its brand new runway to the public.
According to the Lexington Herald-Leader, this event was a huge success with about 15,000 people in attendance!
Why do we park on driveways and drive on parkways? Why do we land on runways? According to Business Lexington, your chance to set things straight for once is coming on June 13th from 2-5 pm.
The city of Lexington Lexington, KY, has been working to promote community fitness and hosts a monthly "2nd Sunday" event where everyone is invited to walk, run, bike or engage in other physical activities together. It just so happens that Lexington's Blue Grass Airport (KLEX) has a new 4,000 ft runway almost complete. They're going to open that runway to the public on the 13th so they can have a chance to enjoy it before it enters service. (Don't worry, commercial and other air traffic can still use the airport's other 7,000 ft long runway during the event.)
Alaskan bush pilots just finished their annual May Day Fly-in, where they come together for everything from hot-topic discussions to flour bombing and STOL competitions! The STOL competition is no doubt the highlight, though. Here are some highlights from last year's competition:
Columbus, GA, has a pretty nice airport (KCSG). It has a long runway and a crosswind runway. It has several thriving flying operations and even gets a few regional airline flights each day. There's a pretty big EAA chapter at the airport which seems like a great idea except for one thing: Columbus' airspace is Class C and aircraft without transponders have to jump through special hoops to get in. That's especially a problem for Jon who owns an old Champ that doesn't even have an electrical system. While chatting with some people at Thunder in the Valley this weekend we learned that this might not be a problem much longer.
One of my favorite acts at Thunder in the Valley was a DC-3, N143D. It was gorgeous looking, appeared well maintained, and it was given a position of honor at show center. I've always loved the DC-3 and enjoyed watching this one fly.
For the third year running, Jon lead an AviationBull expedition to Columbus, GA's Thunder in the Valley Air Show this weekend. It's a bit of a smaller show, but it's always a fun time! Read on here for an overview and watch for a couple other topics big enough to warrant their own stories.
Maybe it's wrong to start with the climax, but the last act of the show was a pair of aerobatic planes dueling across show center. Nobody was expecting 50 barrels full of gasoline to go up on this pass, but it was sure a great surprise. The shock wave thumped me firmly in the chest and there was a noticeable wave of heat right behind it.
The EAA News has a recent article about the first run of the Oshkosh Express to happen in 12 years. It's a chartered 747 that flies from Australia to EAA Airventure at KOSH via Auckland and Los Angeles. It sounds like a really fun trip that definitely defines "arriving in style" at one of the greatest air shows around. Who knows, they might even have seats open for the LAX to OSH leg for those of us who might want to join the party at the last minute.
