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Created 11-Jul-10
Modified 2-Feb-24
Visitors 99
138 photos
2010 Great Minnesota Air Show
Bob Nelson joined my nephew and I to attend the GMAS on June 26th at the St. Cloud Regional Airport. This was St. Cloud's first air show and it looked to be very interesting. Bob and I stayed the weekend at my sister's lake cabin. The three of us left early Saturday morning in a fog bank and drove into rain. The wet fields closed one of two parking lots. Although it had stopped raining I worried we would be mired in mud. Buses ran to the airport all day long. This was followed by a 3/4 mile walk to the entrance. Free program were handed out at the entrance. (Parts of which I've used in the photo descriptions, along with Wikipedia.) We found a nice spot hidden behind the VIP Compound. It was right in front of the F-22A Raptors. The weather didn't clear until Noon. Then it got hot as an oven. Sean and I wandered around the General Exhibits and picked up some sunglasses, pizza, and frozen lemonade. The GMAS Committee promised water, but no one knew where it was. I finally found it on the other end of the airport- by then they ran out.

The F-22A was amazing. At times I thought I was watching a UFO. The way it would stop in midair, change direction, and pulse with condensation blooms as it pulled high-g turns. Even the Blue Angels pale by comparison. The sky clouded back up. After the show we looked at the static displays and wait for the crowd to thin.

Bob flagged down a ride on an ATV (thanks Ben), Sean and I hung on for dear life in the ATV's cargo bed. Traffic in the parking lot was not moving. We drank lots of water and talked about the show. Once traffic started to move, it moved slow, but didn't stop. We crawled into St. Cloud, stopping at McDonalds. It rained most of the way back to the lake cabin.

Categories & Keywords
Category:Transportation
Subcategory:Airplanes
Subcategory Detail:Military
Keywords:

Fat Albert In A Wet Field

Fat Albert In A Wet Field

Preparing The Raptor

Preparing The Raptor

Flightline

Flightline

Raptor Crew

Raptor Crew

Duggy's Here

Duggy's Here

Cockpit Check

Cockpit Check

Raptor Security

Raptor Security

The Blue Angels Parked

The Blue Angels Parked

Raptor Parked

Raptor Parked

CAP Guards The Angels

CAP Guards The Angels

Raptor Inspection Walk

Raptor Inspection Walk

Flash Fire And Corvette

Flash Fire And Corvette

Vette Catches Up With Flash Fire

Vette Catches Up With Flash Fire

Skybolt In A Roll

Skybolt In A Roll

Smoke On

Smoke On

Randy Harris Inverted

Randy Harris Inverted

Tuskegee Airmen

Tuskegee Airmen

P-51C Commemorative Air Force, MN Wing

P-51C Commemorative Air Force, MN Wing

Climbing Out Of The Raptor's Cockpit

Climbing Out Of The Raptor's Cockpit

P-51C Flyby

P-51C Flyby