Message posted by lone wolf on September 25, 2004 at 20:05:59 PST:
Aviation Nation is just an airshow. You should be able to see most of the performers at an airshow local to you. [Edwards is another story, or can be another story. That time they flew the B1B for hours breaking records was a hell of a lot of fun. Every once in a while the B1 would buzz the crowd, just to let you know it's still around, and the B1 is loud. Edwards also allows sonic booms, so if I had to drive mega-miles to an airshow, it would be Edwards, which unfortunately was cancelled this year.] Last October we were smoked out at Red Flag. Every October someplace in California burns, and the smoke goes east. So you may be rained out, or smoked out. The weather could be great or windy and cold. Often the west coast gets an Indian Summer, so the winter doesn't kick in until late November, but you can't count on it. If all you are going to do is hang out at Coyote Summit, you might want to investigate flying to vegas and renting a car. Gas ain't cheap anymore.[I don't know what you are driving, but 4000 miles at 20mpg is 200 gallons of fuel, probably near $400. ] It might be a plan just to fly out at the last minute if you can swing it, using one of those "Air Yak" plans like priceline. This way you could see the weather forecast prior to your trip. Anyway, my vote is skip Aviation Nation and do Red Flag. BTW, the Fire Power Demo is October 8th. You might dream up a schedule that takes in the Fire Power Demo and the start of Red Flag. I've never been to the flag on the first day, but I am told there are more planes in the air during orientation since both the day and night "shifts" will fly during the day on the first day. Fire Power is what used to be called Air Power is what used to be called Capstone. [Why this current administration keeps renaming stuff is just beyond me.] It is a live fire demo that you can watch from the highway. I don't know exactly when it starts, but generally in the winter the planes are flying just before noon. If you go to the Nellis website and get the phone number for the public affairs office, they will probably tell you when the Fire Power demo starts. Note that this event is held at Indian Springs, not Nellis.
In Reply to: Re: Aviation Nation posted by Cowboy_Fiend on September 25, 2004 at 19:16:13 PST:
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