Flight Test Nation 2009

After a 3-year hiatus, Edwards AFB finally welcomed the public for another air show. They say over 225,000 people came to visit, which just seems ridiculous, but who am I to argue? All I can say is, I'm glad I live on base, because freeways were backed up for hours in either direction with people trying to get on base. Crazy.

We also welcomed the public with 100 degree weather. It had actually cooled off a week or two before and we were enjoying lovely temps in the 70s and 80s. But we decided to heat it up a bit, just to give visitors an accurate feel of what desert life is like. At it wasn't 120 degrees, right?

They had tons of really great performances (of which I have no pictures) and displays. I think the highlights were the F-16, F-22, and the NASA Space Shuttle carrier. Very cool. Kyle got to test out some of the plane's cockpits. And they had a very cool reenactment of World War II, called "Tora, Tora, Tora!"

But I think Kyle's very favorite part of the whole experience was that Uncle Chad was there. Chad's brainwashed him from Day 1 into calling him his "favorite uncle" and I think it's definitely true, because he sure loves that guy. Thanks for coming to visit, Chad!