Keeping Up with the Joneses: Weekend Wanderings

We left for western Illinois right after work Friday evening. We had a myriad of reasons to go: Mark was to fly in an airshow at Scott AFB, Deke wanted to finish the bookcases, and we wanted to see our newest granddaughter again (don't care about her parents). We had a wonderful time and all was accomplished.

On our way to church a week ago Sunday morning

Standing in front of a T-6 on the tarmac of Scott AFB right before the show began

Standing in front of Deke's old plane, the C-141. It has been relegated to the graveyard but they resurrected this one to put on static display for all those old poops who want to reminisce about old times. Actually, when we got home last night, Deke checked his old log book and found that he had actually flown this bird at some time in his career. (Pilots write down tail #'s)

Standing beside his old trainer plane, the T-38. It's still the most beautiful plane in the whole fleet even after over 40 years of service. Deke got the outstanding T-38 pilot award at his graduation ceremony 38 years ago for flying this plane. He said he got to where he could "feel" the plane under him. He was especially good at landing the plane. Kissed it on. This plane was flown in from Missouri by a Captain who was cuter than Tom Cruise! His wife had driven the 4 hours to be with him over the weekend. He is a "Stealth" pilot who flies this little number when he's not flying the invisible aircraft. Really interesting talking with him.

I couldn't resist showing you this one. This is a Boeing "Dream Lifter." I tried to capture the humongous size of this monster but I didn't do it justice (but Lori did -- click here to see her post). You definitely had to be there to believe it. It carries cargo (mostly parts) of airplanes, tanks, etc. It's absolutely beautiful.

Mark taxiing to main runway for the airshow

Mark flew co-pilot (Lt Colonel outranked him) in the airshow to demonstrate the base's 3 main aircraft stationed there. This is the C-21 Mark flies. It's main mission is to move VIP's around the world. The pilots fly generals, congressmen, and any important support personnel. This plane, however, is not befitting Nancy Pelosi. She demanded, and got, the C-40 which is a large, super-appointed aircraft (Boeing 737- seats up to 111 passengers) stationed at Scott. Mark's best buddy flies that plane and has flown Pelosi many times to San Francisco. In fact she flies home from DC every weekend. We understand the plane is gorgeous inside. Next time we're at Mark and Lori's, we need to ask Alex to give us a tour of the plane.