Hey Mom, guess what I got at the air show? (pics)

[Y2K5SRT]

It isn't very often that you get to bring home your very own A-10 pilot, but in this case we did - blonde and female too!

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She actually treated my boys like gold and even got them some seat time in an A-10 simulator. GREAT gal and a heck of a pilot. She wanted a ride in the Viper so I tossed her the keys. She puttered around a bit and said she would rather get a ride so she could see what the car could REALLY do. A quick discussion and call to the wife (who had just left before us), and we brought our new friend home in the Viper and bought her a nice dinner for her work with the boys. She lives in KC and commutes the 50 miles to the base, so she left her truck there so she could ride in the Viper. Can't stay up TOO late, as we need to pick her up at 6:00 AM and take her back to the base. What a blast!

Here is what the show looked like with a few Vipers (14) and a Stealth Bomber...

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Oh, and when your friend is a pilot, you can get some cool pictures like this one after the show is closed...

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More pictures to post tomorrow - what an AWESOME DAY! My thanks to all the folks at Whiteman Air Force Base for doing such an awesome job with the show and for being such great hosts to the Kansas City Viper Club!

Chris

 

[Newport Viper]

COOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLL pics!

 

[qburge]

Totally cool, it's not just the fact you get to attend a really great
airshow, meet a beautiful A-10 pilot, play on the simulator, drive a
new SRT-10 and fellowship with your Viper brothers, take photos of your
beautiful car in front of a B-2 with nobody around. The fact is you must
have the most understanding wife in the world, to let you do all that and
bring the pilot home for dinner too! I know of no women that secure in my
neck of the woods. Please post a photo of your wife someday, I don't know
her but I have great respect for her!

 

[BobK898]

That Stealth must have really been something to see up close.

 

[Vic]

Chris, great pics!

Say, you didn't run out of gas, when you were taking that A10 pilot back home, did you? (wink, wink, nudge, nudge)

 

[Hans Christian]

Thanks for sharing

Wow - as usual you blow us away with your writing and photo skills

Thanks

 

[SRT10]

AWESOME!!!!

 

[Daffy Duck Viper]

How fun. You're one cool kat, Chris.

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[JGViperGTS]

Some VERY nice pics!!! I've never seen a Stealth in person...well, except the Dodge Stealth! I can imagine that is awe-inspiring machine!

 

[Nexus-6]

 

[Y2K5SRT]

The fact is you must have the most understanding wife in the world, to let you do all that and bring the pilot home for dinner too! I know of no women that secure in my neck of the woods. Please post a photo of your wife someday, I don't know her but I have great respect for her!

Ask and ye shall receive:

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Now don't kid yourself, we discussed the invite beforehand, I just didn't drop in with a pretty female pilot unannounced. Val (the pilot) spent a very, very large amount of time with us during and after the show. She told us everything we ever wanted to know about the A-10:

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Then, very unexpectedly, she offered to take the boys "behind the scenes" to the A-10 wing command and give them some seat time in the actual A-10 trainer. This is not a simulator that is generally open to the public, but the actual flight training simulator used to train Air Force pilots. We were told it was a $1.5 million dollar piece of machinery and the boys were THRILLED with the opportunity. Add the hands-on training from a genuine A-10 pilot, and some things truly are priceless:

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Understanding wife? Absolutely. Realize that she was with us the entire time, so she knew what a "once-in-a-lifetime" experience our boys were having. So how do you repay that? A quick ride in a Viper and a nice dinner (restaurant) seemed to be pretty lame, but that was all we could really offer. Interestingly enough, when we brought Val back to the base this morning, my youngest son and I had the run of the show by ourselves (the bride and elder son elected to stay home and sleep in). Add some more A-10 sim time for him and photo opportunities like this, and we owe her even more:

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More pics and commentary in the next post!

Chris

 

[Y2K5SRT]

Okay, a little bit more about the air show. It started with an invitation back in January from a Lieutenant Colonel at Whiteman Air Force base. He wrote, in part:

It's not unusual for the Thunderbird Club to show up, especially when we have the Thunderbirds perform, which we will. It is also typical for the Corvette Club to want to participate in some capacity.

But to me, nothing speaks more for automotive brute power than a Dodge
Viper...I would like to discuss with you ways you might be able to show
case Dodge Vipers at our show....

I've found folks come to air shows for a number of reasons but it normally
boils down to the danger, the technology, and the power...military aircraft
are one aspect but so are automobiles...while we can't set up a Viper
versus Viper race like Luke Air Force Base can (we don't have dual runways)
there maybe other ways to display the technology and power in a Dodge
Viper...

So how do you say "no" to that? You don't of course. So Saturday morning rolls around and 14 of the 18 Vipers committed to going show up. Ah, such is life. We are soon on the road, lead by two supercharged Vipers:

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Those same two Vipers would later "duel" on a closed portion of that road and that was something to watch. Figure 1300 horsepower between them (the RT beat the GTS). After going through very thorough security inspections, including mirrors under the cars, etc., we got staged for a parade. Not all the Vipers wanted to go out, but it was short and pretty fun. The base commander wanted to drive my SRT again, but one of his pilots had a gorgeous restored Triumph(?) with a rumble seat and patriotic bunting draped across the back. He apologized to me (!!) and said he needed to ride with his pilot. Understood, sir! So, we were off for the parade in front of the gathered crowds. It also took us through a very restricted area by the B-2 hangars and Thunderbird jets. Caught me by surprise, so I didn't get the greatest shot:

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They then parked us in the main area with all of the jets and right in the middle of the show. Also present were the Ferrari Club (including an F40 and 360 Spyder), Corvette Club, Cobra Club (seemed like there were 300 of them, and not an original in the bunch), and some gorgeous older muscle and antique cars. The Vipers seemed to garner the most attention by a long shot, and darned if we didn't hear a few times that "this one is my favorite" when they stopped to stare at the black SRT. I am sure the other owners heard the same thing by their cars. Here is our line up, including one of our members with his Lotus twin turbo:

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So then we walked around and caught a great air show. Included were such features at the Air Force Thunderbirds:

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And a fly by of the B-2 Stealth bomber (one monsterous and beautiful bird):

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Of course we had lots of people that wanted to check out the Vipers, including quite a few pilots. Here we have Captain Smith (Apache helicopter pilot) checking out the SRT. He and another pilot (Captain Moore) would later take the boys in a closed hangar and let them sit in an Apache while they answered all of their questions. Hey, feel free to sit (or drive) the SRT anytime!

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Well, the show started to wrap up after the Thunderbirds finished, so many of the Vipers headed home. Here a beautiful red SRT owned by a "temporary" member (Sam resides in Florida but spends his summer's in KC). And a group of matching admirers:

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And the background ain't too shabby either! We stuck around so that we could check out the A-10 simulator (see above). We "adopted" Greg with his supercharged RT/10 and he also got some seat time in the simulator. Paul waited patiently outside (unbeknownst to us) and got some nice pictures of his own after the crowds were gone. Example:

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Whew! It was a great day and we really had an awesome time. We decided that the next KC VCA purchase should be a portable awning. A couple of the other clubs had them and they were perfect in the very hot sun. It would have protected us from some sunburn for sure! So, we left very happy and sunburned nonetheless. It was a great outing indeed. Oh, and the Lieutenant Colonel that had sent the original letter? He stopped me as we were heading out and said, "You guys REALLY spiced up the show and we can't tell you how much we appreciate it. It was amazing to glance over and see SO many people checking out the Vipers - while the Thunderbirds performed overhead. We want you guys back next year!"

Consider it done.

Chris

 

[Mr U-2]

GREAT Pics. Whiteman's a great base...some nice memories for me there. I was at an airshow there some years ago...we were letting kids climb into the cockpit...the ejection seat & everything was "safed" (we thought)...big kid...quick hands..."Bloosh"..he'd turned & pulled the Emergency gear blowdown bottle...nitro in the gearlines..(not a good thing). We're stuck there for a week...Base commander GIVES me his personal family car for the week...great guy & great time in KC. Sounds like the tradition continues...thanks for the post.

Paul

 

[Viperzilla]

That's awesome. Sounds like you had a once-in-a-lifetime experience only a handful of civilians could experience.

We had a Stealth aircraft (not sure if it was a Fighter or Bomber) flying by when my brother and I went to the driving range. I heard it from a couple kids (in his lesson class) and thier mom, but they said they were doing a refueling run. Made me wish I had looked up.

 

[zoomie]

Outstanding ! Great airshow, car show display, and
photo op ! Was Val, the A-10 pilot, Academy ?
Priceless PR for all. Thanks.

 

[Bill Pemberton Woodhouse]

Wow, great pictures and pretty cool shot of Paul Greaser's GT1 . He ended up running the SCCA race in Iowa on Sunday, so he was doing some low
level flying to get so much done over the weekend, ha!

 

[Y2K5SRT]

Was Val, the A-10 pilot, Academy ?

Not real sure of her background. Her husband is a tanker pilot, also in the Air Force. She said one of the most amusing things was when she was doing a mid-air refuel and talking with her husband - as he was piloting the tanker plane. He is currently in Italy and she is supposed to go to Iraq in September. We have an open invite to stop by and visit the base anytime!

Chris

PS. And the most IMPORTANT thing she said, which I neglected to mention previously, was what she thought of the Viper: "WOW! When you hit the gas it feels like one of our jets kicking into afterburner!"

 

[mclean]

Hey, if you guys get invited back next year be sure to post because I would love to make the drive from Indy to tag along to this airshow!

 

[Y2K5SRT]

Hey, if you guys get invited back next year be sure to post because I would love to make the drive from Indy to tag along to this airshow!

And we would be delighted to have you join us! We actually invited the other surrounding Viper club regions, however only one even replied - and they already had other plans for the weekend. Too bad, as the Vettes outnumbered us (but not in admirers). Oh, and when the Base Commander (Brigadier General) wanted to borrow a car for a spin with his wife, which one did he choose? Well...

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He is also a B-1B pilot, so the picture fits pretty darn well. We would love to get more Vipers out there next year for sure!

Chris

 

[Guyver1]

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I looooove that pic, not so much because of the line, but because of the mirror and that shapely fender square in it.

 

[BACKNBLACK]

Chris, EXCELLENT PICS!!!!! I am very fortunate to have a brother in law who is an x F-16 Fighter. I just showed him the pics and he went bonkers. Last year all of NY during the July 4th party on the east river got to see the stealth fly by..WOW, that BAT is so quite..Incredible pics...

 

[Y2K5SRT]

Okay, so time to bring this one back to the top. Just got another invite from the always gracious Sgt. Olas for this year's Air Show at Whiteman Air Force Base (home of the B-2 Stealth Bomber). I have already sent off invitations to the Gateway VCA, Iowa/Nebraska VCA, and the Minnesota VCA. Rereading this post, I know several of you would like to join us this year. With that in mind, here is the deal:

Date: Saturday, June 19th, 2004 (show also goes on the 20th)
Place: Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri
Location: Between Warrensburg & Sedalia on Highway 50 (Knob Noster)
Time: Kansas City VCA will meet at 6:30 AM at Outback Steakhouse located at Douglas Road and I-470 in Lee's Summit. Depart for Whiteman at 6:45 AM. We will meet at the entrance of Knob Noster State Park just outside of Whiteman AFB about 1½ miles south of Highway 50 on Highway 23 at approximately 7:30 AM.

Now, we will be going through security checkpoints again, of course. We are to arrive as a group. This is for VIPERS ONLY, although if you are an associate member of the Kansas City VCA (Lotus, Ferrari, etc.) we would be delighted to have you join us. Other VCA members are invited from all regions and we would love to have you join us! Note that other Viper owners are encouraged to attend, however if you are not a paid VCA member you may not be able to get onto the tarmac with the club. There will be regular parking outside of the air field. If you don't want to join the national VCA on religious grounds , you can become an Associate Member of the Kansas City VCA for $55.00, which includes a free Viper Calendar and an invite to all of our events (free Dyno Day, etc.).

For those that are interested in coming from out of town, drop me an e-mail and I will check out a couple nice hotel/motels near the base. Unlike last year, the Kansas City Club has since purchased two very large custom awnings (thanks Kurt!) which will make shade available near the cars for those that want to relax a little between demonstrations. We would love to show up with 40+ Vipers this year and will do everything we can to help our Viper guests enjoy their visit and the 2004 Wings Over Whiteman Air Show.

Chris

 

[doctorbob]

Please send me an email. My sister lives in KC and is less than happy that I bypassed her after VOI7.

 

[Y2K5SRT]

What? Recycling a post that is almost 3 years old? YOU BETCHA! The US Air Force has once again invited the entire Viper Club of America (with your host, the Kansas City Region) to join us at this year's Wings Over Whiteman Air Show. Want more information? Drop me a PM or an e-mail at [email protected] and we will get you all you need. Can we do it even BETTER than last time? Me thinks so!

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[agentf1]

Wish I lived closer, heres a TTT for ya.