THUNDER OVER MICHIGAN 2018

[WIXerGreg]

The 262 thing must be my fault. Every time I try to see it they cancel.

[BK]

The 262 thing must be my fault. Every time I try to see it they cancel.

I'm just glad you didn't go to Canada in 2013. That has been the only time I've seen it (and it broke down during the show and flew only 1 day of two), though it's been booked at least to half a dozen shows I've gone too.

[WIXerGreg]

You're welcome, I think.

See you tomorrow!

[mazdaP5]

Good gravy, I;m dragging my 73 year old father to the show, he's always wanted to see an Me-262 fly. Maybe he won't notice...

[Xray]

P-47 arrived safe and sound, along with P-63.

Looks like the F-18 called off as well, at least didn't land by 7 pm. I'm guessing some of the cancellations were weather related, large systems approaching MI from the west.
[F-35's practically stole the show on arrival about 11:15 AM, both did at least 6 low, climbing burner runway passes.] F-15 passes were very lackluster, high and slow. They were orbiting around quite a while until the Tbirds landed, then did about 4 passes each.

[Boeing666]

The 262 thing must be my fault. Every time I try to see it they cancel.

going to start naming the ME-262 "George Jones". It's 0 for 4 at Thunder now going back to 2010. I thought since I couldn't make it to Thunder, it was going to finally make it because that has been the aircraft I mainly would come up every year for.

[mazdaP5]

[WIXerGreg]

Did anybody hear what's going on with the Dauntless? I've never gotten to see it fly and was really looking forward to it.

The P-63 and Doc should both fly tomorrow. It looked like Doc was heading out for a ride flight tonight but I couldn't wait any longer, we left a little after 5.

[kalamazookid]

Not much in the air today, but they did the best they could with the weather. Everything that was supposed to fly in the morning was scratched, so they proceeded with the previous schedule for the afternoon airshow. SB2C, one TBM, the FG-1D and two B-17s were the only heavy iron that got in the air today, but that's just the way it goes with weather. Can't really change much after you brief the show a certain way.

Still had a great time. There's no way I could go tomorrow so it was today or never, and didn't want to waste the advance tickets. One of the best static displays Thunder has had IMO. F-35s, F-15s, lots of other military aircraft and a decent variety of warbirds given the weather situation. The P-63 was a nice surprise. Toured the Willie Victor Connie, which was AWESOME! A few veterans who flew in that aircraft were at their stations to talk about what they did and it was interesting listening to their stories. If the weather had been nice, I don't think we would have taken the time to do that. Given how rare it is to see a P-47 fly in the midwest these days, I'm bummed that I can't go back to see that tomorrow ... but that's how outdoor plans go sometimes. No big deal.

Hope the weather is better for those who can go tomorrow!

[WIXerGreg]

I looked at the future radar prediction at 6:30 this morning and it looked more promising than what it turned out to be, so I left the hotel to get in line at 8. The rain drops started just as the gate opened and we spent most of the next two hours under the KC-135. Next time I'll watch the forecast and maybe bring some ponchos!

Not the best day for taking pictures. The 747 was pretty cool.





This was their first pass and just before they started passes in the normal pattern, my kid decided it was time to go to the porta potty IMMEDIATELY, so I missed the rest of the Navy formation passes.





The P-63 opened up was an exciting find after being on the other end of the field for most of the afternoon.

[Steve Nelson]

Great pictures, despite the soggy weather. We're heading over tomorrow. It's supposed to be super steamy, but hopefully the flying won't be affected (although I do keep a couple of cellophane rain ponchos in my camera bag, and my wife is bringing an umbrella for the sun anyway.)

SN

[Xray]

Nice pics, I like rainy weather pics, at least it keeps the crowds at bay.

Have had some weird storm systems past couple weeks, most have avoided this area while north and south get pounded, luck ran out today. Some of these storms seems to form from out of nowhere, those are the worse kind.

[kennsmithf2g]

"Doc" Friday from the Photo Pit

[kennsmithf2g]

F35 Friday from the Photo Pit

[kennsmithf2g]

From Friday's Photo Pit