A sight not seen over Ramey Base for a while: a B-52 takes off over Ola Lola's and heads out to sea.
There was an air show last weekend at the air port in Aguadilla. For those of you show know air shows, it was mostly static displays. They had a C-5, the second biggest cargo plane in the world, and a B-52 on display. There were a few aerial demonstrations - a solo aerobatic pilot, an F-16 fly-by, the U.S. Army Golden Knights parachute team - but that's about it.
It was a homecoming of sorts for the B-52. During the Cold War, Ramey Base here in Aguadilla was a major Strategic Air Command base. There were B-52s in the air at all times out of here. The story here is that the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 wasn't really about Russian nukes 90 miles from Florida. After all, there wasn't much of strategic importance in Florida. The story is the crisis was really about Russian nukes less than a thousand nautical miles from the B-52 base here, in Aguadilla.
There are C-5s around here frequently, although the public usually isn't allowed closed to them. A few weeks ago we had more than a dozen C-5s pass through Aguadilla in less than a week. Then were moving all the gear from Bush's Latin America trip back to the States. A dozen C-5s to move the STUFF for President and his entourage around the world! Remember: that's just the stuff! The Pres flies on Air Force One. And this happens pretty much anytime he goes anywhere.
In another life I was the official photographer for the High on Kalamazoo Air Show and for the International Council of Air Shows. It's kinda weird having an air show almost literally in my back yard and to not have anything to do with it. I'm trying to find out who the event organizers are. Who knows? Maybe next year (if there is one) Elaine and I will fly kites and be air show performers.
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