This weekend the Tri Cities is enjoying the Water Follies which consists of Unlimited Hydroplane races and air shows. Every year our yacht club treats the pilots and support crews to a dinner cruise on the Columbia River. We supply the boats and the fun, the Water Follies Commission supplies the food, the beer, wine and pop.
The organizers of the cruise from our club had planned on assigning the pilots and crews to certain boats. I got a call from Russ Poe, owner of Russ Poe Airshows, to see if they could be on our boat again. They had been with us last year and wanted to join us again. After a few rushed phone calls to rearrange the boat assignments we were able to make that happen.
We left the docks about 6:00, cruised for a couple of hours then returned to an area near the club where all the boats rafted up. We had Russ’ crew on board and they all got a chance to take the helm if they wanted. Food and beverage was provided by the Water Follies Commission.
After we rafted up the guests were able to go from boat to boat, looking over each of the boats and meeting the boaters. During the evening we had all of the F-22 Raptor Demo Crew on board at one time or another. While they were on board I asked one of them if I could bring my two grandsons out to the airport to see the jets. They agreed, arrangements were made for us to get a personalized tour.
Saturday morning we picked the boys up and headed to the airport. When we got there, this is what we found:
Needless to say, my grandson was more than just a little disappointed by the sign we found at the entrance.
Not to be dissuaded with a stupid sign, we wandered out toward the jets to find the crews. Here’s a shot of my admiral with Russ Poe, his girlfriend and our grandsons.
We found the pilot “Roc” and he was glad to give us a tour. They had set up a cordoned off area around the planes and he explained that no photos could be taken inside that cordon, but he would take us in to the planes. We were able to walk right up to the planes but we were cautioned not to touch them at any time.
Roc led us around the planes, showing off many of the special features of the F-22 Raptor then posed for a photo with the two boys. He spent about 30 minutes giving us the tour before he had to cut it off to do his air show.
[video:youtube]
Then Russ took us over to the hangar where all the stunt planes were parked. We were able to walk around all of them, photograph them and get some pics with the boys and the planes. We met and talked with the stunt pilots that had been with us on the boat Thursday night and they walked us around the planes they flew.
The next surprise for the boys was to take them into the pits for the Unlimited Hydroplane races. A neighbor of ours sponsors the U21 Hydro in the races on the west coast. They gave us 4 wrist bands so we could get into the pits and we had a ball.
We were able to climb up on the viewing platform on the top of their support truck to watch when the races were on and could wander around through the pits when we wanted.
I was able to get inside the secure area (I borrowed a lanyard with the necessary credential from another neighbor) and get right up to the hydros.
Here's the U21 headed out to race...
To be continued.........
The organizers of the cruise from our club had planned on assigning the pilots and crews to certain boats. I got a call from Russ Poe, owner of Russ Poe Airshows, to see if they could be on our boat again. They had been with us last year and wanted to join us again. After a few rushed phone calls to rearrange the boat assignments we were able to make that happen.
We left the docks about 6:00, cruised for a couple of hours then returned to an area near the club where all the boats rafted up. We had Russ’ crew on board and they all got a chance to take the helm if they wanted. Food and beverage was provided by the Water Follies Commission.
After we rafted up the guests were able to go from boat to boat, looking over each of the boats and meeting the boaters. During the evening we had all of the F-22 Raptor Demo Crew on board at one time or another. While they were on board I asked one of them if I could bring my two grandsons out to the airport to see the jets. They agreed, arrangements were made for us to get a personalized tour.
Saturday morning we picked the boys up and headed to the airport. When we got there, this is what we found:
Needless to say, my grandson was more than just a little disappointed by the sign we found at the entrance.
Not to be dissuaded with a stupid sign, we wandered out toward the jets to find the crews. Here’s a shot of my admiral with Russ Poe, his girlfriend and our grandsons.
We found the pilot “Roc” and he was glad to give us a tour. They had set up a cordoned off area around the planes and he explained that no photos could be taken inside that cordon, but he would take us in to the planes. We were able to walk right up to the planes but we were cautioned not to touch them at any time.
Roc led us around the planes, showing off many of the special features of the F-22 Raptor then posed for a photo with the two boys. He spent about 30 minutes giving us the tour before he had to cut it off to do his air show.
[video:youtube]
Then Russ took us over to the hangar where all the stunt planes were parked. We were able to walk around all of them, photograph them and get some pics with the boys and the planes. We met and talked with the stunt pilots that had been with us on the boat Thursday night and they walked us around the planes they flew.
The next surprise for the boys was to take them into the pits for the Unlimited Hydroplane races. A neighbor of ours sponsors the U21 Hydro in the races on the west coast. They gave us 4 wrist bands so we could get into the pits and we had a ball.
We were able to climb up on the viewing platform on the top of their support truck to watch when the races were on and could wander around through the pits when we wanted.
I was able to get inside the secure area (I borrowed a lanyard with the necessary credential from another neighbor) and get right up to the hydros.
Here's the U21 headed out to race...
To be continued.........
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