McGuire AFB is located in Wrightstown, NJ about 85 miles south of our home. It was named after Thomas McGuire, our #2 flying ace of WWII who downed 38 enemy aircraft flying a Lockheed P-38 Lightning. Unfortunately, he didn't survive the war being killed in a crash in the Pacific theater in January, 1945. He was also a local boy having been born in Ridgewood, NJ. Today, McGuire is a joint facility with the Army's Fort Dix and the Navy's Lakehurst Naval Air Station (site of the Hindenburg tragedy in the 1930s) known as Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. On Mother's Day weekend they staged an airshow, the first time the base has been open to the public in quite a while. Admission was free, as well as parking, on both days and since my son and I are fans of military aircraft, especially warbirds, and my wife is kind enough to indulge my fancies (don't ask me what I have to do in return), the three of us attended the event on Mother's Day.
As you would expect from a facility where the largest military aircraft can be accomodated, the base covers a massive land area. We parked on a grass field miles from the main runways and were transported by shuttle bus to the scene of the action where both static displays of aircraft and flyovers were staged. The military men and women we met were uniformly polite, friendly and helpful and a testament to the high caliber and quality of our armed forces personnel. I have to admit that I love our military and am extremely proud of the people and equipment that makes it the best in the world, IMHO. The military is one thing, at least, that our government does right.
The equipment on display consisted of both legacy (warbirds) and the most modern equipment so there was something for everyone and the chance to see how our technology has progressed from the best of the WWII era to the best of the current scene. Unfortunately, some of the aircraft we expected to see had flown off after Saturday's show so we didn't get to view the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt nor the B-52. And, sad to say, there were no P-38 Lightnings at the event. However, there was enough equipment on hand to satisfy most interests. The photos I'm posting were taken both by my son and myself but it would have been impossible to include the entire array of aircraft on display or in flight.
We traveled to M-D-L in my wife's 3. I like to drive it once in a while to keep my hand in and stay qualified on the machine and some day I'll give a detailed comparison of it with my Protege. Of course, it behaved without blemish (it is a Mazda, afterall) and our drive time was 1 hour and 45 minutes door-to-field. Let's take to the skies!
Photos and more to follow.
Happy Motoring!
As you would expect from a facility where the largest military aircraft can be accomodated, the base covers a massive land area. We parked on a grass field miles from the main runways and were transported by shuttle bus to the scene of the action where both static displays of aircraft and flyovers were staged. The military men and women we met were uniformly polite, friendly and helpful and a testament to the high caliber and quality of our armed forces personnel. I have to admit that I love our military and am extremely proud of the people and equipment that makes it the best in the world, IMHO. The military is one thing, at least, that our government does right.
The equipment on display consisted of both legacy (warbirds) and the most modern equipment so there was something for everyone and the chance to see how our technology has progressed from the best of the WWII era to the best of the current scene. Unfortunately, some of the aircraft we expected to see had flown off after Saturday's show so we didn't get to view the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt nor the B-52. And, sad to say, there were no P-38 Lightnings at the event. However, there was enough equipment on hand to satisfy most interests. The photos I'm posting were taken both by my son and myself but it would have been impossible to include the entire array of aircraft on display or in flight.
We traveled to M-D-L in my wife's 3. I like to drive it once in a while to keep my hand in and stay qualified on the machine and some day I'll give a detailed comparison of it with my Protege. Of course, it behaved without blemish (it is a Mazda, afterall) and our drive time was 1 hour and 45 minutes door-to-field. Let's take to the skies!
Photos and more to follow.
Happy Motoring!
An absolutely thrilling experience and totally unlike a namby-pamby, nanny-state commercial flight. Needless to say, my wife and son were a little anxious until I returned safely to earth.
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