{"id":9579,"date":"2013-11-21T21:39:35","date_gmt":"2013-11-22T02:39:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fitzvideo.com\/sky_surfing\/?p=9579"},"modified":"2013-11-23T20:07:16","modified_gmt":"2013-11-24T01:07:16","slug":"the-dreamlifter-visits-jabara-airfield-by-brian-fitzgerald","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fitzvideo.com\/skysurfing2\/2013\/11\/21\/the-dreamlifter-visits-jabara-airfield-by-brian-fitzgerald\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dreamlifter Visits Jabara Airfield by Brian FitzGerald"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Air Capital<\/h4>\n

I have lived<\/strong> in Wichita, Kansas<\/strong> for over 30 years<\/strong>.\u00a0Wichita<\/a><\/strong> is a “Plane Town”<\/em>. A large number of Wichitans<\/strong> build aircraft at Cessna<\/strong><\/a>, Learjet<\/strong><\/a>, Spirit<\/strong><\/a> and Beech<\/strong>.<\/a> Aviation<\/strong> is no casual thing around here. For most people<\/strong> in the aviation business<\/strong>, it isn’t just a job – it is a passion<\/strong> – a lifestyle<\/strong>. We have many airports<\/strong> and fairly constant air traffic<\/strong>. People<\/strong> turn out in large numbers<\/strong> for aviation<\/strong> events and today was no exception. Being a pilot<\/strong> and lifelong aviation enthusiast<\/strong> makes Wichita<\/strong> a great place to live for me. My home<\/strong> is within a few degrees of being directly in line<\/strong> with Col. James Jabara Airport<\/strong><\/a>. We live exactly one mile South<\/strong> of the end of the runway.\u00a0I get to see all types<\/strong> of civilian aircraft<\/strong> land there because final approach<\/strong> to Runway<\/strong> 36<\/strong> is directly<\/strong> in front of my house.<\/p>\n

Another airway<\/strong>\u00a0a couple miles West<\/strong> of my front porch is the final approach<\/strong> to McConnell Air Force Base<\/strong>. I get to see KC-135’s<\/strong> every day landing there in addition a frequent<\/strong> variety of other military aircraft<\/strong> on cross country stopovers<\/strong>. I always stop<\/strong> what I am doing when I see a Dreamlifter<\/strong> on final for McConnell<\/strong>. It is not<\/strong> a particularly attractive<\/strong> plane but it is one of the five largest planes ever built<\/strong>. When they are that big<\/strong>, they seem to float<\/strong> slowly through the air. It is mesmerizing<\/strong>. Zeppelin<\/a>-esque<\/em>…<\/p>\n

I heard<\/strong> about it landing<\/strong> at Jabara<\/strong> at 8 am<\/strong> this morning. I immediately dropped<\/strong> what I was doing<\/strong> to go see it.\u00a0I took a few pictures<\/strong> of the big machine for you<\/strong> to see<\/strong>. Crowds<\/strong> built continually throughout<\/strong> the morning<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

At 8 o’clock, traffic<\/strong> was starting to build<\/strong> so I grabbed this shot out my car window from Webb Road<\/strong> in case I wouldn’t be able to get any closer.<\/p><\/div>\n

Things Change…<\/h4>\n

Back in the 80’s<\/strong> and early 90’s<\/strong>, I would take breaks<\/strong> from my work<\/strong> and drive<\/strong> out to Jabara<\/strong> to watch planes<\/strong> land and take off. Then, the field was a very short asphalt strip<\/strong>. Interestingly<\/strong>, what used to be<\/strong> the landing strip<\/strong> is now part of the driveway access<\/strong> to the hangar and FBO<\/strong> office. The runway Dreamlifter<\/strong> decided to alight<\/strong> upon<\/strong> came much later. Even then<\/strong>, there were no fences<\/strong> around it. Often<\/strong> I would grab my children<\/strong> and we would jump<\/strong> in the car<\/strong> and drive<\/strong> right up to the tie down area<\/strong> next to the planes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

From this spot<\/strong> I have seen B-17’s<\/strong>, a B-24<\/strong>, a P-38<\/strong>, some P-51’s<\/strong> and a Ford Trimotor<\/strong>. Just some<\/em> of the notables<\/strong> that come to mind.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Different Perspective<\/h4>\n

Although the “front quarter”<\/em> shot<\/strong> above is my favorite angle<\/strong> for airplanes<\/strong> and cars<\/strong>, I knew this hulking monster<\/strong> deserved another viewing<\/strong>. Also, I wanted to show<\/strong> you some of the attention<\/strong> that was building<\/strong>\u00a0around it at 8 am<\/strong>. I pulled around to the position<\/strong>\u00a0below<\/strong>\u00a0nearest the South end<\/strong> of the runway<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

This scene<\/strong> was of interest<\/strong> to me<\/strong> because I had once worked for the local NBC affiliate<\/strong>. I would always show up a half hour early<\/strong> for work so I could grab<\/strong> the keys<\/strong> to the microwave remote truck<\/strong> because I liked being involved<\/strong> in this type of action<\/strong>. We call this “Spot News”<\/strong>. Back then, though<\/strong>, it wasn’t these “momma vans”<\/em> you see in the picture above<\/strong>. I drove a 4 Wheel Drive K-Blazer<\/strong>. It was a blast<\/strong>.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

One of these Dreamlifters<\/strong> was shown at the McConnell Open House<\/strong> two years ago so I examined<\/strong> it up close. I was impressed<\/strong> that you can walk underneath<\/strong> the length of the fuselage<\/strong>\u00a0upright<\/strong> and I am 6′ 1″ tall<\/strong>.<\/p><\/div>\n

Let Down<\/h4>\n

I know this piece<\/strong> needs<\/strong> the take off<\/strong> for an ending<\/strong> but I don’t have it. I went<\/strong> back out to the field\u00a0twice<\/strong> to get it taking off<\/strong> but they delayed<\/strong>\u00a0takeoff both times. Traffic<\/strong> was increasingly thick<\/strong> on all sides of the airport<\/strong> as the waiting game<\/strong> continued into the early afternoon<\/strong>. The best<\/strong> photo angles<\/strong> were blocked by the police<\/strong> for safety<\/strong>. After the\u00a0two tries<\/strong> I decided I had burned<\/strong> enough of my work day<\/strong> on the project and left it<\/strong> as you see.<\/p>\n

When\u00a0finally<\/strong>\u00a0lifting<\/strong> into the air<\/strong>, the\u00a0Boeing<\/strong><\/a> had so much excess power<\/strong> it was\u00a0airborne<\/strong> with half the 6100′ runway<\/strong> to spare. Doing that takes<\/strong> some serious, petroleum-based thrust:\u00a0<\/strong>FIRE!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Taking that into account, my crystal ball doesn’t reveal the slightest hint of (or need for)<\/strong> any butterfly-safe, <\/em>“green”,\u00a0<\/em>battery-powered, electric motor, “carbon neutral”\u00a0Dreamlifter<\/strong> for the foreseeable future. That’s fine by me.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Blue Skies & Tailwinds!\u2122<\/strong><\/p>\n

Brian FitzGerald – Wichita<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Air Capital I have lived in Wichita, Kansas for over 30 years.\u00a0Wichita is a “Plane Town”. A large number of Wichitans build aircraft at Cessna, Learjet, Spirit and Beech. Aviation is no casual thing around here. For most people in the aviation business, it isn’t just a job – it is a passion – […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,6,10,1],"tags":[26,84,35,85,41,45],"class_list":["post-9579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-factory-built","category-show-an-airfield","category-teachable-moments","category-uncategorized","tag-brian-fitzgerald","tag-dreamlifter","tag-great-plains","tag-jabara-airport","tag-kansas","tag-the-sky-surfer","category-13-id","category-6-id","category-10-id","category-1-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fitzvideo.com\/skysurfing2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fitzvideo.com\/skysurfing2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fitzvideo.com\/skysurfing2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fitzvideo.com\/skysurfing2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fitzvideo.com\/skysurfing2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9579"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.fitzvideo.com\/skysurfing2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9579\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9590,"href":"https:\/\/www.fitzvideo.com\/skysurfing2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9579\/revisions\/9590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fitzvideo.com\/skysurfing2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fitzvideo.com\/skysurfing2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fitzvideo.com\/skysurfing2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}