Dakota Thunder 2009

Dakota Thunder was a great airshow in Rapid City, South Dakota at the Ellsworth Airforce Base (KRCA)! I got a chance to go up there last weekend, and it was a great trip! Ellsworth Air Force Base is home of the B-1B bomber. There is also more information on Wikipedia about Ellsworth here. The Thunderbirds were there, 2 B-1Bs on the ground, 2 B-1Bs in the air, and A-10 demonstration, and lots of other stuff in the air show and on the ground to look at. And it was all free and not too crowded!

On the Ellsworth Air Force Base site, it indicates that approximately 40,000 people came to the Dakota Thunder. The area for the air show was quite large with many large planes on the ground, so it did not seem very crowded. There was also lots of food booths, so there were basically no lines for food which is fantastic for an air show. I found an article about Dakota Thunder in the Rapid City Journal here and another article about Dakota Thunder in the Rapid City Journal here.

Air Show

• Interstate Cadet Jelly Belly and Clipped-Wing Taylorcraft
• Extra-300 aerobatic show
• B-25
• AT-6
• A-10 performance demonstration
• 2 B1's doing aerial show
• Black Dagger parachute team
• Thunderbirds

Thunderbirds






2 B-1Bs Air Demonstration


A-10 Air Demonstration

Planes, etc on the Ground

You could go inside a number of these planes and into the cockpit including the B-1B!

• C-17 Globemaster III
• B-1B Lancer
• B-52 Stratofortress
• KC-135 Stratotanker
• C-130 Hercules
• F-22 Raptor
• F15E Strike Eagle
• F-16 Fighting Falcon
• T-38C talon
• T-39A Sabreliner
• T-6A Texan II
• UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter
• T-1A Jayhawk
• free jumpy castles (maybe 5 different ones)
• Other miscellaneous stuff. Practice bombs, museum, physical demonstrations, etc.

Getting There and Back

Flying ourselves in our C182 was simple. We could basically go direct KLMO-KRAP. We flew a little west at the end to do a pass near Mt Rushmore and then landed at KRAP. If we had filled out some paperwork, we could have landing at Ellsworth Air Force Base KRCA. But I was late in checking into it, so we landed at KRAP at the Westjet Air Center, and they had a very convenient shuttle to Ellsworth Air Force Base. The shuttle bus took us right up to the flight line and enabled us to bypass the long line of cars coming into the show as well as the distance from the parking to the flight line. It was very nice.





On the way back, it was pretty nice and smooth too. We had to dodge some thunderstorms, but the route was still fairly direct. Flying both ways and going to the air show made for a little bit of a long day, but it was reasonable and a great show. Well worth it.

Summary

Dakota Thunder is an airshow I will recommend to anybody in the area that can make it!

/Brian

Rocky Mountain Metro Airport Open House

Last Saturday was the Rocky Mountain Metro Airport Open House and Fly In at KBJC. It is a great local event to see planes on the ground and some aerobatic demonstrations. The last two years have been especially good. It is a free event with free parking which is a rare thing these days.

This airport previously known to us locally as Jeffco Airport has had an open house for a number of years. The fly in portion has been going for 12 years, and the open house has happened for many of those years.

This year, the Metro Airport Open House was especially important because the Rocky Mountain Regional Fly In will not happen this year. The Front Range Airport and EAA will no longer host that fly in, so they are scrambling to find an alternative.

The Location

The location is great any time. Great views of Denver, the continental divide, and the Boulder Flatirons in the distance. The Runway Grill Restaurant is a great place to eat there as well. Probably not an easy place to eat during the show though.

Saturday, the entire airport was especially nice with the open house happening.

Flying In

Getting to the airport was easy. We fly there often, and it is very close. Actually from Longmont, it probably takes less time to drive than fly by the time you preflight and do everything else. Although today, I think the airplane parking was easier than the car parking.

We did have a bit of a surprise on our way through Boulder to KBJC. A B-17 was giving rides and came pretty close to us. With the mountains right there, it was a little constricted maneuvering with a huge B-17 close by. We did grab one picture though...

The air traffic otherwise was very easy for a fly in. One other person coming in for the parallel runway and a quick easy taxi to parking. Leaving was just as easy. Not what it is like for bigger air shows.

On the Ground

On the ground we saw the B-17 up close. It is big!

Lots of different planes to see on the ground ranging from new military to old military to King Airs to the new Cessna 400. The Cessna 400 was there sporting the new logo on the tail; a little strange to see, but good for Cessna.

The Airshow

The Airshow was from 1pm-3pm. It was a nice amount. Not as big as some shows, but it had some good stuff. Starting off with a C-130 doing a drop demonstration and numerous fly bys.

Next was Patty Wagstaff. I have not seen her before, and she did a great show doing maneuvers I had not seen before! There was one maneuver where she was at a knife edge and twisting/waiving the plane. Lots of other different maneuvers too.


Next item was a F-18 Hornet Demo team. They did a great job!



Then the USAF F-16 West Coast Demo Team doing its demonstration.


Both the F16 and F18 did a number of slow passes, rolls, inverted flights, and passes with full afterburners. On the picture above you can see the condensation from the high G maneuver. Pretty cool!

The Denver Post has an article about the show too.

Near the end of the show, I ran into an old friend having fun on the 2nd floor outside balcony of the terminal building. I will head there next year during the air show. Great vantage point for photos and seeing everything. He happened to borrow a friends lens and got some awesome pictures.

Till Next Year

Hopefully, I make it to another show again soon, but this will probably be the last local one. If you are in the area whether you are a pilot or not, go check it out. It is free!

/Brian