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December 14, 2003
Well, when they say it's going to rain on the coast, they aren't kidding. We got 2-3 inches of rain last night and today! No airshows today since there was no ceiling, but we took the opportunity to nearly drown ourselves to get to the indoor exhibits. I must say, I haven't seen rain like that in years - the walk from the car to the indoors area was close to a mile, and by the time we got there our umbrellas were useless and our shoes were reduced to heavy sponges. Driving rain and stiff winds required us to hold our umbrellas out in front of us in a weak attempt at diverting the "sideways rain." As I write this our shoes are hanging above the fireplace, hopefully to be dry by bedtime.
About the time we left the rain had slowed to a drizzle, but everything will be soggy for a few days probably:
These guys were dressed for the occasion a little better than us
Our reckless abandonment of comfort paid off though when we finally got inside the pavilion and found just a handful of people milling around. We got some good shots of stuff we had a hard time getting close to yesterday. Once again we had to delay visiting the outdoor exhibits, but when the rain let up we ran outside and snapped these to give you a small taste of what's coming in the next couple days of blogging:
Vaught Corsair:
AT-802 Crop Duster (notice the small metal tube with all the spray nozzles):
We ducked from building to building to check out as much as we could (several buildings were closed due to the rain), and came across a nice NASA exhibit. They were giving away posters and bumper stickers like candy, and there were some truly impressive displays of new and old technology. My favorite was a shuttle engine which was on display right in the center of the building. I noticed the floor underneath was reinforced with layers of plywood, and for good reason: the thing is massive, somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 feet in diameter:
Yesterday I posted a photo of the reproduction that will be flown Wednesday. Today we visited the Harry Combs reproduction that will be officially donated to the park during the ceremony Wednesday. It was built at a cost of over one million dollars, and is true to the original Wright flyer in every way imaginable:
Come back tomorrow for some great photos - the weather for the airshow should be perfect (finally
). The theme tomorrow will be "Protecting the Home of the Brave" and the airshow will feature military planes. There will be a skydiving demonstration as well, which should make for some great video. Flybys will include pre-World War, Korean War, WWII and Gulf War Era Planes. And coming up later - the Thunderbirds will be flying both Tuesday and Wednesday 
We'll be back soon!
Brad and Jon
Kitty Hawk, NC
Wow!
, just not the T-Birds 
They even use smoke when practicing, so its like they are at a show yet its free 
I can't wait to see more and lets hope you'll get to see some more aircraft 
have fun 
