Sharing the world through my lens.
I recently watched a YouTube documentary about the National Naval Aviation Museum where the host Tyler “Feed” Davis, a former Navy Blue Angel interviewed Captain Sterling Gilliam who is the Director of the museum. Davis explained that he was inspired to become a Navy pilot and Blue Angel while visiting the museum as a young child.
This is why museums that tell the story of our past are so important. They help us honor those who came before us and inspire the future generations.
I never tire of watching the United States Navy Blue Angels. Their home is in Pensacola, Florida and they were the stars of the 2024 Pensacola Airshow held July 12 and 13 at Penscola Beach.
What an amazing performance by the United States Navy Blue Angels at the 2024 Pensacola Beach Airshow! Lots of great aviation, beach and hot weather!
A friend and I took a road trip to the Mooonshine Store in East-central Illinois. The store is a legendary lunch stop that mainly serves hamburgers and draws huge crowds to the store. It’s a real throw back in time. The burgers are excellent and it’s a one of a kind stop to make. But make sure you get there early because the grill shuts off at 12:30 sharp!
Peru, Illinois is home of the TBM Avenger Reunion each year. This is a fantastic show that gives visitors the opportunity to get up close to the planes, talk with the pilots and learn the history of what makes these planes so great. The feature plane is of course the TBM Avengers, but there is always an amazing variety of planes and jets that come to the show.
Details for the 2025 show will be on the website in the near future at https://tbmreunion.org/. The show is free to the public.
Attending air shows is popular summertime activity for many. June 22 and 23 was the 50th anniversary of the Dayton Airshow, one of the largest in the country. It was estimated over 80,000 people visited the show.
The Blue Angels were the featured attraction along with numerous other military and civilian performers. One of my favorite is Fat Albert the United States Marine Corps C-130 that provides transportation and logistics in support of the Blue Angels. All personnel and equipment travels in Fat Albert during the airshow season.
I flew in the Ford Tri-Motor today at Coles Memorial Airport in Mattoon, Illinois. This plane is owned by the experimental aircraft association.  the aircraft is serial number 146 out of the 199 that were built. This plane has several service related capacities.
The Lake Barkley bridge in Western Kentucky is always an impressive sight at sunset. This bridge was opened to the public in September 2019, replacing the older Henry R. Lawerence Memorial Bridge that had been built in 1932.
Albion Illinois
Gregory Knott - Why Knott Media 