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:: Saturday, June 28, 2003 ::
Hour of Power
This weekend is the London International Airshow. Since I am working both days and can't see the full show, I went to the Hour of Power sunset show on Friday night. I went the year before last (last year was cancelled because of concerns after Sept 11), and it was quite cool. This year it was pretty decent, but the choice of parking spot impacted the experience I think. In 2k1, I parked on Dundas at the South end of the Airport. There is a cluster of buildings just past Crumlin Rd that are essentially the only ones that offer parking - free parking, and are directly under the flight path of the runway so jets landing and taking off were literally no more than 30-50 feet over head. It was brilliant.
This year, that lot was crammed with cars and there was no way of getting a spot. Police were being quite serious about making sure cars didn't park on the soft shoulder of the road. I spotted an access point in a field fence on the South side of Dundas about 150m further East and backed the CRV into it. I parked facing North essentially spanning the fence line and still with a decent view.
What never ceases to amaze me is that a huge aircraft such as a CF-18 can come up upon you at great speed and you only realize its there when it rockets low overhead and passes you. Only then the whine and roar of the turbines shaking you out of your revery. It clearly illustrated how that offers a huge tactical surprise when making a bombing run: if you don't have lookouts searching for incoming aircraft - or looking in the right direction , ahem that wasn't me of course :) - the first indication that you would be under attack would be that a bomb has gone off in your compound and the after burners kicking in as the aircraft is leaving.
Highlight of the evening was the Snowbirds. All nine of them took off directly over me all at once in a loose formation of 3s.
A nice way to spend the evening.
:: Mike Wood 08:32 [+] :: 0 comments
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