Gathering of Eagles – Lost Nation – Saturday

LostNation 09

 

Yeah, being the narrator is cool.  You get the ears of everyone at the show for 15 minutes each day.  And, if you really rock that mic, you occasionally get asked to pick up another performer and narrate for him or her, too.

It’s also cool to get up and fly the demo liaison and media flights, whether solo or in a formation.  Watching the guy in the next aircraft over work out the camera angles and try to get the right light.  Or watching the face of the guy in your own aircraft when you hand over the controls on a single-ship ride and and let him or her fly over his home town.

The team looks really good up there.  It’s not hard to be impatient about getting to the FAST card checkride.  But then something happens that makes it kind of worthwhile.  You walk across the ramp and see a guy enthusiastically taking pictures of the cockpit of one of your team’s birds.  All of that stuff on the panel is cool as hell and he’s taking shot after shot of it.

And, yeah, that’s the bird that you flew here and the bird that you’re going to fly back.

 

About Steve Tupper

Stephen Force is the superhero alter ego of mild-mannered tech and aviation lawyer, commercial pilot (glider, with private privileges in ASEL, ASES, AMEL, IA, and DC-3 (SIC) type-rated), and Civil Air Patrol lieutenant colonel Steve Tupper. Steve writes, records, and brings you the inside story about everything that really matters in aviation. He's flown with the USAF Thunderbirds, he's and airshow performer and air boss, and he's one of only five pilots ever to earn a FAST card in the glider category. Follow Steve's ongoing quest to do all that is cool in aviation at www.airspeedonline.com or on Twitter as @StephenForce.

Speak Your Mind

*