Truckee Air Show ready to take off
The Truckee Tahoe Air Show & Family Festival is flying into its fifth year on July 9.
This year’s theme is Space, Science and Beyond, an exploration into STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
Keeping with the theme, the air show’s grand marshal will be former NASA astronaut and retired U.S. Air Force test pilot Karol “Bo” Bobko. Bobko became a NASA astronaut in September 1969 and was a crew member on the highly successful Skylab Medical Experiments Altitude Test (SMEAT). The test was a 56-day ground simulation of the Skylab mission, enabling crewmen to collect medical experiments baseline data and evaluate equipment, operations and procedures.
The air show will include world-renowned performers Spencer Suderman (Guinness World Record holder for inverted flat spins), Rich Perkins soaring full speed in the Fire Cat jet, Danny Sorenson with his own designed and built BF9-2 biplane, and Bill Braack racing his Smoke-n-Thunder Jet Car against an airplane.
Huge warbirds will be on display and modern aircraft too.
The show is from 9am-4pm.
Remember when South Lake Tahoe had an incredible Airshow that brought thousands of people to our town? A small group of dedicated volunteers did it for over 20 years. Then, the bureaucrats took over and mismanaged it out of existence. Now, both the Minden and Truckee Airshows are bringing thousands of people to their towns for their Airshows. But we have really cool piles of dirt at our recreation center and we’re going to have a half-million dollar gas fireplace at the Airport. Maybe people will come from all over the Western United States to see the piles of dirt and the fireplace.
We’re going to charge admission to see the dirt and fireplace, right? We mustn’t forget that ROI…
I’ve attended the South Lake Tahoe airshow as well as both the Minden show and the Reno Air Races. The Minden show was a much better production than SLT ever delivered and, given the difference in sizes, managed to rival, and, in the case of a couple of acts, even exceed the shows put on in conjunction with the Reno Air Races.
I’m not sure what your reference to a Rec Center pile of dirt means but I’m already on record here as approving a traveler’s restroom at the airport. Maybe it can include a flight oriented mural. A small, inexpensive one, naturally.
Sounds like a trip to Truckee is in order.
copper:
The “piles of dirt at our recreation center” to which Michael Clark is referring is the Bijou Bike Park. Following is a link to where information can be obtained on the “piles of dirt” as Mr. Clark called it, along with the organization which made that very popular SLT amenity possible. It’s absolutely worth a look.
http://bijoubikepark.org/
So that really is a bike park? I was assuming it was some sort of testing ground for pre-law students at LTCC studying injuries, torts and liability law.
I know that sarcasm doesn’t play well in comments, but I expected more nuance from you guys. My complaint is not about the Bike Park, but rather about the distorted views that are constantly pushed on us citizens by inept local government, especially as regards the costs of particular projects, like the Bike Park and the “visitor’s center”.
Having worked and attended nearly a hundred airshows in my 40 years as a pilot (COMM, MULTI, INST), I find your opinion to be questionable, at best, copper. Perhaps you attended one of the last of the shows (organized by the City), which were nothing like the best of our shows (organized by volunteers) at significantly less cost. After attending the Reno Air Races for over 30 years (serious section 3 Orange Shirt!), I think that you may have exaggerated your judgement to support your point, but everyone sees things in their own way. There is absolutely no comparison of the Reno Air Races, in my humble opinion, to any other aviation event in the United States except maybe the Oshkosh EAA gathering. “Exceed…”, no. And, of course, the Reno Air Races are not simply an Airshow.
Marine, I am surprised that you missed my point, I would expect you of all people to be concerned about honesty in politics. The Bike Park, for all of it’s benefits, was built with far more City funding than was advertised. Anyone who watched the construction would be aware of that. I think that it is a wonderful addition to our City, but I would rather that they were a little more honest about the costs. Same with this “visitor’s center”. I would also like to see the City pay a little more attention to a wider audience than just bicycles riders. Unfortunately, not all of us can ride a bike any more.
Mother was born in Fallon, Nevada in 1919. I graduated Churchill County High in 1961.
We enjoyed REALLY good flying…right over our house. just off the North runway.
Those were the days! We could see the whites of their (the pilots) eyes;)~
Michael Clark:
I agree with you that sarcasm often doesn’t play well in comments, especially without a disclaimer that the sarcasm was intended. You say your point was dishonesty in politics related to the Air Show and the Bike Park, and while I cannot speak to the circumstances of the Air Show I disagree with you on the Bike Park. I listened to every report that was made to the City Council by the City’s staff and by the Bijou Bike Park Association representatives from the inception of that idea to the conclusion of that project, and I read every associated narrative and all the financial/accounting reports. There was no hidden funding by the City and everything that was spent was reported on. What there had been was a tremendous amount of volunteerism on the parts of some community members of their time, their physical labor, and their money because they wanted to build something in this community that would provide an activity for children, youth, and others wanting to participate in that sport.
If you want to use the rationale that the City should pay more attention to a wider audience then perhaps they should eliminate the Disc Golf Course since not everyone plays Disc Golf, or perhaps they should discontinue support of the Senior Center since not everyone is a Senior who uses that facility, or they should stop maintaining Lakeview Commons since not everyone goes there.
I agree about honesty in politics, and I’d also like to see some honesty in what some bloggers write as fact [which is oftentimes incorrect] and in what some members of the public who address the City Council routinely state as fact [which is oftentimes incorrect]. If you believe that one group must be held to a higher standard then all groups should be held to that same standard.
Marine, I did not suggest that anything be “eliminated”.
However, as regards the Bike Park construction: regardless of what the reports said, I observed the amount of City-owned heavy equipment and from personal experience noted their approximate cost plus the operators of the equipment and concluded that the cost was grossly under-reported. The City can do as it wishes, but I know that the numbers simply do not add up.
To your other comment, I moved out of the City almost 40 years ago into the County and haven’t voted for any of the good old boys since 1977. And, I agree, you get the government that you deserve.
All the best.