June 4 - Ellsworth AFB Dakota Thunder 2011 Air Show

trivia about their notice: it says 'overtaking a/c will pass....to the left of slower departures' - just wondering if there might be some reason for them to have that requirement.
 
The fly-in to Ellsworth was excellent! The weather was in the mid-70s. With no bumps heading in. We arrived right around 9:00. The runway is 13,000 feet long and 300 feet wide. I landed long to shorten the taxi time, and exited at taxiway delta. We taxied past a B-2, a couple of B-1s, a C-17, C-5, C-130, TC-135, F-16s, Migs, B-25, etc. They had all GA planes (about 45) park together on the ramp.
Then we went to a briefing by one of the B-1 pilots about B-1 collision avoidance, weather for the trip home, and departure procedures. The B-1 training sorties regularly include 400 to 500 kts at 500AGL. The plane has a terrain following radar which flies the airplane down that low.
We walked through the C-5, checked out the cockpit of a B-1, and took some pictures of the B-2 (which had well armed guards).
I also got a video of the B-1s taxiing past us at the end of the airshow. Check it out.
http://youtu.be/RtE270nyBNM
 
Last edited:
My time slot was 0700-0745. We went to KRAP the day before so it was <10 minute flight. Early enough we didn't have to fly the arrival procedure. Got tower-tower cleared for t/o 14 switch to KRAC cleared to land 13. We were #7 to in the GA lineup. Got the same going back. Made for a long but great day. I met Major Durr on the ramp and I think he said 46 GA planes made it. Many from the east cancelled with other priorities due to flooding. At least 9 planes were from Colorado. Here's a lucky picture, I didn't even see the B1 until I downloaded today.
 

Attachments

  • Ellsworth airshow.jpg
    Ellsworth airshow.jpg
    72.5 KB · Views: 14
ejensen said:
My time slot was 0700-0745. We went to KRAP the day before so it was <10 minute flight. Early enough we didn't have to fly the arrival procedure. Got tower-tower cleared for t/o 14 switch to KRAC cleared to land 13. We were #7 to in the GA lineup. Got the same going back. Made for a long but great day. I met Major Durr on the ramp and I think he said 46 GA planes made it. Many from the east cancelled with other priorities due to flooding. At least 9 planes were from Colorado. Here's a lucky picture, I didn't even see the B1 until I downloaded today.
Click to expand...

Nice pic. I did see your plane parked there.

We were parked a few rows further back (0830-0915 slot). Did you notice they had us scheduled by speed? The Bonanzas all came in in the last slot.
 
COFlyBoy said:
Nice pic. I did see your plane parked there.

We were parked a few rows further back (0830-0915 slot). Did you notice they had us scheduled by speed? The Bonanzas all came in in the last slot.
Click to expand...

It sort of looked like that and Major Durr confirm that's what he did unless someone asked for later due to flight time. Interesting idea. If we had all departed the same way everyone would have been overtaking. Even though it was a long morning before the show, it was nice being first in, first out.
 
Nice to see pictures of the old base and B1s. I'll have to plan a trip for their next airshow. Hard to believe I've been retired that long.

B1 crew, 1987-1998
Ellsworth AFB, SD, 99th Test Wing, 1991-1995, B1 Test
Retired, Nellis AFB, NV 2003
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top