Second Annual Cruisin' The Coast Fly-In and Fly-By

[Steve]

The main event is the beach fly-by on October 9th. This one-of-a-kind event will have pilots fly the Mississippi Gulf Coast at 500 feet AGL over the coastline while the Cruisin' the Coast car enthusiasts watch below.

http://www.browncondorassociation.com/

 

[Diana]

That looks like fun. Are you going?

Is that the same weekend as the Jennings Stearman fly-in?

 

[Steve]

That looks like fun. Are you going?

Is that the same weekend as the Jennings Stearman fly-in?

I plan to. The Pineville, LA fly-in is the same weekend, as is the Birmingham, AL airshow, The Little Rock AFB airshow, and the CAF Airsho, but I figure the Gulf Coast needs the support this time.

I believe the Jennings Fly-in was last weekend. There is another Stearman Fly-in scheduled for October 14-16 in Oxford, MS

http://www.deltabluesfly-in.com/

 

[CJones]

I plan to. The Pineville, LA fly-in is the same weekend, as is the Birmingham, AL airshow, The Little Rock AFB airshow, and the CAF Airsho,

...and the Great Georgia Airshow at FFC.

Although, when I was at Aircraft Spruce last week, I heard a guy saying that the CAF folks weren't happy with the lack of warbirds in the show lineup.

 

[Steve]

...and the Great Georgia Airshow at FFC.

Although, when I was at Aircraft Spruce last week, I heard a guy saying that the CAF folks weren't happy with the lack of warbirds in the show lineup.

That seems to be an odd thing for them to say since most flying CAF planes are expected to be in TX for their Airsho over the weekend.

 

[tonycondon]

That seems to be an odd thing for them to say since most flying CAF planes are expected to be in TX for their Airsho over the weekend.

not true. the CAF cut back funding this year and is only providing fuel for a representative group of their planes. so they'll probably have at least one of each type but not all of them unless the wings decide to come on their own. I know our wing is not taking our PT-23 although there is a group of people splitting the cost to fly down in the Bamboo Bomber.

 

[Steve]

Well, the thinking was that airshow producers would be less likely to contract WBs during the weekend of the "big WB show" in TX. That opinion is entirely my own.

Also, FFC, being the home of the CAF Dixie Wing, has a fairly significant year round WB presence with their own activities, so having a WB at the Greater Georgia show is not as novel as at some other venues and may have influenced the promoters in choosing airshow acts/displays.

 

[Steve]

Some raw photos from yesterday's Coast Fly-by. About 15 planes participated this year (up from 5 the first year). The route was ~25nm along the shoreline. The fly-by started at the Biloxi Back Bay Bridge and ended at the Bay of St. Louis Bridge. I was in trail behind a Velocity and ahead of a C210. A Debonair was lead and a C140 was tail-end Charlie. A Baron flew "safety" overhead.

GPT approach and PQL tower provided outstanding support for the effort.

Although these photos don't show it well, several sections of US 90 were bumper to bumper street rods for several blocks during the fly-by.

In a few of the photos you can see the ongoing rebuilding post Hurricane Katrina as well many vacant lots still waiting for re-development.

Photos of this year's car show can be found at

http://www.cruisinthecoast.com/Photo_Gallery/2010/