Ellington's 100th Anniversary - May 20th, 2017
Visit Ellington Airport for the 100th Anniversary Celebration and find booths giving out caricatures, balloon animals and face painting for the kids
Walk toward the grandstand that has attracted a large crowd and two high school bands
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner address the crowd
You can't celebrate without having a cake!
Swords await for the cake cutting ceremony
The past 100 years have been great but the future looks even brighter
Local celebrities and LC mayoral candidates attend the gathering
Despite the 90° heat, the cake still stands tall
Proclamations completed, dignitaries grab a sword and approach the cake
Sylvester grins for the camera and cuts into the cake
South Houston High School band played patriotic songs
Sam Rayburn High School band joined them as the sweatiest people present
The new Lone Star Flight Museum is still under construction in the background
The parade of aircraft begins with the MQ-1 Predator
I don't want to drone on and on but it is very cool aircraft
Take a slight detour in the parade route to visit the lunch line
Get a free chopped beef barbeque sandwich, chips and coke, nice!
See someone familiar when sitting down to eat
Andy and Holly bring their kids to the celebration and enjoy lunch
Back to the parade of aircraft with this Rutan Long-EZ
Next is Lockheed T-33 built from 1945 to 1950
Originally designed as the P-90 Shooting Star
Next up is the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon
Capture the tail number for Bill to reminisce its rollout up in Fort Worth
JSC's current primary trainer is the Northrop T-38 Talon
The reproduction Messerschmitt Me 262 two seater is back to wow the crowd
The 1st operational jet fighter frightened bomber crews over Germany in WWII
The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II once filled the skies in the 1970's
Only the Space Shuttle has a short glide path the the F-4
Zoom in on nose art for a WWII ground attack aircraft
The Douglas A-26 Invader first flew combat missions in 1943
The crew of 3 included the pilot, navigator/nose gunner & rear gunner
North American AT-6 / SNJ Texan was the first trainer aircraft for most pilots
Many are painted up as Japanese aircraft for airshow demonstrations
Next in line is the Boeing AH-64 Apache
M230 chain gun firing 30 mm rounds quickly grabs your attention
A bad place to be if you are a pigeon flying at 100 feet
Apache carries air-to-ground and air-to-air missiles in the wing pods
It is always a good idea to unload the wing pods for air show displays
The Apache is seen flying overhead pretty often in the area
Coast Guard Piper PA-28-140 Cherokee
Coast Guard Eurocopter HH-65 Dolphin
The fenestron ducted-fan anti-torque device is distinctive on the MH-65
The Coast Guard's short range air-sea rescue helicopter
Down on flight field, fenced off from the public, rests a WB-57
NASA JSC has the only two operational Martin WB-57 Canberras left in the world
Head back to the entrance and pass the bounce houses for the kids
Kids love the mechanical bull ride pit with inflatable landing zone
Look back at the line of aircraft parked on the access road leading from the airfield toward the museum
Four station bungee bouncer for the kids concludes the celebration area
Say bye to Elsie and Alex who are finishing up their rest break
Stop at the front of the new Lone Star Flight Museum on the way out
Its grand opening will be Labor Day Weekend, September 2nd, 2017