July 22-29, 2023 - AirVenture 2023
Aeroshell Square
I checked out Aeroshell Square numerous times during the week and everytime they had moved in a new and interesting plane for me to look at.  Early in the week, the unquestioned star of the show was this massive modified Boeing 747 cargo plane called "Dreamlifter".
   
Notice how the 747 has been modified so that it a double-decker all the way back to the vertical stabilizer.
   
Check out those bolted-on plates connecting the nose to the fuselage.
   
Rachel posing underneath the Dreamlifter.
   
The Dreamlifter hauls more cargo by volume than any airplane in the world.  The primary responsibility is to transport the eight major assemblies of the Boeing 787 and 767 from suppliers around the world to the final assembly sites in Everett, Washington and North Charleston, South Carolina.
   

Somehow the tail opens to 92 degrees for cargo offload.  Special equipment is used for loading.

Four Dreamlifters are in service.

By ERIC SALARD from PARIS, FRANCE - N780BA PAE, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45331046
   
The massive main landing gear required to support the load.
   
One of the four huge engines.
   
Southwest Airlines had a brand new Boeing 737 MAX on display.
   
 
   
Mid-week I was walking through Aeroshell Square and there it was:  an F-35A Lightning II.  I've never seen one really close up.   That said, I couldn't get too close because there was a perimeter set-up around the jet with multiple very fit young people with firearms  discouraging people from crossing the perimeter.
   
By coincidence, I'm in the middle of reading a book about the F-35 which just came out, so I was very interested to see one close-up.
   

I know it took an incredibly long time and lots of money to put the F-35 in production but to me it's a miracle they succeeded.  And they did succeed.  Over 1,000 are already flying with a total of 2,456 planned for just the U.S., not counting international.  Countries like Japan, Great Britain and Israel wouldn't be buying the jet if it wasn't good.  The building of the F-35 is an amazing story.  Not only did they have to get the three services -- Air Force, Navy & Marines -- to work together but also eight countries.  Not to mention getting multiple defense companies like Lockheed Martin, BAE and Northrup Grumman, normally competitors, to work together.  The jet seems to do everything it was designed to do and more.   Since so many are being built, the unit cost ended up less than a fourth generation fighter like the F-18 Super Hornet and F-15X.  The F-35 is the first fighter jet to really take advantage of the microprocessor and Moore's Law.

Some of the impressive things the engineers accomplished include:  a stealth capability that can be maintained in the harsh sea-going environment, a novel system that makes landing aboard aircraft carriers much easier, a novel system that makes flying a STVOL much easier than the previous Harrier, the ability to act as a force multiplier for older 4th-generation aircraft, the F-35s common systems resulted in a truly unified and interoperable force for the first time (between the services and other nations), its revolutionary sensors and datalinks, and probably more.
   
 
   
The single engine on the F-35 produces as much thrust as the two engines on the F/A-18 Super Hornet.
   
A colorful F-16.
   
For decades, the premier fighter jet in the world., now the F-15 is a tired fourth-generation jet.  The Air Force is buying 100 new, upgraded F-15EXs however.
   
A maintainer relaxes on top of the F-15.
   
The Navy and Air Force's primary trainer, the Beechcraft T-6 Texan II.  It was developed from the Pilatus PC-9.  Over 850 have been built with numerous other countries also flying them.
   
Early in the week, Aeroshell Square was dominated by U.S. Air Force planes, but eventually the Navy showed up with planes like this F/A-18F Super Hornet.
   
From another angle.
   
When I was Air Operations Officer for Destroyer Squadron 20, I spent a month aboard the U.S.S. Dwight D. Eisenhower "Ike" back in the early 90s.  What an experience!  Flight operations onboard an aircraft carrier were the most amazing thing I've ever seen.
   
Late in the week I was surprised to see my old plane, the mighty P-3 Orion, parked in Aeroshell Square.  The U.S. Navy began phasing out the P-3s in favor of the new P-8 Poseidon in 2012 but I guess a couple of specialty squadrons still operate them.  This one is flown by VX-30, a Test & Evaluation squadron based in Point Magu, California.
   
One of the pilots stands in front of the P-3.
   
This plane used to belong to the Replacement Air Group (RAG) squadron, VP-30 -- the old tail feather markings of LL are still faintly visible.
   
I spent a lot of time looking out of that circular window; it's the Tactical Coordinator's (TACCO) window.
   
Big paddle-blade propellers, powered by the T-56 turboprop engine.
   
The Aero Spacelines Super Guppy is a large, wide-bodied cargo aircraft that is used for hauling outsize cargo components.  Although five Super Guppys were built, this one used by NASA is the only one still operational.
   
Colorful T-38.
   
Venerable C-130 Hercules.
   
Immaculate Lockheed Constellation.
   
Side-view of the Connie.
   
Huge C-17.
   
"Doc", one of the two flying B-29 Superfortresses, lands at AirVenture.
   
Here comes "Doc".
   
 
   
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A C-5 Galaxy landed and taxiied in behind "Doc".
   
 
   
Both big planes coming in to Aeroshell Square.
   
The crowd went wild.
   
Later, the C-5 raised its nose and tail and you could walk through the gigantic jet.
   
The old and the almost old.
   
Look at those nice flush rivets on the B-29!
   

Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey.

The Marines are the primary users of the aircraft but the Air Force is using a few of them for special operations.  This is an Air Force bird.  The Navy is also now using them for the Carrier Onboard Delivery (COD) mission.
   
A close-up of one of the Osprey's tilt rotors.
   
 
   
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