God Bless America, Oshkosh And Summertime! (CoolPix)

(click pic for hi-res)     Liberty Parachute Team opening the airshow at Oshkosh 2010

 It’s a measly little single digit temperature with light snow in northern Indiana right now, and while I’m ok with winter, these kind of days typically drive me to wish it was summertime. So I decided maybe it was a good time to post a very summery picture from Oshkosh 2010. This one seemed to be a good fit, and if you click it to open it up big I think it’ll make you feel good to be alive.

 It was kind of funny when I took this pic of the Liberty Parachute Team opening up the airshow on Wednesday July 28th because I didn’t really like the kinda boring all-white parachute being used for this mega flag jump. But the sky was a perfect blue and it’s always good to have some good skydiver-with-a-flag pix for future use. What I hadn’t considered was that with the wind mostly out of the west that day, the skydivers would be passing over the crowd as they set up to land out in front of the flightline. While tracking the jumper thru the viewfinder this awesome view suddenly presented itself and I knew right away that something wonderful was happening.

 All of a sudden, that boring white parachute became the perfect companion to the deep blue sky and that awesome stars and stripes flag. I think a multi colored canopy would only distract from what I think is a very powerful image.

 So if you’re in a chilly part of the world like I am, hang in there - summer will be back soon! And if you haven’t already made plans to experience the greatest aviation event on planet earth, I highly encourage you to do so now. It’s the closest thing to heaven on earth I’ve ever found : )