Capt. Jeff Kuss USMC Memorial - Smyrna, TN

Description of the memorial:
www.captjeffkussusmcmemorial.com/
On June 2, 2016, at the age of 32, Kuss tragically lost his life when his jet crashed a day before the Great Tennessee Air Show in Smyrna. A Blue Angel F/A-18C Hornet similar to the jet flown by Captain Kuss and on loan from the National Aviation Museum in Pensacola, FL.

Although I wasn't home at the time, I live less than a mile from where Capt. Kuss crashed in Smyrna. This memorial is also nearby, located on TN266 Sam Ridley Pkwy and across from the Smyrna MQY airport. Parking is available at Lee Victory Park.

F-105 Thunderchief - Arnold A.F.B.

Several military jets are on display outside of the entrances to Arnold Air Force Base near Tullahoma, TN. This one is dedicated to the memory of Lt. Gen. Robert M. Bond.

Capt. Jeff Kuss USMC Memorial - Smyrna, TN

Description of the memorial:
www.captjeffkussusmcmemorial.com/
On June 2, 2016, at the age of 32, Kuss tragically lost his life when his jet crashed a day before the Great Tennessee Air Show in Smyrna. A Blue Angel F/A-18C Hornet similar to the jet flown by Captain Kuss and on loan from the National Aviation Museum in Pensacola, FL.

Although I wasn't home at the time, I live less than a mile from where Capt. Kuss crashed in Smyrna. This memorial is also nearby, located on TN266 Sam Ridley Pkwy and across from the Smyrna MQY airport. Parking is available at Lee Victory Park.

Capt. Jeff Kuss USMC Memorial - Smyrna, TN

Description of the memorial:
www.captjeffkussusmcmemorial.com/
On June 2, 2016, at the age of 32, Kuss tragically lost his life when his jet crashed a day before the Great Tennessee Air Show in Smyrna. A Blue Angel F/A-18C Hornet similar to the jet flown by Captain Kuss and on loan from the National Aviation Museum in Pensacola, FL.

Although I wasn't home at the time, I live less than a mile from where Capt. Kuss crashed in Smyrna. This memorial is also nearby, located on TN266 Sam Ridley Pkwy and across from the Smyrna MQY airport. Parking is available at Lee Victory Park.

F-15C Eagle - Arnold A.F.B.

Several military jets are on display outside of the entrances to Arnold Air Force Base near Tullahoma, TN. This one is dedicated to the memory of Major James Duricy.

Capt. Jeff Kuss USMC Memorial - Smyrna, TN

Description of the memorial:
www.captjeffkussusmcmemorial.com/
On June 2, 2016, at the age of 32, Kuss tragically lost his life when his jet crashed a day before the Great Tennessee Air Show in Smyrna. A Blue Angel F/A-18C Hornet similar to the jet flown by Captain Kuss and on loan from the National Aviation Museum in Pensacola, FL.

Although I wasn't home at the time, I live less than a mile from where Capt. Kuss crashed in Smyrna. This memorial is also nearby, located on TN266 Sam Ridley Pkwy and across from the Smyrna MQY airport. Parking is available at Lee Victory Park.

Patriot Park - Covington, TN

From the Covington Parks webpage:
www.covingtontn.com/Departments/Parks.htm
This park was dedicated on Nov. 11, 2004. Centerpiece to this park is an A-4L Skyhawk Attack Bomber. This bomber was utilized extensively during the Vietnam Conflict and was developed to provide better ground attack and support services.

Aeroplane Filling Station - Powell, TN

Dating back to the glory days of roadside architecture is this vintage gas station eye-catchingly shaped like a plane built by proprietors Elmer and Henry Nickle in 1930. (Here's a photo from 1931.) Powell is located north of Knoxville along US25W on the road to Clinton, TN. The gas station went out of business half a century ago and was abandoned for a while. Other businesses moved in to keep it open, such as a liquor store, a produce stand, a bait & tackle shop and finally a used car lot.

About a decade ago, locals who wanted to preserve their roadside heritage from demolition began to rally to save the plane. They created a website (now gone, I think) and sold t-shirts to raise money for the novelty architecture preservation. One thing that caught me by surprise during my visit is the exterior has shiny new sheet metal compared to other recent photos I had seen online. Also new are the windows and the light along the wing. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is also helped by the Tennessee Historic Commission

Smyrna's 2014 Great Tennessee Air Show Blue Angels

I am not able to go to the Great Tennessee Air Show this year so I did the next best thing - I went to watch their rehearsal on the day before the air show.



I also made a time-lapse video of the performance that you can see here:
youtu.be/Wwmrw2y6cMQ




I also have a bunch of 2012 airshow photos you can see here:
seemidtn.com/gallery/index.php?album=ruther/smyrna-air-sh...

Tenn air guard plane, Nashville, Centennial Park

This takes me back to my childhood. Everytime we would visit Centennial Park, I would want to see the plane and the train. I have been told this is a F-86D/L Sabredog, all-weather interceptor version of F-86.

New Gallery: Great Tennessee Air Show

It was cloudy all weekend, but that didn't stop me from having a good time at the Smyrna Airport.



The show opened with presenting the U.S. Flag with a Navy Leapfrog Skydiver. Also, a P-51 with Scooter Yoak.



Jason Newburg Makes a Knife-edge Takeoff. F4U Corsair with Dave Folk.



A B-1 Bomber makes a flyby and then a Pyrotechnics Display Explosion.



A Blue Angels pilot flies upside-down, and then the Diamond Formation.



Blue Angels high-speed pass and then a Diamond Breakaway.

If this kind of thing interests you, or you're a fain of Air Show or general aviation photography, I invite you to check out my website's new extended gallery where I have an additional 200+ photos taken at the show including photos of each performers.

Check out the Air Show photos here:
seemidtn.com/gallery/index.php?album=ruther%2Fsmyrna-air-...

Blue Angels fly over the Gulf of Mexico

The Blue Angels are stationed at a Naval Base in Pensacola, FL. On vacation two weeks ago, my wife and I were walking along the beach at Peridio Key Beach (about 10 miles away) as they flew by in formation.

Well, they must be following me. This upcoming weekend, they will be appearing at the Great Tennessee Air Show in Smyrna, at the airport about a half mile from my house. I will see them again at the air show, but the flyby on the beach was for free.

The Smyrna air show usually happens every two years, but the 2010 show was moved to 2011 so they could get one of the premier acts. Here is a gallery of the 2011 show. The 2008 air show was the last time the Blue Angels came to Smyrna. Here is a gallery of that show. In 2006, I was walking along the shore of Percy Priest Lake when I heard the planes roar overhead and I realized I forgot to check on the date of the show. In a few days, be looking for a 2012 air show gallery.

Post Card Tuesday: Nashville Municipal Airport

In this linen postcard, we see an Eastern Airlines plane pulling up to the terminal at Berry Field.  The airline went out of business in 1991 but I'm sure that fleet of planes like the one seen here was gone before that.  The building seen here which includes the air traffic control tower on top is still there, I believe.  In fact, if you take Briley Parkway's old airport exit, you can drive around the area and get up close.  Of course there's a much bigger terminal and a much taller control tower in use these days.

Nashville Post Card / Southwest Airlines mural

Sadly, I believe this mural is gone, considering how close it was to the new convention center in downtown Nashville.

Here's what is painted in each of the letters:
N = the Old Country Music Hall of Fame - now gone.
AS = Parthenon
H = Bellsouth batbuilding
V = Andrew Jackson Statue - At that angle, you'd have the capitol in the background.
ILLE = General Jackson showboat, I guess.
The thumbtacks are painted on, and the one in the bottom left corner has a painted shadow.

The mural was painted in May of 1997 by Michael Cooper of Murals and More. If you see a really need mural in Middle Tennessee, odds are he painted it. It was commissioned by Southwest Airlines to appear in a TV Commercial. Here's a comment I got about the mural:

"I worked on this commercial. It was painted in March of 97 for the SWA commercial with BR5-49; a local band who played Robert's and helped revitalize downtown. We also filmed out at the old Opryland Theme Park on the roller coaster and at Spence Manor in Webb Pierce's guitar shaped pool. A very fun project."

Thunderbirds!

An estimated 50,000 people were in attendance at this years Great Tennessee Air Show in Smyrna, TN. The Thunderbirds were the featured performers.



These are my favorite Thunderbird pictures, butif you'd like to see more, I have several in an extended gallery here:
seemidtn.com/gallery/index.php?album=ruther%2Fsmyrna-air-...

Hey! What's that hiding in the weeds?

Why, It's a SunCountry 727 Airliner!

I found this while driving around Smyrna, TN one day. It's about 10 blocks from the non-commercial Smyrna Airport, MQY and the former home of Sewart Air Force Base. SunCountry doesn't fly anywhere near here.

If only it was resting on Cinder blocks, that would be perfect.

Oh, and by the way, the Smyrna air show is a little over two weeks away, even though this plane will not be in it.

Wingwalker standing on her head

If you haven't heard the news yet, the Airshow is coming back to Smyrna this year. The last Smyrna airshow was in 2008, highlighted by the Blue Angels. They tend to take a year off after each show, which they did in 2009. In 2010, the organizers were unable to secure either the Blue Angels or the Thunderbirds, and didn't want to put on a show unless they had one of the nation's premier groups. Now, for 2011, the Thunderbirds.

While not the headlining act, these two make for an incredible photo opportunity. Upon the top wing of Gene Soucy's stunt plane is Teresa Stokes, a wingwalker. She is currently upside-down.www.genesoucy.com/