Falcon Field Fun

Today was the 70th Anniversary open house for the Falcon Field Airport.  It was built in 1941 to train British pilots from the Royal Air Force during WWII, and it's a fascinating place that I've enjoyed for many years.  My Grandpa, who was in the Air Force during WWII, took me there when I was a child and showed me pictures of pilots and officers on the walls and told me which ones he had known personally.  He could also tell me every detail of every airplane on display.  He LOVED airplanes.  In high school we went to one of the hangars for a Sadie Hawkins dance.  Today's event showcased historic aircraft and other military vehicles, classic cars, railroad history and displays, helicopter rides (which we skipped) and modern aircraft.  It was a LOT of fun and I'm so glad we took the kids.

Now for some picture overload.

One of the pilots painted this on the side of his plane :)

Ben liked exploring the inside of all the different aircraft.

This aircraft was John McCain's, which he donated to Search and Rescue.  Ben and Ember enjoyed pretending to fly.  Ember was also able to show off her knowledge about the parts of the plane and the instrument panel because of her recent science course in aviation at school, and her field trip to the Aviation Center at Lowell Elementary.  The pilot was impressed and Ember was pretty proud of herself.

Ben really liked the military aircraft, and looked for the guns and bombers first on every single one.  I saw one helicopter barely bigger than a bicycle, but the Blackhawk was by far the coolest helicopter there :)

 Look Mom, weapons!

 Ben down in front, in awe of it's size and power.

 Armored vehicle used in WWII.

 Grace checking out the cockpit.  It wasn't as exciting for her as it was for the older kids.

The classic cars was one of my favorite displays.  Ben started to touch something on one of the cars, and the owner jumped out of his seat to stop him saying, "that costs $100,000!  Please don't touch!"  There was a poster next to that car that said when it was brand new off the lot, it originally cost $600.

There was an airport firetruck on display with some Mesa Firefighters there to teach us about it.  He said regular firetrucks are like garden hoses compared to these things, I called it the firetruck monster truck.  The wheels were taller than Grace!

 This would take up two lanes of traffic, it is SO wide.

 Austin showing the kids, that's where the landing gear goes.

The BEST part... absolutely the coolest for me, was meeting the Veterans.  I'm pretty sure Ben and Grace weren't as excited about that as me, but Ember seemed really interested and stayed with me the whole time I was talking to them.  She even asked a few questions of her own, especially when we talked to the female pilot.  She was a WASP, Women Airforce Service Pilots, and just last year had earned the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor.  She let Ember hold the medal.  She was a civilian at the time and wasn't given Veteran status until 33 years after the war ended.  

We also spent some time talking to three RAF Vets (Royal Air Force) and they were a hoot!  They were goofing off with each other, teasing and joking.  They also told me stories of which Hollywood actors and actresses they got to meet and have dinner with because it was Hollywood that paid to build Falcon Field.  One pilot said he got to have dinner with Cary Grant, and told me he was a very interesting man.  Another pilot told me that after the war he was in Canada, came to the American border in his RAF uniform and asked about getting back into America, which is where he trained and came to love.  He said "they let me walk right across the border, and I've been here ever since!"  He also said when he was living in Mesa while training at Falcon Field, it was 80% LDS population.  He was impressed by that and said it's a shame that percentage went down, they're such nice people :)  Another pilot asked me if I have relatives in England, because he knows some Lawlors there.  Who knows :)  Veterans are amazing, and I'm always honored to have the privilege of spending time with them.

 The one on the left knows the Lawlors overseas, the one in the middle had dinner with Cary Grant, and the one on the right showed me lots of pictures of him and Hollywood actors together, and he's the one who walked right across the border in his uniform. 

I wish I had taken a picture of her name plate, because this woman is one of my new heroes.  She speaks at Elementary Schools around the East Valley, usually 5th graders which is Ember's grade, so hopefully I'll hear from her again.  It was amazing that during a time when so many women didn't even learn how to drive, she learned how to fly and joined the Air Force.

The Veteran sitting next to her at the table had taken a break and no one knew where he went, but he was one of the Tuskegee Airmen.  I would have liked to meet him.

This is hard to read, but maybe if you click to enlarge it you can see the whole thing.  It's the history of Falcon Field and it's fascinating.  I love history, I love Mesa, I love Veterans, and I love spending time with my family, so today was pretty perfect.