Dubuque annually has one of the best air shows in the state on the 3rd of July. Being from there, I was spoiled growing up. They have had the F-16, F/A-18, A-10, B-2, B-1B, F-117, MiG-17, P-51, P-40, P-38, A6M Zeros to name a few. It's pretty legit.
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Then they would have never gotten F-16s in the first place.
With the entire military (excluding the Army) going to the F-35, eventually DSM will get them. It may take a decade or two, but they will get them. The whole point of going to the F-35 is to eliminate F-16s from the fleet, even at the ANG level.
Nobody in the Guard Bureau or the Pentagon was thinking about the F-35 and DSM in 1990 when DSM changed from the A-7 to the F-16...
DSM is going to be lucky to keep the F-16 in the near future considering a lot of the F-16 and A-10 units across the country are going to the MQ-1, MQ-9 and MC-12.
At the rate the F-35 is being built and with the production being pushed back, the active duty forces are going to be lucky to get the F-35 in the next decade.
We will see what happens, but I can tell you that the USAF is looking to purchase roughly 1,000 F-35s though its build cycle much like the F-16. Not to mention foreign sales and the USN/USMC. Lockheed has pitched to the USAF that the F-35A is a direct replacement for the A-10 and F-16. Along with the B/C models, this jet will be the backbone of our armed forces even more than the F-16 ever was.
Drones will definitely be used more extensively in the future, but the F-35 is much, much more than just a weapons delivery platform. As far as rate, we have just recently cleared out massive areas where the old F-2 (Japanese F-16) and F-22 components were assembled to assist in ramp up of production. Once all of the infrastructure is in place, rate should improve tremendously along with the process improvements in the next 5 years.
I was hoping Iowa State would get a B-2 to flyover. We aren't that far from Whiteman.
All it takes is for the Air Force ROTC Detachment to put the request in and get approval from the FAA and the Pentagon and then have somebody at Whiteman volunteer for the flyover.
What people don't know is that it is a timely process to get a flyover. It took me over 3 months to ge the approval for flyover on Sept 8th and it all started by me contacting the Iowa Air Force ROTC Detachment...
3 jets leaving today for The Eastern Iowa Regional, Cedar Rapids....
Flyovers = Awesome. Trust me, I have an Aerospace Engr degree from a very prestigious university.
If you don't like flyovers, please have your doctor check to see that you are still able to enjoy life.
2nd topic, someone mentioned the DBQ airshow, it is a good one. Personally, I'd love to see a B-1B do a low level pass, circle around and do a high-speed pass. That would test the new scoreboard structural integrity!
I used to bullseye womp rats in my T-16 back home. A fly-by of the Iowa City Dump wouldn't be too hard. A lot easier than a trip through Beggar's Canyon.