Sun 'n' Fun 2006 included two of my current favorite air show acts: the precise formation work of the Aeroshell aerobatic team and John Mohr, defying the laws of physics in his stock Stearman.

April 6, 2006:  The Aeroshell Aerobatic Team stole the show again in 2006.  There's just something about the sound of four T6 radial engines growling in unison...

April 6, 2006:  Most aerobatic pilots fly slippery, lightweight, extremely powerful single-engine aircraft.  And then there's John Mohr flying an underpowered brick with wings (i.e., a Stearman.  Don't get me wrong, it's a very cool underpowered brick with wings).  Under his deft control, this stock Stearman can do some amazing things for an aircraft that barely has enough power to heft its own bulk into the sky.

The Stearman doesn't have an inverted fuel system, meaning that inverted flight will lead to fuel starvation if sustained long enough.  Personally, I think he gets a kick out of audience reaction to the engine dying while inverted - particularly because this maneuver often fires a fairly spectacular fireball out the exhaust manifold.

April 6, 2006:  We encountered this sharp-looking Corsair on the warbird ramp.

April 6, 2006:  Perennial air show favorite Crazy Horse flew in formation with an F-15 and the F-22 Raptor in the Heritage Flight.

April 6, 2006:  I generally don't give much thought to airliners, but this gleaming DC-3 really caught my eye.  Of course, what's not to like about an airplane that was credited by Eisenhower as being one of four things that helped the Allies win World War II (the other three being the jeep, the bazooka, and the atomic bomb)?  The DC-3 (and its US Army Air Corps C-47 variant) certainly has a certain allure about it for something once nicknamed "Gooneybird".

April 6, 2006:  Curtiss P-40 Warhawk.