There was a rumbling of engines out on the tarmac. The crowd, which mulled around the inside of the hangar hurried outside and made their way to the edge of the taxiway of Camarillo Airport.
There we could see three WWII Aircraft side by side; holding short of the runway, doing their run-up. A Japanese Zero, P-40 Kittyhawk, and our F6F Hellcat. Before long their engines roared, and carried each one of them off at into the west, out of sight, where they formed up for a couple of flybys in honor of the Event, "The Defense of China".
While standing on the edge of the taxiway I felt a silent exhilaration, knowing I was a part of something; a part of bringing history to life, and honoring the lives of our American Vets who gave me the freedom to paint to my hearts desire.
After around ten minutes of silent anticipation there came a slight rumbling of sound off to the North East. The crowd I was standing with looked up to see the tight formation of planes coming straight for us for the first of many flybys.
I shed a tear at the sight...
Photo by Eric Van Gilder