USAFA....Air Force Academy

Hello all again.......

What a great day we had......we visited the Air Force Academy, here in Colorado Springs. What a terrific institution. I so wish our nephew Jason had been here to tell us all about it. We did go on a tour of the Chapel here. It is really four chapels in one......they cater to Protestant, (the one in the picture here), Catholic, Jewish, and Buddist. They also have a smaller chapel that they use for any other denomination. There is beautiful stained glass in it, as well as a magnificent pipe organ at the rear of the Church. The all cadet choir sings at the services here. We didn't hear them, but hear that they are terrific.

We watched a noon formation today....a practice session really, that is held 3 times a week. All the cadets must participate...except those who are scheduled for other activities at that time. In this top picture, we were told there were about 3500 cadets, in 40 different squadrons, plus the cadets that are in the band. There are a total of 4000 cadets
enrolled, so 500 or so were involved in other endeavors. It was wonderful to see the precision of their marching and cadences.

In the airstrip there, we watched small tow planes pull up gliders.......each student must participate in this experience while they are here. One after the other went up, into the bluest sky you ever saw. Up, up, up they went.......until some pre-determinded altitude is reached, and the glider releases the tow line......to soar, dip, perform loop de loops and somersaults.........all the while catching the thermals off the Rocky Mts right here. Then they would slowly glide back to their earthly restraints.........only to tip over on to one wing, after they've stopped. It was wonderful to watch.

And.......there is the jumpers. Again, all cadets must jump from a perfectly good airplane, to try their luck at landing. And were they ever good........I could see them pull down on a line on both sides, and slow down so much that it was just a simple step down to terra
firma. It was so cool to see them soaring over our heads in a puffy parachute. Again, a beautiful blue sky made a fabulous backdrop.

We're here for one more day, and then off to New Mexico. We'll see you on the road.

Love......Kathie