The weather was perfect, the people were great, the performers were all outstanding. The 2003 Wings Over Houston Airshow was a roaring success, but the enthusiasm was tempered by the tragic loss of a pilot and his aircraft after Saturday's performances.

Attendance was at near record levels. And we definitely had plenty of aircraft on display. Modern military included a C-5 Galaxy, F-14's, F-15's, F-16's, F-18's and CF-18's, Harriers, T-6 Texan II's, an A-10, an AH-64, a C-17, three variations of the workhorse C-130 (MC-130 Special Ops, WC-130 "Hurricane Hunter", and the awesome AC-130 Gunship), AWACS and Hawkeye command and control aircraft, a B-52, a KC-10, a KC-135, several Coast Guard aircraft and several NASA aircraft, plus probably some others which I've forgotten. WWII and post-WWII aircraft included several AT-6/SNJ/Harvards (including the Aeroshell North American AT-6 team), a BT-13 (West Houston Squadron's), PT-17 Stearmans, Bob Dunn's PT-19, a deHaviland Chipmunk, T-34's, T-28's, a Yak/Nanching trainer, two beautiful Beech 18/C-45's, an L-6, two J-3 Cubs, four O-2's, an AD-4 Skyraider, an A-26 Invader, a B-25 and a PBJ, a Ju-52, a B-17, two FM-2 Wildcats, P-51's, a P-63, two SBDs, the world's only flying SB2C, a great fleet from the Tora gang, a full set of planes from the Collings Foundation, and again probably some I've forgotten. The airshow ramp stretched over a mile from the warbirds through the modern military and vendor displays and spectator area and finally the Eagle Squadron area.

The West Houston PX also had a great weekend, selling almost everything except the trailer (and they probably would have let that go, too, for the right price). Hats off to the PX crew - it's more work than most people realize, and they don't get enough credit for their contributions.