Never in 84.5 years have I been exposed to the inside of an ambulance or an emergency room (ER). Well, I could say that until this morning. I proved that I am too stupid to live*.
For the past two months, Hunky Husband had been anticipating the air show at McConnell AFB, up the road about seven miles from us. I tried to convince him that we were not "up to" doing the air show bit these days. Did I stick to my guns? Of course not! (I told you that I am too stupid to live.) HH kept talking about it and was convinced that, even if I didn't wish to accompany him, he would go by himself. (Mind you, that among the thousands of cars parked in open fields on the base, he had no hope of finding his car once he walked away from it.) Oh...see that? I can blame HH. Well...not really. I am supposed to be the caregiver. Had I been such a push-over with the girls....
I got a brilliant idea. Knowing that today's forecast was a high temperature in the low 90s and that tomorrow's high temperature was/is to be in the mid 80s, I told HH that we would go early this morning, before the heat set in, to do the static displays. We would return at noon, tomorrow, for the flight shows - scheduled to begin at 1pm with the Thunderbirds flying at 3pm. Oh, yes. Tomorrow is forecasted to be a bit cooler.
HH didn't sleep well last night, so I let him sleep in. (Add one more to my poor decisions.) We arrived at the AFB at about 10am. I made good note of where we were parked so that I would be able to find HH's car upon returning.
We walked over hill and dale (mostly succeeding in dodging gopher holes) to arrive at the inspection gate (think TSA screening) and flight line displays. We spent 30-40 minutes among the static displays. (HH refused drinks when I asked him, and I did no better. We had been told that there would be hydration stations scattered around, but we didn't see them. And we had been allowed to take in empty, plastic water bottles, but no liquids.) Some news coverage photos may be found here. I thought the crowd quite small, but we had arrived relatively early on the first day of a 2-day, 6-hour per day event and would not have seen the largest attendance.
We start our tour of the static displays with one of my favorite aircraft, the A-10 Thunderbolt (referred to, lovingly, as the Warthog) and my very favorite guy (referred to lovingly, as Sweetheart or Hunky Husband.) Taking photos was absolutely point-and-shoot as the bright sun prevented my seeing the view screen.
The next photo shows another golden oldie, a Northrop T-38 Talon trainer. HH chatted with the pilot - comparing flying in the T-38 to flying in a B-52. The T-38 is a really graceful aircraft used as a basic jet trainer. If I recall correctly, it was basically the same aircraft as the Northrop F-5A Freedom Fighter.
According to Northrop Grumman Aircraft, "Every T-38 Talon built by Northrop Grumman was delivered on time, at or below the contract price and with performance as promised. The final T-38 was delivered to the Air Force in 1972."
Next up is a Cessna O-2 Skymaster (lovingly called the "Oscar Deuce").
The next photo shows buildings on the far (western) side of the parallel runways that run, basically, north-and-south. The building indicated by the arrow is the hangar that houses the 184th Wing Air National Guard. HH spent many years as a "weekend warrior" in that building.
At the head of the line of large (heavy) aircraft was the redoubtable, Lockheed C-130 Hercules, one of the most useful craft in USAF, to me. It was one of the models that we analyzed (at Tyndall AFB), setting requirements for repair of bomb-damaged runways & taxiways. It has a short take-off roll and is rugged!
Next comes another aircraft that we worked with on the Rapid Runway Repair Program, The McDonnell Douglas KC-10 Extender. AFAIK the KC-10 is the largest tanker flown by the US military, although I don't recall how it compares in payload to the Boeing KC-33A that may still be flown by a mid-Eastern country.
All three of the tankers/partial tankers shown in the next photo are Boeing KC-46 Pegasus tankers. If you wonder why so many tankers were on display, consider the mission of the USAF components at McConnell AFB.
From McConnell AFB In-depth Overview:
Mission
The 22nd Air Refueling Wing is the host unit at McConnell AFB and part of the Air Mobility Command. The 22nd ARW is one of the Air Force's three core tanker wings. The Wing's fleet of KC-135 and KC-46 aircraft provides in-flight all-weather aerial refueling for U.S. and allied military aircraft, as well as airlift for global reach projection of troops, equipment and supplies worldwide. The Wing's 17 squadrons (16 at McConnell, one at Pease Air National Guard Base in New Hampshire) combine for a force of approximately 3,500 active duty military members.
The base is Total Force, hosting the 931st Air Refueling Wing Air Force Reserve and the 184th Wing Air National Guard units.
There are two areas of concern in the next photo: 1) the small blue and gold biplane, a Stearman Kaydet ("The Kaydet, [a] two-seater biplane introduced by the Stearman Aircraft Division of Boeing in Wichita, Kan....") and 2) an array of large aircraft; left-to-right, the Boeing 747-400 Large Cargo Freighter Dreamlifter, an unidentified Boeing-made plane (I'm guessing a Boeing 777, commonly referred to as the Triple Seven), a McDonnell Douglas/Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, and two Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers.
Toward the end of our walk-around, I wanted to walk to the north end of the apron (adjacent to Runway 1R) to get a photo of the Boeing Dreamlifter that was on display. HH had been dragging, so I thought nothing of it when he sought shade under a C-17 wing, urging me to go get my photo and come back for him.
The next few photos show some of the previously listed large aircraft, the nearest being the McDonnell Douglas/Boeing C-17 Globemaster III. At this point in our tour, HH opted to shelter in the shade of the C-17's nose while I wandered on down the flightline to photograph the rest of the large aircraft.
The next photo shows a Boeing 747-400 Large Cargo Freighter Dreamlifter which uses McConnell AFB runways a few times most months. A behemoth, it accommodates the fuselage section of Boeing 787 aircraft. It is also used for other transport needs - at a high price, I'm sure.
Upon my return to the C-17, I found HH patiently waiting.
I was going to tell HH, "Let's go home." We had done our bit and it was getting too hot. The closer I approached HH the more it became apparent that he had a problem. He told me that he felt lightheaded, so I tried to help him sit on the concrete, but he was too wobbly and uncoordinated to do that, so I called in the two Emergency Medical Technicians who were just feet away with their bicycles. They helped him sit, then lay back.
The show was over for HH and me. I asked the EMTs (note one of the two who were standing with their bicycles quite near HH) to summon a golf cart to take us to HH's car so that I could drive him home - with a stop off at the Emergency Room (ER) that was just three miles on the way toward our home, as they insisted. It was too late for that. The EMTs started HH on an IV of saline solution and summoned an ambulance. In the hassle of getting HH taken care of, I myself passed out. [An EMT thought my heart had stopped, so gave me CPR, but I think he just could not find my pulse** - as has happened in my past 72 years, on occasion.] We ended up sharing a suite at a downtown Wichita hospital ER. We were not held long when our EKGs and blood workups turned out "reasonably normal".
Dudette arranged for Wonderful GrandDaughter to be the first to greet us at the ER, even before Dudette arrived. (I had called Dudette during our transport phase. HH and I were in separate ambulances because neither ambulance would accommodate two stretchers. Our dear neighbor Adam, an EMT, accompanied HH on his journey.) WGD and Rachie found HH's car (amazingly astute women, eh?) and arrived at our home before we arrived via Dudette's car.
All is well that ends well. We are fine and thankful to the whole village of people who helped us when we were down and out.
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* I am told that making such mistakes does not let me resign from caregiving by ELAINE M. ESHBAUGH, PHD in You Are Going To Mess This Up.
** Back in 1976, I flew to Kansas City to be with my mother and dad when Mom was having surgery to repair a congenital hole between her heart chambers. At one point, in the recovery room, I summoned a nurse when Mom started struggling. During the nurse's ministrations, having feared that Mom was dying, I started going into shock. Telling Mom that I would be right back, I walked a short distance away where I sat on the floor and immediately lost consciousness. I came to with a physician holding either wrist, one saying to the other, "I'm not getting anything, are you?" They couldn't find my pulse and, knowing that my mother had had surgery to correct a congenital defect, thought that I might also have a defect. They gave me oxygen for a bit and I was fit enough to fly myself back to Wichita a few hours later.
. That's a mouthful! It may be accessed at 
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