Category Archives: Air Shows

Patrouille de France Show Up Late

I am catching up on some things that happened quite a while ago. The visit of the Patrouille de France to Mather for a display as part of their US Tour was a combination of fun and frustration. I was covering the visit for GAR and had arranged to be there for the arrival, the practice and the show itself. They were supposed to show up relatively early but they had some serviceability issues and, when they finally showed up, the sun was setting.

There was still some light when the first jets flew into the pattern. As they taxied in, the light on them was rather nice. By the time the last jets (of the day) showed up, it was dark. The crews were very cheerful despite their difficult day and they spent a lot of time with some local kids for a French school. They didn’t all make it though. Two jets had diverted with problems and they would show up until late the following day. The A400M didn’t arrive until after I had left and it headed straight out the following morning to go and fix the two stragglers. The second day practice and flyby over the Golden Gate were scrubbed as a result with the flyby being achieved after the display rather than before.

It was a few days with a mix of good flying and disappointment but such is the way with aviation.

So Close to a Gear Up Landing

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A gear up landing is never something you want to have. What is worse is doing it in front of a lot of people. However, the crowd can sometimes be a benefit. The open house at Paine Field included some flybys by various types and one Navion was the last in his group to recover. Coming down the approach with flap deployed but no gear he looked very odd. I imagine the horn should have been blaring but, whatever the reason, he continued. Much frantic waving by the crowd and a call from the air boss had the desired effect, fortunately. A go around ensued followed by a normal approach a landing. I understand many beers were bought that night.

Boomerang

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This plane is a great example of what an imaginative mind can achieve when combined with an understanding of aerodynamics. It is one of the products of the talent that is Burt Rutan. When Burt ran Scaled Composites, he specialized in creating aircraft that were out of the ordinary and yet capable performers. The Boomerang is an asymmetric airframe that provides twin engine performance with more benign handling in an engine out configuration. I came upon it during a visit to Oshkosh for Airventure.

The owner at the time was very happy to share his aircraft with anyone who was interested and, given the unusual nature of the plane and the fascination people have with Rutan’s creations, he was never short of visitors. I didn’t spend much time with him but, while I was there, I was struggling to find angles to shoot the plane from to emphasize what makes it special. Getting it in flight would have helped but it was fun checking it out while it was on the ground.

Blue Angels at Oceana (And High ISO)

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I have only been to the Oceana show once. I headed down there with my friends Ben and Simon. We weren’t terribly lucky with the weather. There was flying during the show but things were overcast and deteriorated as the show went on. The finale of the show was, naturally for a big Navy base, the Blue Angels. I was shooting with a 1D Mk IIN in those days and that was a camera that was not happy at high ISO settings.

The problem was, the light was not good and the ISO needed to be cranked up a bit. Amusingly, if you were shooting today, the ISO levels would not be anything that caused concern. Current cameras can shoot at ISO levels without any noise levels that would have been unthinkable back then. However, I did learn something very important with this shoot. The shot above is one that I got as one of the solo jets got airborne. I used it as a test for processing.

I processed two versions of the image, one with a lot of noise reduction dialed in and one with everything zeroed out. I think combined them in one Photoshop image and used a layer mask to show one version in one half of the image and the other for the second half. When I viewed the final image on the screen, the noise in one half was awfully apparent. It was a clear problem. However, I then printed the image. When I did so, things were very different. If you looked closely, you could see a little difference. However, when you looked from normal viewing distances, there was no obvious difference between the two.

My takeaway from this is that viewing images on screens has really affected our approach to images. We get very fixated on the finest detail while the image as a whole is something we forget. We print less and less these days and the screen is a harsh tool for viewing.

Can I Make a C-17 Different?

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If you go to a few airshows, you get to see a lot of familiar types in the static display. The goal is how to get something a bit more interesting. I am okay with having a record of what I have seen but you do want to try and do something different. I have seen C-17s at shows and on bases in the past so I have a lot of shots. Detail shots of parts of the airframe, low shots from near the nose, views up the ramp and under the tail. What about something different this time. Shows are a bit restrictive because there are other people around so I decided to try and minimize them by going wide. Then it evolved into shooting some wide angle shots for a pano sequence from right under the wing tip. This creates some significant distortion. It was okay but I think I could have done it a bit better to add to the drama. Maybe closer in with a wider field of view. I’ll have to try again.

Breitling Jet Team

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There are a number of jet display teams that are operated by militaries around the world. Private jet demo teams also exist although there are a lot less of them. The Aero Vodochody L39 Albatros is an airframe that has proved popular with private teams. In the Midwest, the Hoppers used to display with four jets while out west the Patriots team are a regular fixture. In Europe, the Breitling team has been around for a long time. I saw them when we still lived in the U.K. at a couple of shows but they decided to bring the team to the US for a couple of seasons.

My first chance to see them was at San Francisco Fleet Week. I didn’t have any expectations about how the show would be and I wasn’t super excited about seeing the team. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the show that they put on. The display was well planned and kept something going on in front of the crowd. The Albatros is not a powerful jet so they need to manage the energy well to keep the display going and they did this effectively. The backdrop of the bay was obviously a good addition to the display. They did combine the individual jets with the formation jets well. They also made good use of flares at one point during the vertical maneuvers. That is something you don’t see enough these days. Sadly, it doesn’t always translate as well on photos as it appeared when you are seeing the display.

I don’t know what the plan is for the team this year but I imagine they will need to go back to Europe at some point. Two years away must have been an expensive proposition and means they will not have made any appearances over there. Maybe they will be here again but I can’t count on it. I think they are done. Good job though.

Get Those Shock Waves Showing

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The Fleet Week air show in San Francisco is wrapped up by the Blue Angels. The sneak passes made by the pair are an opportunity to try and get something interesting. Since they display over the bay and the city is known for having high relative humidity, I am always hoping to get some good vapor shots. This time out, that wasn’t to be. The air seemed to be pretty dry and there was not a lot of vapor on show. However, the fast pass from left to right takes the jet in front of the hills and Alcatraz which provides some detail to show up the distortion caused by the shock-waves. The large number of boats and associated masts meant a clean shot was tricky but I got a couple I was pleased with.

United 747 Flying a Display

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Air shows include a lot of planes that are regular performers. However, some shows manage to include something a little different and having a big airline with a local hub will help. The Chicago Air and Water Show would feature American Airlines jets when I lived there. San Francisco Fleet Week gets United to bring a jet. This year they brought a 747-400 to the flying display. Seeing a big jet like this thrown around the bay is really cool. Whether it is flying low over the bay or turning in near the Golden Gate Bridge, this is something you don’t get to see too often.

P-26 Peashooter

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One of my favorites when visiting Chino for the Planes of Fame Airshow is the Boeing P-26 Peashooter. A pre-WWII aircraft, this is the end of a generation of aircraft. Once the war started, aircraft really advanced quickly. For those that had been involved in conflict before the US actually entered the war, the aircraft had already moved on. The P-26 is a bit of a stranger in a time warp. However, the shape and technology combined with the colors make it a curious aircraft for me. Seeing it fly during the twilight show at Chino was cool and the evening light was a lot more impressive than seeing it during the day.

AWACS Oddity

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A number of different airframes have been used for airborne early warning requirements. The Boeing E-3 Sentry is the most well-known but there have been a number of other types over the years. SAAB developed a radar system that has been mounted on Embraer 145 jets, SAAB 340s and SAAB 2000s. The development of this system was started in the 1980s and a testbed was produced prior to the system appearing on a production airframe. This testbed was a Fairchild Metro turboprop. It made an appearance at the Farnborough airshow where I got some shots of it. It was camouflaged in what was then the standard Swedish camouflage scheme. This was a cool look for their planes and I do miss it.