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Trying Something Different

If you are not a fast jet pilot, you might think that being one is close to the pinnacle of flying excitement. Everything else would seem rather tame by comparison. However, you might just be wrong. During the course of the Waukegan Airshow, Paul Wood of the Warbird Heritage Foundation hosted a number of the performers. The A-10 and F/A-18 crews both paid I visit while I was there and they all took a chance to go flying.

The aircraft of choice was the Boeing Stearman. Sean took then flying (including his friend Russell – a local guy originally). It is safe to say that everyone came back grinning like kids. They had a bunch of fun playing around with something totally different – not least of which is the open cockpit.

During the after show party, Stewie (who flies Hornets during the day) checked out a number of the collection’s other planes. He certainly looked like he would have taken a lot of things home with him if he had the chance!

Kilauea Lighthouse

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We repeated another part of the trip from last year when we went out to Kilauea lighthouse. This is a peninsula which not only provides a good navigation reference but is also a great spot for watching some bird activities. The birds roost on the rock faces and head out to sea to fish. However, some are less inclined to do the hard work.

The frigate birds prefer to wait for the boobies to return from fishing and then harass them into dropping their catch and scooping it up themselves. Out by the lighthouse is a great place to watch this happening. The lighthouse itself is undergoing restoration at the moment and is covered in protective material. It doesn’t make a good photography target for the time being. Glad I saw it last year! however, the fencing around it apparently was popular with a young booby. Not sure why he would choose that when there is so much human free space around but there you go!

There were also some dolphins swimming around in the bay below us. They were a long way off and hard to spot but it was still exciting to spot them. I could really spend ages out on the headland. The wind blows you about but the birds are so close and the view is so good, it is hard to find a good reason to leave!

Waukegan Show

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The Saturday of the Waukegan show turned out to be a great one with excellent weather, some great flying and a lot of good people to hang out with. What more could you ask for? While Waukegan is not a big airport, the quality of the show has steadily grown and the ability to attract the Canadian display team, The Snowbirds, is a sign of how well they have done.

This year had a great line up for the show as well as plenty of great aircraft on static display. With some great light but the temperatures not being at all uncomfortable, it was a photographer’s dream. Just as well since there were a bunch of photographers there! The show was a mix of displays with sky divers, piston aerobatics, fast jets, vintage piston displays, wing walking, a jet bus, Heritage and Legacy flights from the Air Force and Navy and the Snowbirds to wrap it up.

I mentioned previously that the weather had been less impressive for practice day. In past years, I have had good weather for the practice but not for the show. This year it did it right for the visitors – and there were lots of them! The quality of the flying was excellent and, while some of the acts were familiar, some were new or at least not seen for a while. Seeing the Hornets instead of the Super Bug was a nice change and the display is quite different given the differing natures of the two aircraft.

The Snowbirds proved to be a great conclusion to the show. They flew a tight and polished display (with one minor exception) and did a good job of using the number of aircraft to keep something going on in front of the crowd. They mixed it up with some pairs and four ship crossing to keep everyone on their toes. I think they made a lot of fans. I hadn’t seen them for a while so it was good to see them again. (They were also a lot of fun at the party later!)

Congratulations to Jim and the team at Waukegan. A great show and I hope to see one again some time.

Na’Pali Coast

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One of the beautiful features of Kauai is the northwestern coastline. Last year we took a look at it from the air and you can find the previous piece here if you want to look back at it. This year, we went the opposite way and went for the boat trip to see the coast from below! We were on a catamaran with a group of about a dozen other people. We cruised up the coast looking at the various features as we went. We could pull in to inlets, look at the caves, check out the water falling from above and see the mountains above.

The weather was a bit mixed with some cloud rolling in but it was still pretty good. The area is gorgeous and seeing it from this perspective was a really great thing. Bobbing about on the waves was very relaxing and we were at the end of the day so the whole trip had a very calming feeling to it.

The return leg was less calming though. The weather decided it wasn’t going to be calm any more. The wind got up a bit and the rain started. We bounced about on the way back. There was an area on the boat under cover which was welcome but, with the boat pitching about a bit, you needed to keep an eye on the horizon to avoid feeling rough. This worked fine and we got back without any problems (or loss of lunch). The rain did have some advantages with it providing a great rainbow at one point.

I would not say that there is a best way to see Na’Pali. If you can, the combination of air and sea is great. It certainly isn’t cheap but the two methods really do give you a great perspective on a beautiful area.

Waukegan Arrivals and Practice

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One of my favorite airshows is held at Waukegan. This show has a lot to offer. It has a good selection of performers, it is not so large that you feel exhausted even getting there, the display is not vast but it does flow well and a lot of people I know are involved. Also, it is close to home so covering several days is not a problem.

I actually had three days up at the show. I shall deal with the show itself in an upcoming post. Before that I headed up for the arrivals and for the practice. These were on the Thursday and Friday and the weather could not have been more different. Thursday was a lovely day. I got there just after the A-10s arrived which was a disappointment but I was there for the F/A-18s showing up as well as the Snowbirds, some of whom flew around for a considerable time before landing.

The practice show on Friday had a solid cloud layer all day. It wasn’t so bad that the practice could not go ahead but it certainly did not make for great photographic conditions. The practice was just for the main acts with the Snowbirds performing, both Hornets doing the demonstration and the USAF Heritage Flight involving an A-10. The rest of the performers were not involved. Since these displays required closing a local street, the aim was to keep the practice relatively short.

The results were not my best photos ever. With the forecast for better things on the Saturday during the show itself, there was a good chance that most of these would be consigned to the trash if Saturday worked out. However, there were some that weren’t too bad. As for Saturday, you will have to wait and see…

Kauai Sunrise

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One of the great opportunities on Kauai is to see the sunset. Sure, you can get great sunsets in a whole bunch of places but somehow it seems better when you are in a tropical paradise! This year we didn’t make the trip to the beach at Ke’e which is a popular sunset spot. Of course, sunset isn’t the only opportunity.

The sun comes up in some pretty ways to and where we stayed provides a good view of proceeding. We did get a few opportunities to see the sun come up (the time change makes for early rising) and light up the sky. However, the weather wasn’t always cooperative on this trip so it was the luck of the draw some times. However, I think we did okay!

Hawaii Time

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We recently got to take another great trip. Like last year, we were back in Hawaii and most of the time was spent on Kauai with a bit of time on Maui at the end. There is no disguising it – Hawaii is a great place to go. Whether it is the beautiful scenery, the activities to be done or the chance to just relax away from everything for a while, it is a great spot.

We did a bunch of stuff while we were there and this is going to drip feed into the blog in the coming weeks. So much to see and report you will be sick of it before too long. However, I will try and intersperse a few other bits into the stream so you don’t feel it is too one-sided. Besides, where are the planes?

Bay Area Birds

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A while back I was in in the Bay Area and was near SFO. While the area is a good one for getting shots of the airliner traffic heading into the airport there, it is also a great spot for seeing some birds. The tidal flats are a popular spot for a bunch of shoreline birds. There are also some large birds like egrets that hang out there.

Pelicans are another type that show up pretty frequently. Coyote Point is a good spot for the pelicans since they like to soar along the ridge formed by the point and come right past you. I wasn’t there to specifically take pictures but I did manage to grab some of them as they came by. Hummingbirds also hang out on the point but I didn’t get any shots of them this time. However, there is always another chance!

Historic Flight Foundation

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Two down and one to go. A trip across to the other side of Paine Field and you arrive at the Historic Flight Foundation – John Sessions collection of vintage aircraft. Combined with my previous two visits, you really have to think of Everett as a goldmine for the aviation enthusiast. Much like the Flying Heritage Collection, the focus here is on airworthy vintage aircraft. However, they are all allied aircraft and are not all military planes.

The hangar is a lovely spot that is spotless. The aircraft are arrayed around the place and they all look spotless too. One was undergoing its annual so was pulled apart a bit more. There is also a B-25 that was outside when I was visiting. I was welcomed to take a look inside. Flights are available too if you want although my schedule and budget were not going to fit in with that and the weather was rather crappy to be honest.

One of the volunteers was an ex-pat Brit and he showed me around the whole collection. He knew a great deal about the planes having been involved with them for a long time and we had a great time. others were passing by and would join the discussion as well. It was a very friendly environment. John Sessions was also about and said hello but he had a group visiting so was making sure they were having a good time.

As with the other places at Paine Field, I can certainly recommend a visit. It is an interesting collection and if you can time it to coincide with some flying activity, you will have done even better.

Museum of Flight Restoration Facility

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The Museum of Flight has its main building down at Boeing Field in Seattle. However, they have a separate restoration facility located up at Paine Field. I had visited this many years ago. At the time, it was a case of showing up and wandering around. They welcomed any visitors but it was all very informal. Since I was nearby, I thought I would pop by and see how their Cutlass restoration was going.

Things have changed a bit. They have an additional part of the building where they now have a proper entrance and a small store. They have also introduced a small entrance fee. This seems perfectly reasonable to me. Anything that helps with the preservation work the museum does is a good thing. I talked with one of the volunteers about the changes since I had last been there and asked about the Cutlass. Apparently it is a basket case and hasn’t moved on much since I was last there. At least it is being protected, even if it isn’t likely to be in much better shape for a long time.

The facility also has the Comet 4 that they have been making progress on along with the prototype Boeing 727. It also had the prototype JetStar which is configured with twin engines instead of the four of later models. Those who know my fascination with this plane as described here and here will know that was a good one for me to see.

This was a brief visit but a good one all the same. Check them out and help support the work they do. If you ask any questions, you will be warmly welcomed and given lots of freedom to see their work.