Tag Archives: Warbird

CAF Reliant Getting Time In

Word reached me from my friend, Bob, that the CAF squadron at Arlington was planning to get some training done with their Reliant one Saturday.  I thought this would be worth a trip as I had previously left one of their events thinking that they weren’t going to fly and they did.  When everyone else got good shots of this plane, I was a touch annoyed.  Time to rectify this.

They were putting a few pilots through sorties to get time in the plane.  In the early part of the day, the weather was a little overcast so not great for shots but okay.  Of course, as the day drifted on and the sun moved around to the other side, things brightened up.  Just in time to be backlit.  At this point, I decided to call it a day and head home.  I did also have some good time near the plane while it was being refueled so I am quite happy with the results, even if they are nothing special.

Heritage Flight Museum May Fly Day

I was planning to head up to Skagit for the May Fly Day at the Heritage Flight Museum anyway.  As it turned out, I had been talking with Rich at COAP about the trip he was leading and, when he asked if I would like to tag along with their group, I said yes.  They had been working with the Museum and arranged some opportunities to shoot from locations that normal ticket access wouldn’t allow.

The team at COAP and the team at the museum were super helpful and friendly.  Add to that, the weather was great and the combination of aircraft they were able to put up was excellent so, the day was set to be a bunch of fun.  It did not disappoint.  I have shot at the museum fly days before but, sometimes, the planes I was after didn’t fly and sometimes the conditions weren’t ideal.  On this occasion, everything came together.  I did play around with my shots trying to get more dynamic images.  The high vantage point we had available helped with that too.

I took a ton of shots and culled them heavily.  The result was a few shots I was particularly happy with and it was nice that the museum shared a few of them on their social media platforms too.  Seeing the Skyraider fly is always cool but the day was a trainer day and they put up some great trainer formations.  The conditions were a little bumpy but they made a good job of it and there were shots to be had.  I look forward to the next time I am up there.

Different Angles on Sentimental Journey

A jump back to the visit of Sentimental Journey last year.  Because she was here for a while, I was able to shoot from a variety of locations to try and get some different shots of her.  The weather played ball while she was in Seattle unlike the conditions at Arlington the following week.  It was fun to try some different angles on the same plane since I had got the initial shots I wanted.

Sentimental Journey In Damper Conditions

Glorious weather had greeted the B-17, Sentimental Journey, when it came to Seattle.  The following week, it moved up to Arlington but was not so lucky.  The skies were pretty overcast and the air was more humid.  It didn’t make for great conditions to shoot a bare metal aircraft.  However, many times before, I have written here about how poorer conditions can sometimes be worthwhile.  This was one of those times.

I started off shooting from further up the field and, as the B-17 started her takeoff roll, it was clear that the props were pulling a fair bit of vapor from the air.  Consequently, I headed further down the field for the next flight.  This also provided a close look at the plane as it taxied out.  The real benefit came when the power was applied.  Vortices were streaming from the tips of the props and swirling back across the wings.  It is always a tricky call when trying to shoot in these conditions.  A good bit of prop blur is good as is a blurry background to emphasize speed but, this will result in the vortices being less defined.  A faster shutter speed helps make them stand out.  I tried to get a good balance with the speed I chose.

Back to Erickson At Madras

In 2015, I made a trip to Madras Oregon for an air-to-air photography course.  Based at the Erickson museum, we had an interesting few days discussing the approach to air to air photography as well as the chance to get some shots while airborne.  I had a good look around the museum while I was there as well but I was looking forward to a chance to check it out again when we headed south through Oregon.  Madras was on our route from Hood River to Klamath Falls so it was a definite stop.

We didn’t have a huge amount of time available to spend at the museum but we had enough to get a reasonable look around.  They were busy preparing aircraft since they were taking a few planes to the show at Klamath Falls that we were going to see.  As a result, some of the planes were either out on the ramp or at the front of the hangar being prepped for their ferry south.

There seemed to be more planes than I remembered from my previous trip and things were definitely squeezed in.  Of course, it might just be my memory not being up to par. The more unusual types like the Bellanca or the Mauler are always worth a look but everything in the collection looks great.

B-17 In Pieces

Erickson has a B-17 as part of its collection.  However, while Ye Olde Pub was sitting outside during my visit, there was a second B-17 on site.  This is Thunderbird and it is undergoing some major airframe work.  The fuselage was sitting on stands directly in front of you when you entered the hangar.  The wings and empennage were in racks around it.

I don’t know what the schedule is for sorting out this aircraft but people seemed to be busy working on it so I assume it will be back in the air before too long.  I did enjoy sneaking around trying to find good views of all of the parts that were stored awaiting their return to their rightful place on the airframe.  Madras is quite a hike for me but it might be good to go back when they get the plane back in the air.  It sounds like the sort of thing that Matt Booty might get down to photograph.  Maybe I can be his assistant!

Buzzed By A Bearcat

We were standing out to the east of the runway at Klamath Falls when the Erickson team was practicing their display ahead of the show at Sentry Eagle.  I was looking in the wrong direction when someone called out that the Bearcat was diving in on us.  I swung around and pulled the camera up at the last minute.  Needless to say, I did not get the greatest shots of the plane but it was coming right at me so I will go with the best I could get.  It was pretty cool having a Bearcat buzz right over my head!

Yak With Gear Issues

The opening fly day at Skagit County included a bonus in the form of a visiting Yak 3.  It arrived early in the day and then started up to be part of the flybys.  On one of the passes, the gear did not look fully up and then, at some point while it was off to the east, the gear door came off the plane.  Fortunately, it didn’t cause any serious issues and the pilot was able to land safely.

When he taxied in, it was easy to see that the door was missing on one of the legs.  I wondered how long the plane would be down for but I understand it ferried home later in the day to allow them to sort out the repair.  Plenty of planes have lost gear doors over the years.  As long as they come away cleanly and don’t damage any systems as they depart, things will probably be okay.

Heritage Flight Museum Fly Day

I made a trip to the Heritage Flight Museum last year for one of their fly days.  I only shot from outside and that was quite good fun.  This year, I made the effort to get up there earlier to take a look around inside before the flying started.  Once I got inside, I decided that the location was worth staying inside for given that I could watch the planes start up and shut down and also get the best of the low passes.

Sadly, the Skyraider was not signed off to fly but everything else put on a good show. We had flying from the T-6, an O-1, a pair of T-34s and a P-51.  They all flew more than once (except the O-1) and the location on the ramp provided a great place to watch the start JP, taxi out, flybys and the recovery process.  I was even able to be in the shade for a lot of the time which made for a very relaxing day.

They flew some formation flybys including a missing man formation.  Then the individual planes would do a series of passes.  Having shot a similar day from outside before, being inside did provide a good opportunity to try different things.  Outside has angles to offer but inside gives some shots that can’t be matched including the lower passes.  Besides, watching them taxi by at such close range is really cool.  I hope to get back up for another of their fly days this year.  I also need to explore the museum in more detail.

Doc Weekend Rides

I have posted some photos of the arrival of Doc previously on the blog.  However, at the weekend, it did a series of flights and I went down one morning to get some shots of it before heading off to Skagit for the fly day up there.  Shooting at BFI in the morning is not ideal so I decided to head up the hill to look down on the airport.  I headed up there and met my friend Mark.  We went in to the clearing to get ready and realized we had timed it well.  It wasn’t long before several other people had arrived and things were getting rather crowded.  Early arrival meant the choice of spots.

You are shooting from quite a distance at that location but you are elevated so the heat haze is not such a problem.  Even so, not the simplest of shots to get.  The crew kept Doc really low on departure, much as they had done on the first flight I saw.  They were flying right by the Boeing ramp so you had a combination of modern Boeing planes and 1940s products!

Once they had headed out, we moved down to the approach end.  Originally, I set myself up next to the fence.  However, a Beech came in to land and I realized that the proximity to the fence, even with ladders, was not ideal.  I relocated to the other side of the road and awaited the return of Doc.  They made a pretty sporty turn from downwind.  I got shots of it but none that were a combination of sharp and as dramatic as I would have liked.  Then they were rapidly on to short final and swooping across the threshold.

It was all pretty good fun.  I was okay with the results I got, even if they weren’t amazing.  I could have hung around for more but had another place to be.  It would have been good to go back over the weekend but timing wasn’t good with the other things I had on.  I didn’t get the visit the plane itself which was a disappointment.  I do hope they come back at some time and I can have a tour of the aircraft.