Tag Archives: Warbird

Buccaneer Event at Kemble

The Buccaneer Aviation Group has charge of a couple of retired Blackburn Buccaneers that it looks after at Cotswold Airport at Kemble in Gloucestershire. They held an open day in April that included some taxiing of one of the jets and I decided this would be a good way to spend a spring Saturday. They were going to start up the jet, taxi it around on the ramp, run through a sequence of tests on the airframe and then go out to the runway for a fast run before returning to the ramp to shut down.

There would then be a break while they repositioned everything to their ramp where everyone would be able to spend some time up close with the planes and get pictures as required. The jet that was going to be taxied was one of the last Buccaneers built and is painted up in retro Royal Navy colours as worn by 809 Sqn jets when serving on Ark Royal before the carrier was retired. I don’t think this jet actually had any RN pedigree but that isn’t a big deal.

The second jet that they have is in the process of being prepped for painting in the standard RAF camouflage. Currently it is stripped back ready for paint, and I have to admit I found it rather cool looking with the random patterns that are visible. This will show in another post. The two jets were lined up together in front of the hangar to allow everyone to get their photos.

I was one of the first cars allowed through the gate to the second part of the day which meant I was able to get some images before everyone else showed up and it started getting busy. However, they did have a good level of organisation to it all so, after giving everyone some time to get up close, they pulled everyone back a bit to leave it unobscured for photos. I did notice some steps off to one side of the ramp and asked I they might be moved in to get a higher angle on things, fully assuming that wouldn’t be possible. I was wrong. They were more than happy to bring them in which made for a better angle on the shots.

The day had started out with some damp and windy conditions. It did rain a bit during the taxi section of the day. This was quite handy in that it made the grey paint look like it would on a carrier at sea, i.e. wet! It also showed up the blowing of the wing when they carried that out and resulted in a cool vortex in the inlet being visible. As the day progressed, the weather got a lot better. It was quite sunny by the time we were on the ramp with the jets.

The team were in no hurry to kick us out and, as the afternoon wore on, the number of people thinned out and the light got nicer. I hung around with a guy called Matt that I had met, and we were able to pass the time talking about planes, cameras and places. Finally, we were the only ones around and the crew started putting the jets away. The steps were still out so I was able to get a high angle as they pulled a jet beneath me. It was a tight fit, but it all worked out well. A top day out and many thanks to the tea baggers at TBAG.

Fifi Ramp Tour

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While Fifi, the B-29 Superfortress, was in Seattle, they opened her up for ramp tours. Since they didn’t get to run their normal rides, this was one of the few opportunities to get some revenue while in town. I had not done a ramp tour with her before (putting aside the time I met with the crew in DuPage for an article I was writing. It isn’t a speedy process to get through her and so a good amount of time was spent in line under the wing while we waited for our turn but that was fine.

We started out going underneath into the bomb bay where there was a guide to explain about the plane. Then we climbed up into the cockpit and spent some time looking around and hearing more of the stories of the team. Then it was back outside and time to wander around and see the aircraft up close. She is a lovingly maintained aircraft and I was glad I finally bothered to do the tour.

Fifi Shows Up in Seattle

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Since we have lived in the Northwest, we have had a visit from a B-29. That was Doc with Fifi’s previous visits having predated my arrival. I had seen Fifi elsewhere in the US but, when I heard that the CAF was bringing her up, I was looking forward to seeing her. She was due to arrive early in the week and then sit around until undertaking some rides at the end of the week. She was coming up from California and arriving at the end of the day, which meant I had a chance to be there.

A B-29 is not speedy so you can track her progress and know you have enough time. When they arrived, they did request an overhead break by ATC was unable to comply. When we saw her out on the approach, she seemed to be doing something odd. Apparently, they had got too close to the preceding aircraft (although it was a bizjet and she is a lot slower, so I am not sure how that happened). The result was that they broke off the approach and made an orbit before resuming the approach.

After that, things were pretty normal. She came down the approach with some nice evening light. The rumble of those engines as she came by was impressive and then she was flaring for landing. I was optimistic about trying a variety of angles the following weekend when she was due to undertake the rides. Directly under the approach path was one I had in mind. Sadly, one of the crew had to return home and they didn’t have enough for the rides to be carried out, so she sat on the ground for almost the entire visit.

Erickson Makes the Bremerton Show Interesting

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The Bremerton Air Show had some interesting displays, but the biggest contribution came from the Erickson Air Collection. Aside from the Grumman Duck about which I have already posted, they brought a P-47 Thunderbolt, a P-40 Kittyhawk, a Bf-109 and an F4U Corsair. The Corsair was for the Legacy Flight at the end of the show, but the others went up together for a sequence of passes. Great to see these different planes out and about and congratulations to Erickson for having added so much to the show.

After Many Years, I Finally See a Duck Fly

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My aviation interests are varied but my favorites are modern and recent jet fighters if I am pushed. However, vintage aircraft and warbirds are still pretty cool even if they are not something I know a huge amount about. There will be occasions when such a type might be enough to get me out and about. I was on the fence about going to the Bremerton Air Show but, when I heard that Erickson was bringing its Grumman J2F Duck to fly at the show, my interest was piqued.

I have seen a few of these amphibious planes in museum collections but I have never seen one airborne. It is such a quirky looking airframe; I was really interested in getting some shot of it flying so that tipped me over the edge with regard to heading down to Bremerton National Airport for the show. This is the sort of thing that then results in the plane going tech and me being disappointed. However, that was not to be the case this time.

Mike Oliver flew the display in the Duck. We were seated in a location close to where it was parked so got to watch it from start up to shut down. No great aerobatic performances for a plane like this but the nice thing was that they got their whole collection airborne together and then everything else went off to hold while the Duck took center stage. A few nice passes and then it came back into land. The light could have been better, but it was still pretty good. I finally have ticked it off. I guess now I’ll see them everywhere!

Status of the Stuka

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When making my first visit to FHCAM after it re-opened, one of the things I was interested to know was whether the Stuka had made any further progress from when I last saw it or whether it was paused for restoration. Things looked like they had moved on a bit since I was last there, but it didn’t look obvious that a huge amount had happened so that could have been after I was there and before they closed down. It would be very cool to have a Stuka back in the air so we shall see if this one progresses. If anyone knows, please comment below. In the meantime, here are some shots of how it looks most recently.

The A-26 Makes a Long Trip in the Rain

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During the holidays and just before New Year, my friend Paul was in town for a day, so we did some exploring. The weather started out being less than ideal. We had swung by Renton to see if there was anything of interest and the A-26, Sexy Sue, was out on the ramp looking ready to head off. We debated which direction they would depart and which would be most suitable for shots. In the end, we stayed where we were figuring it would be too high at the lake end of the field. (That proved not to be the case with a very low departure!)

Our chosen location did give us a good view of start up and taxi out of the plane. They were flight planned to Oakland CA which struck me as quite a long trip to take in an A-26. Sure, in combat people would have done that and when they were corporate transports it would have been normal but there are more comfortable ways to travel these days. Anyway, before long, they were lined up and powered off. There was plenty of vortex action from the props in such a damp atmosphere but it probably looked better from other angles. With them gone, we jumped back in the car and decided to continue our adventures elsewhere.

CAF Reliant Getting Time In

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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

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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

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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.