Category Archives: Air Shows

Romanian LanceRs

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RIAT proved to be a lot of fun with such a variety of types to see.  The shooting conditions were less than ideal but that shouldn’t take away from what was there and the effort that went in to organizing it all – I’m looking at you Tom if you are reading this.  Your team did a great job.  One of the stars of the show was actually a rather aged type.  Romania brought a pair of MiG-21 LanceR jets.  The last time I shot an active MiG-21 was at Rockford many years ago and that was privately owned.  These were very definitely active.

Their arrival on the Thursday certainly got everyone excited and the display itself was great.  The jet is from an era when the current levels of maneuverability had not been achieved but the jet can still put on quite a show.  The speed is something to behold, particularly on final approach when it fairly screams in to land.  I got to shoot it from a couple of locations including being at the departure end on the Sunday of the show and getting slightly closer to the jet as it taxied out.  I understand that they will disappear before too long to be replaced with something more generic – F-16s I think – so it was time to enjoy something old school for perhaps the last time.

Lots of Prop Vortices

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Departure day at RIAT was a bit overcast, much like the majority of the show.  The damp atmosphere did have the positive effect of meaning many of the more powerful prop aircraft were pulling vortices from the tips of their propellers.  This was most obvious earlier in their take off runs but you could get a  pretty good view of it even head on from where I was sitting in the FRIAT stand.  Here is one of the Hercs that was beating the air into submission.

Concorde Formations Flypast

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RIAT is known for putting together formations of different types to celebrate certain events.  The fiftieth anniversary of the first flight of Concorde resulted in two display teams getting together.  Concorde was an Anglo-French collaboration and so was the celebration in this case.  The Red Arrows and the Patrouille de France both fly formations to represent Concorde so, for this joint effort, both teams got airborne and flew their two Concorde formations in line astern.  They made passes in each direction with the national anthems of each country playing – one on the first pass and the other on the second.  It was a simple demonstration but an impressive one all the same.

M346 Sporty Departure

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A quick post from my visit to RIAT.  There are going to be plenty of things from my time at the show that will show up on the blog in the coming weeks but this is an intro even though it comes from the last day I was there.  Departure day included some more energetic maneuvers from some of the participants including this M346 heading back to Italy.  It waggled the wings to give us a nice top side view.  Thanks chaps.

T-38s Only Fly on Cloudy Days

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The Boeing T-38 chase jets are something I have not had much success in hunting down.  I have got some shots but they were not in great conditions.  I did have another chance recently when at Boeing Field but, guess what, the clouds rolled in at just the wrong time.  The T-38 flew nicely down the approach and provided a great opportunity but the light was not really playing ball.  Still, at least I got some shots, even if the colors are hardly popping.

Forgotten F-22 Pass

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There are a lot of air shows that I have been to over the years.  You think you remember them well and then something shows up in your archive of images that you have completely forgotten about.  I am a member of a Facebook group that has a different challenge each week and, when I get the next challenge, I work through my catalog to see what I have that might contribute.  It is an interesting exercise in finding stuff that I had forgotten about.

This wasn’t one of those challenges but I was looking for something else when I came across this shot of an F-22 pulling vapor and shockwaves as it did a fast pass at the Rockford Air Show.  Rockford was a great show that I used to go to when I lived in Chicago.  They always got great static displays and performers for the flying display.  The only limitation was that you were pretty much shooting in to the sun.

This F-22 made a fast pass and was clearly pulling a lot of vapor as it went.  I don’t know why I forgot about this sequence but apparently I did.  I had a go at processing them again to see what I could make of the shots this time compared to my technique in 2009.  Not an easy shot to make work but the plane is dramatic enough to make it worthwhile I think.

That Rare Beast, the 109

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The Bf-109 was built in huge numbers but a very small number of them survive.  The Hispano Buchon was a 109 fitted with a Merlin engine and they served after the war and ultimately made their way into collections in bigger numbers but real 109s are a lot thinner on the ground.  They also look so much meaner in my mind courtesy of the thicker nose for the DB engine.  FHCAM has a 109 and it flew during the European Theater Day.

It went out for a run in the morning and I got a couple of quick shots of it then.  It flew again in the afternoon, this time paired with the Mosquito.  Sadly, there were limited times when they were alone and the Mosquito was a priority for me that day so the 109 did not get my focus.  I did get to shoot a few frames of it and, with a sunny day bringing out the camouflage nicely, I was quite pleased with the results.  Obviously there are better conditions to shoot it but I had very few 109 airborne shots before this day so I expanded the collection quite a bit.

Stirring Spitfire Performance

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In my younger days, I was all about modern aircraft and didn’t have much interest in warbirds.  Over time and having been involved with a number of groups that operate these aircraft, I have grown far more interested.  Being in the US, you get a lot of American vintage aircraft to see.  In the UK I might not have been so bothered about Spitfires but, now I see them less often, they have become of greater interest.

The later model Spitfires seem less graceful to me but the earlier models have a simpler and more elegant appearance.  This one was carrying out some flybys at Paine Field during the Open Day.  The rumble of the Merlin is well known and common to the P-51s.  The line of the Spitfire is unique, though, and seeing it swooping by was really quite exciting.  What a great looking aircraft.

An Old School Cobra

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The Cobra is still a big part of Marine Corps aviation with the Zulu model the current favorite as it replaces the previous Whiskey models.  However, the Cobra started out life as an Army attack helicopter.  While they are long retired from Army service, old examples still are airworthy and one of them was performing at the Olympia air show.  I was rather pleased to see it when it initially arrived and then it performed a flying display alongside a Huey.

A lightly loaded Cobra is still an agile beast and this one was being thrown around with some zeal.  Unfortunately, the sky was rather overcast so the shape was a bit disguised by the shadows but it was still great to see the narrow fuselage combined with the broad chord rotor as it thrashed its way around the display.  What a cool looking machine.

The Only Airworthy Huskie

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This one is about as rare as something gets.  If you are the only airworthy example, the only thing that is going to beat you is the only example at all.  The Kaman Huskie is a neat little helicopter.  It features the Kaman intermeshing rotor design which removes the requirement for a tail rotor and results in a pretty compact configuration.  These used to be in widespread service with the US forces.  Now they are scrapped or in museums.

This one lives in Olympia and it comes out to fly at their annual air show.  Apparently, there are only about 14 hours left on the rotor blades and there are no more blades so the flying is rationed carefully to get a few more years out of her.  Kaman’s rotor blade design includes control surfaces on the blade so these are not a simple item.

Seeing her towed out was a lot of fun and I was delighted when she taxied out and took off for the display.  What a fascinating shape and something genuinely different.  I was so pleased, even if the light was rather sketchy.  A cloudy Huskie is better than no Huskie at all.