Category Archives: Air Shows

WACO Reunion

I have previously mentioned that I am more interested in getting to events that are slightly more individual than the bigger airshows these days. That also includes when I am trying to get material for the magazine together. One such event was the WACO Reunion in Mount Vernon OH. This was being covered for a piece that I was writing for Global Aviation Resource and will appear in an upcoming edition of the magazine. Consequently, I am not going to preempt the magazine piece here.

Instead, this is more about the time I had while I was there rather than a description of the event and the organization. I had been in contact with Andy Heins, president of the national WACO Club earlier in the year to make sure I could cover the event. Andy told me what I needed to do to be there and then made himself available to tell me all about what was going on. The event is a gathering of club members and their aircraft and is a very social event. There is no flying display. However, the members like to fly their aircraft and that is what they do. The middle of the day is quite quiet but early in the morning and later in the day when the weather is a lot more calm is the time when people get in their planes and fly.

Fortunately, that also included me getting to fly too. My first trip of the day was in a Citabria with Tim Ponds. This was to get some aerial shots of the aircraft parked to illustrate the article. Time was very accommodating and we got some video footage as well as stills of the site. While we were up, Steve Thomas was flying his WACO and we arranged an impromptu shoot. Normally I am not inclined to shoot air to air without a prior brief. However, we kept it simple and straight and level and I was able to grab some good shots. We also flew past the airfield and got a couple of shots with the aircraft parked in the background.

Then I got my first flight in a WACO when Susan Theodorelos took me up in her beautiful model RNF. This is an open cockpit model with the pilot in the rear seat and a two seat space up front for the passengers. I was on my own in this case so had some space to move. A couple of other aircraft joined up for some formations and I was able to grab some shots of them at the same time. Vibration was not too bad but keeping myself isolated from the airframe was tricky so getting good shots was a bit tricky. However, I got some I was pleased with.

One technique thing I learned from these flights was focus activation. I normally focus with the rear button on the camera rather than the shutter button. This is fine in almost all circumstances. However, when you are trying to shoot backwards at an odd angle, this is a lot harder to do and the shutter button becomes the best solution. Swapping the configuration in flight (I hadn’t expected to shoot another aircraft when we first took off) wasn’t practical so some odd contortions were necessary. Now I have added this config setting to my quick menu so I can make the change quickly if the situation should arise again.

Everyone at the flyin was very friendly. Aviation never fails to amaze me with the way in which you can show up somewhere for the first time with nothing but a shared interest and be welcomed so quickly by people you have never met before. The WACO people were a perfect example of this and I can’t thank them enough for their hospitality. I hope to be back again for future reunions. In the mean time, here is a little video that I got while there. Enjoy and don’t forget to buy the magazine when it comes out at www.globalaviationresource.com!

Rockford

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Only a week after Janesville’s show (discussed here) came Rockford’s show. Given that Rockford is about 20-30 miles south of Janesville, this must be a bit of feast or famine for the local aviation enthusiasts. Rockford is a larger show and has a substantial static display but it does have some of the same performers as Janesville. It also adds some other bits and pieces too. The only difficulty is that you are facing south so the lighting for photography is a little tricky.

The Thunderbirds were the headline act but the Black Diamond team was also on the bill. Fortunately, they turned up with the full complement of aircraft this time. This made for a far more interesting display and I did enjoy what they did. It was just as well I saw them is this turned out to be one of the last times the full team appeared anywhere. Apparently they have picked up a lot of work supporting military training and can no longer bring so many aircraft to a given show. They will have a reduced number of L-39s at future events. Given my experience at Janesville with their reduced show, this will be a disappointment to many who were looking forward to their appearances.

Art was also present with the SHAR and the L-39. Yet again my weather curse struck. Bright sunlight was present right up until he launched. It was still there as he headed out for his opening pass. Then the cloud came in just in time for his benefit pass so flat light again for me! Arghh! One day I will get the shots I want of that lovely aircraft.

The flying display was a good mix but one of the high points for me was an unexpected extra. A Boeing Dreamlifter was apparently in the area and performed a low approach a go around. The crew brought the jet down to a very low height with gear and flaps down and then maintained that height along a substantial portion of the runway before powering off again. Not something that will be seen at too many shows I am sure and I am glad to have caught it. I have seen the jet on the ground a couple of times but this was the first time I saw it in flight.

The team at Rockford really work hard at getting a diverse selection of aircraft into the static display and this year was no exception. The ramp was full of jets from many operators and locations. Since I was in before the gates opened to the public, I got a good chance to see what was on display and catch up with the some of the crews. It also helped to be able to get some shots before the sun got too high and made the light so harsh. This is an issue during the show since heat haze becomes a problem quite quickly so getting shots of anything to far away becomes impractical. However, there is nothing anyone can do about that so you have to do what you can. It was an enjoyable show and a credit to the organizing team. I know some people had issues with parking and getting away but I didn’t have any unusual in that regard so maybe I was just lucky.

Janesville

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The Janesville show, or to give it it’s proper title, The Southern Wisconsin Airfest, is on each year but, for one reason or another, I have never previously attended it. This time, my friend Art Nalls was displaying with his Sea Harrier and L-39. Originally, I was planning to do something with Art after this show although that fell through as a result of a third party letting us down. However, I decided to attend the show to see what it had on offer.

I went for two of the three days. There was a Friday evening show and both days of the weekend. I went for Friday and Saturday. The Friday show was cut short by a pretty excitable thunder storm that moved in just as the Heritage Flight was getting ready to launch. Art had fortunately already displayed but the light was already fading when he flew and the impending storm was not hard to predict!

Saturday started out with another storm but it fortunately blew through before the show was due to start. My morning was focused on a flight with the US Army’s Golden Knights parachute display team as I previously blogged about here. Then it was on to the main show (or what was left by the time I got back down!).

Art flew again and I had more luck than the previous day (although I believe there must be a weather curse that means clouds will appear whenever I am photographing the SHAR – just enough the make the light flat!). The heritage flight was very good and included Beercan Collier who will make another appearance in this blog in the near future as well as Vlado Lenoch – always a fun P-51 pilot. The Black Diamond team showed up very short handed. The plan for four L-39s and two MiG-17s was not met and only three L-39s were present. They flew well but the display obviously was supposed to have the pair filling in the routine. Without them there were long gaps in the performance which really hurt things. I will return to this subject in an upcoming post since the story has evolved.

Janesville is not a huge show but they had an interesting selection of things on display. The Canadian Hornets that showed up on Friday evening threw themselves around a lot before landing for the static display. I understand their departures were even more interesting although I wasn’t there to witness that. The team that hosted us did a great job and many thanks to them.

Show Season – What to Do?

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This time of year brings with it the opportunity for a number of airshows to be visited. I have found myself attending fewer shows in recent years than had previously been the case. This is a function of the changes that have taken place in the acts that are available to show bookers. There are fewer options available to show organizers, particularly with the reductions that the military has had to make in what it can bring to a show.

This is something that is a fact of life these days but the result is that there is less diversity in what is available at a given show. Moreover, some performers are more focused on certain areas so going to a couple of shows that are close to each other can result in the same acts each time. I am not critical of the individual acts and what they do but I am less inclined to see the same thing at multiple locations, particularly if the locations are difficult from an access point of view or if the lighting makes getting good shots tricky.

The result of this is that I have cut back on the shows that I go to. If I am going to a show, it is because there is something specific that is attending that I am interested in seeing. This means that I am less focused on the bigger events and more interested in some o the smaller locations that, while not having a big lineup, do provide a more intimate environment or something a little different from a performer perspective. This also includes events that aren’t shows in the traditional sense but are fly-ins or similar gatherings that provide an opportunity to be more involved with what is going on.

Having said all of that, I have attended a few shows recently and they will be the subject of upcoming posts. Stay tuned…

Golden Knights

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Pungo

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Continuing my theme of items related to the ISAP symposium, we took a trip to the Museum of Military Aviation at Pungo south of Virginia Beach. Actually, we took two trips to be accurate. The first was part of the symposium field trip and the second was after the symposium had concluded and was for the air show at the museum. Since they were preparing for the air show on the Friday of the field trip, I think it is fair to combine the two events into one posting.

Friday was a great day from a weather perspective except that it was quite windy and, more importantly from an aviating perspective, the wind was directly across the runway. This meant that not too much flying was going on. With a great collection of vintage military aircraft available, this was a shame. However, they were all laid out along the field to take a look at so we were able to get up close and personal with a bunch of cool aircraft.

One of the planned attendees for the show did appear but that is something I am going to save for another post. The show also included a lot of reenactors who had set up encampments around the site. For a lot of the group, this proved to be a good alternative to go and photograph. Normally, I am more than willing to photograph anything interesting or unusual but, for some reason, I didn’t get into this topic at all.

It is not that they weren’t worthy of photographing. If you look at the images that people got you can see some good work. My friend Jo recently blogged about this very topic here so you can see some of what was there. However, in this case it just did not seem to work for me so I spent my time wandering around other parts of the museum.

The Sunday of the show arrived with very unfavorable weather. Apparently the Saturday had been pretty good but Sunday had low clouds and rain when we got there. It appeared highly unlikely that it was going to improve but we waited it out for a while. The reenactors were out again so there was much for people to see but, since I was more bothered about the aircraft, I focused on them. A few extra aircraft had arrived since we had been there on Friday, my favorite being a Fairey Firefly that had come in from Canada. They were supposed to depart late morning for their trip home but sadly the weather got too bad to allow even that departure.

I certainly enjoyed seeing the various aircraft at the museum and there for the show. It was a shame they weren’t granted better weather as I’m sure their ticket sales will have suffered (although a surprising number of people continued to arrive while we were there) but hopefully they will have achieved enough to support the ongoing work of the museum. They certainly need to be commended for their efforts putting together the event.

128th ARW Open House

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A short drive north of Chicago is Milwaukee. The main airport at Milwaukee is General Mitchell International and, aside from the commercial services that operate there, the Wisconsin Air National Guard also has a unit based on the field. It has a fleet of KC-135 tankers operated by the 128 Aerial Refueling Wing. Periodically, they have an open house and I went up to the recent event.

This is not an air show. The field remains open and normal flight operations continue. However, the ANG unit takes the chance to show off what they do to the local community and let them know what is going on with their tax dollars. They also invite others to bring aircraft in to give the visitors a variety of things to see. These visitors include aircraft from other Air Force units, a helicopter from the army and a variety of vintage aircraft, many from the local area.

The event took place over two days of the weekend. The Sunday looked better from a weather perspective so that is the day I went for. It proved to be a good choice with plenty of sun but temperatures staying very comfortable. What I didn’t appreciate was the additional benefit of it being Mother’s Day. I got their early for the better light but most people were spending time showing their mothers that they love them. Since I am 4,000 miles from my mum, a personal visit was a little impractical! It did make for a quiet ramp for quite a while though.

As the day progressed, plenty more people showed up and they probably achieved their goals for sharing with the local community. I got to chat with a number of interesting people and, since it was quiet, was able to have more than a passing conversation. I also met a few people who might be interested in some follow up work for the magazine so the trip was productive as well as fun.

I got a few shots of airliners as well as the aircraft on the ramp. We were also lucky that one of the based KC-135s launched on a mission while I was there so a shot of that flying helped out a lot. Since it isn’t an air show, that was a nice extra! I hope to get back up to the unit in due course and find out more about them and maybe put together a more detailed piece on their history and operations.

Skiing to Success!

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As I wrote before, I was hoping to make a trip to the ski plane fly-in at Oshkosh this year. The weather had not looked good long in advance but then some snow fell and it looked promising. Oshkosh still had patches of the runway without snow so it wasn’t clear until the day before. Then a storm came through on the Friday. In Chicago we got quite a good fall. In Oshkosh, it was only 2-3″ but that was enough to cover the gaps. The next question was with the storm clearing out, was the weather good enough to fly?

The answer was yes. I was riding up with some of the people from Poplar Grove. I drove out to Union IL to meet up with some of the guys. As I left Chicago, the weather was not great with some snow still falling. I was not optimistic. However, as I reached Union, I came out into clear skies (and falling temperatures) and suddenly things looked a lot better.

I met Lee, Buck and Jim at Union as they were getting the aircraft ready to go. I was riding up with Drew who was coming across from Poplar Grove to pick me up. It was 8F as we got our stuff together. The Champ and the Cub were prepped and started up just as Drew arrived. They headed out as I loaded up and we followed on. Drew has a Piper Clipper so we had a speed advantage to catch up.

The first leg was to Palmyra in Wisconsin. Here the whole group had agreed to meet up for breakfast. The good folks at Palmyra had held off from plowing half the runway and one of the taxiways so we had no problem operating on skis. We all met up and trekked across to the restaurant who did a great job of feeding a raucous bunch! It was a very friendly group just confirming me previous good experience at Poplar Grove.

From Palmyra we all headed north to Oshkosh. We departed near the back again and caught up with some of the group. We managed to get some nice formations going en route and I could grab a few shots. Shooting through the windows was a little tricky but the results were not too bad. It was far too cold to consider sliding the windows open! At Palmyra we had reviewed the arrival procedures for Oshkosh. Since Pioneer field is not part of the main airport, we have to arrive low on a special route.

This sounds straightforward when reviewing the brief. However, the arrival height is about 500′ above ground level. At that height, it is not so easy to make out exactly where everything is. However, with two pairs of eyes checking it all out, we managed to pick out all of the appropriate waypoints and find the field. Even doing it right is quite interesting since you have to head straight at the cab of the main tower and then turn final. You feel like you are doing something wrong even though you aren’t. Drew made light work of it all.

Once on the field there was time to take a look at all of the other aircraft that had made it – and see the arrivals of those we had left behind. Chatting with the other crews was a lot of fun and also talking to some of the other visitors made it all the more interesting. There was a briefing about the departure as well. Since the wind was calm, departures were in the opposite direction. This made for great viewing from our location in the parking area with planes taxiing right past us and then turning to depart back past again!

We watched a fair few go. Our group was nearly last to head out and, again, we waited to be towards the back of the group. We got airborne and caught up with one of the Cubs which we found had a ski out of alignment. There are safety wires that limit the travel but a bungee holds the ski in optimal position. This had dislodged. They decided it was easiest to land and fix it so found an open field and dropped it in. They were back up in no time. A few more pictures of the group and then we left them to it.

They were planning making a few touch and goes at various spots but we were on our way home. Only in the last section of the trip did a low cloud base come in. This wasn’t a problem from our perspective other than that the lack of sun meant the cabin suddenly felt a bit colder! It obviously wasn’t a deterrent to some hot air balloonists we passed on the way back. They must have been chilly when the burner wasn’t going!

Drew dropped me back at Union and then headed home to Poplar Grove. It was a great trip and I had a whole lot of fun. I hope Drew’s passengers on his 767s have as much fun as I did. Thanks to everyone involved. It was great and I hope to spend a bunch more time with everyone in the future.

Some Cool Sukhoi Flying

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Was flipping through the Dew Line blog on Flight International’s website and came across this video of the SU-35 displaying at MAKS in Moscow. Some interesting maneuvers in there! Maybe makes up for those how went to see the PAK-FA fly on the day when the engine surged on take-off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRV-c4s5vMo

Chicago Air and Water Show

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The Air and Water Show, here in Chicago, has been a regular for me since moving here – and why wouldn’t it be when I can actually walk to the show!? This year, though, I was not so inspired. The line up was not looking to be too diverse (at least as far as the things I like to shoot) and they had moved it an hour earlier which means more of the show is in the harsh lighting from a bad angle.

I skipped practice day and Saturday was almost rained out. Sunday the weather was good and I eventually found I couldn’t quite quit cold turkey and grabbed one camera and one lens (plus a bottle of water) and decided to walk slowly up the lakefront. This would give me a chance to take some shots from further away but looking more up the display line. It also made the sun angles a bit better.

As the show progressed, I gradually drifted up the lakeshore until I got the North Avenue beach, around show center, just in time for the Thunderbirds display. I should point out my timing was better than that of the Golden Knights and the Thunderbirds. The Golden Knights had finished their jump and were lined up on the beach being introduced by their commentator. Each member of the jump team was given a personal introduction and they were just getting to their special guest of the day who was getting the ceremonial baton when the Thunderbirds roared in from behind the crowd.

That was the end of the presentations as far as the majority of the crowd were concerned since the PA was switched over to the Thunderbirds commentary team who had probably been doing their introductions previously without knowing that no-one was hearing them. Don’t know whether the Golden Knights were running late or the Thunderbirds were early but, either way, not a smooth handover. The Golden Knights jump ship had been orbiting offshore awaiting its final pass but I guess they were told to make themselves scarce once the show box was handed over to the Thunderbirds!

The show was not too bad. I’m glad I went and I took the reverse stroll home which also worked pretty well. I guess I can’t pass up an airshow on my doorstep, even if the schedule doesn’t get me too excited!