Category Archives: military

Chicago Air and Water Show

Middle of August means the Chicago Air and Water Show is back. This year’s show, like all other shows in the US, was always going to be a bit different since the US military was not going to be taking part. That means a shift in emphasis from normal with a lot more civilian acts. With no headlining team this year (normally the Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds alternate), there was a question as to whether the attendance would be significantly reduced. It is a free show so you might think it isn’t that big a deal but the sponsorship is important and that requires people to show so it was going to be interesting to see how things shaped up.

There were some jets to add some noise and speed to the proceedings. Art Nalls brought his Sea Harrier and Paul Wood brought the A-4 Skyhawk. Both displayed twice on the show days to add a hint of military jets to things. Of course, these are not operational fighters and are nursed a little more carefully than a front line jet which the pilot can swap for another if he breaks anything. However, they still are able to up the tempo a bit.

I mixed my time between the flying on the beach in Chicago and Gary airport where everyone was staging from. It is fun to get the mix of the actual displays and the activity around launching and recovering the planes. The shots are a mix of those. I got to spend a lot of time with Team SHAR and will have a separate post about that in due course. From what I saw and heard, the attendance on the beach was pretty strong, if a little down on previous years. It looks like the show does indeed go on!

WHF Day Out

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What seems like far too long a time had passed since I had last had a chance to head up to Waukegan to see the team at the Warbird Heritage Foundation. A nice day and a break in my schedule meant that I was finally able to resolve that shortfall. I headed up to Waukegan keen to see what sort of day was in store. As with any collection of older aircraft, the chances of much flying are relatively limited since the planes are usually in need of some sort of care. However, there were a few parked out on the apron when I got there.

Sean and Mike were busy taking care of them as I wandered up. The first thing Sean told me was that he had flown the Bird Dog that morning and that it was a shame I hadn’t been there. Indeed so! Telling me I have missed out on a great opportunity is just cruel! Never mind. I still haven’t seen the Bird Dog fly so it would have been good to see it let alone fly in it.

The project for the day was the T-28 Trojan. Not so long ago, this aircraft had an engine go bad. The chip warning light came on while Sean was flying it and, since he was close to the field, he made a speedy descent to land. The engine pretty much gasped its last as he taxied in. A rebuild later and now the plane is flying again. However, as with all engines after overhaul, it is going through a running in period. This also requires a different grade of oil and a change of oil was the task for the guys.

With the new oil in, the engine was run and the oil topped off. Then it was time for a flight. Jeff is a regular T-28 pilot and member of the Trojan Horseman and he came along to fly with Sean in the back seat. Putting hours on the airframe is the goal but not going too far from the field in case anything goes wrong. They did their duty flying patterns over the field and I grabbed some shots when I could. Most of the time they were quite far away but, with the moon traversing the sky, a couple of opportunities presented themselves for shots with the moon in the background.

I also grabbed some shots of the aircraft on the ground while they were off doing their thing. I haven’t got much before of the Bird Dog so spent a bit of time with it including getting some shots of the cockpit. Harsh exterior lighting meant a but of HDR was required for some of the shots but hopefully it isn’t too obvious! I have shot these planes a lot over time but there is always a chance for something new. Good to see you guys again and hopefully it won’t be so long next time!

Wings Over Waukesha

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The Wings Over Waukesha air show was recently held in – you guessed it – Waukesha. I covered it for Global Aviation Resource and, rather than duplicate everything here, why not head over to their website to see the original piece. Here is the link.

Airshow Review – Wings Over Waukesha

Clow Cavalcade

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Air shows are not planned to be a big part of my year this year. However, I did take the time to go a short distance out of the city recently to a small event that I like. Clow is an airport down in Bolingbrook, southwest of downtown Chicago. The airport holds an event every year for the local community to show what goes on at the airport and to try and generate interest in the aviation industry. It is not an airshow. There is not a flying display. However, a number of aircraft do visit and make some passes to show the crowd some interesting aircraft.

A number of aircraft are on display. Some warbirds show up and the EAA owned Ford Trimotor was providing rides throughout the event. Usually they have some parachutists displaying throughout the event (and I have previously shot them at work) but, unfortunately, the weather did not prove to be cooperative this year and the cloud base was too low to allow them to jump.

A number of aircraft manufacturers have their aircraft on display with Cessna, Piper, Cirrus and Diamond all having aircraft available to view by potential (and wishful thinking) buyers. Eclipse also brought one of their Total Eclipse 500 aircraft.

I was most interested in getting some shots of the aircraft either flying or on display but an event like this is also about seeing how the crowds interact with the aircraft and their owners. It is a very open event with people having the chance to get close to the aircraft and the operations. Since the conditions weren’t great, I often put down the camera and just watched everyone having fun. (Obviously no pictures of that!)

Museum of Flight

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The end of the field trip for the ISAP Symposium was a visit to the Museum of Flight. Located at Boeing Field, this is a great museum and worth a visit whether you are an aviation nut or not. It has an impressive collection of aircraft and they are nicely displayed. Inside are some impressive machines including the always attractive M-12, a variant of the Blackbird family that was intended to launch high speed drones (a program that was not ultimately successful and was cancelled).

Outside is a further selection of great airframes including a British Airways Concorde, the prototype Boeing 747, a Boeing 727 in American Airlines colors and a NASA Boeing 737 which may (or may not) be a prototype. There are others too but these stand out. They also have a Space Shuttle crew trainer which, since it is not an original orbiter, is actually more accessible to the visitors. It was not a long visit so we had to move pretty quickly to get around but a good time nonetheless.

Heritage Flight Foundation Visit

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The field trip during the ISAP Symposium was held at Paine Field in Everett. We were hosted by the Heritage Flight Foundation and its owner John Sessions and they were excellent hosts. (I visited once before and you can see that post here.) Aside from the selection of aircraft still in the hangar where we were set up, they had arranged some photo sorties with some of their aircraft. The B-25, Grumpy, was the camera ship for a few photographers and the P-51 Mustang was the target. A T-6 also went up as a second camera ship. Each photo position was a paying ride with the T-6 obviously being the premium slot.

I had decided not to take the ride. It was not cheap although certainly not bad value for money. As the weather was not looking great, I wondered whether I had chosen wisely. As it was, the people who did go up did get some great images. The area certainly can provide some nice backdrops and the light, while flat, did not hurt things. However, even as someone on the ground, the flights seemed over very fast so I imagine for those on board, it was gone all to quickly.

For those of us on the ground, we got treated to the departure and arrivals of the aircraft plus a few passes of the P-51 and T-6 which were a lot of fun. Gloomy skies made it all a little flat looking but still a great sight. Being able to be close to the aircraft during the start up, taxi out and return was certainly worthwhile. The following day they were having a public event and I hope the weather improved for the large numbers they were expecting.

NAS Whidbey Island

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The day before the ISAP Symposium kicked off, there was a smaller field trip to NAS Whidbey Island. Located on an island (surprisingly enough) north of Seattle, it was a bit of a journey to get there with a bus ride and ferry trip to get us there. As with all military bases, you never quite know what will be going on when you get there. They can be a hive of activity or have no flying at all. We did okay on this trip.

First we stopped in the hangar of an E/A-18G Growler unit. One of the officers was their to show us around and answer any questions. There was also one jet in the hangar that we could shoot. We then migrated outside to see some jets launching or coming back from trips. Then it was time to head up to the tower. We got to hang out for a short while on the catwalk outside the tower cab. This gives you a great view over the ramp area and the field as a whole. We had a couple of movements while we were there but then things got pretty quiet which would have been a disappointment for the second half of our group who were up second.

Lunch was served in the officers’ club which included some great mementos of operations and types passed. After that is was back on the journey home. A good little trip and a nice time to hang out with some folks I hadn’t seen for a while and others who were new to meet.

MiG 21

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Warbirds are not an uncommon sight around here but there are some planes that still stand out as a little unusual. I got to see one of these recently up in Rockford when the good folks at Code 1 held a weekend of training for formation flying. A bunch of aircraft showed up including a lot of T-6/SNJs, a Yak, a bunch of L-39s and, most interestingly, a MiG-21. This wasn’t there for the formation training but was being used for an FAA check ride for a guy who has a MiG-21 that he keeps elsewhere in the state.

A MiG-21 is a great looking jet. This example is an ex-Polish Air Force two seat example. This generation of aircraft has some interesting performance characteristics. Fuel consumption is pretty dramatic so the sorties are not too long. Also, the approach speeds are quite high so watching it on the approach, it does appear to be coming down pretty dramatically.

We were lucky to have some great weather and the plane flew a couple of times so it was possible to shoot it taking off and arriving from both sides of the field as well as getting some shots on the ground. The plane is solidly built and the structure is finished in polished metal. This makes for some great looks with the metal and rivets looking great in some lighting. Having the chance to look at such a different jet was great fun and many thanks to everyone who made it possible.

Trying Something Different

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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!

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.