While waiting for the UPS 747, there was a bit of light aircraft traffic in to Paine Field. With nice low sun, I wasn’t going to ignore them. They all looked nice enough but I was particularly impressed with a Cirrus that came in sporting a custom paint finish. It looked particularly nice.
I went to Paine Field to get the Air Tahiti Nui 787 which I wrote about in this post. As I walked up to Future of Flight, there was an unusual looking plane sitting at the hold running up the engine. I grabbed some shots of it doing its engine run and then as it lined up and took off. I couldn’t work out what it was. I thought it might be a Bellanca but I was wrong. A search when back at home tells me it is a Harlow PJC-2.
With lovely light, I was hoping to get it when it came back in. Unfortunately, it timed its return such that it coincided with the arrival of the 787 so they went to the left runway instead of the right. Never mind.
FHCAM opened up a new hangar at their museum facility in Everett. To coincide with the new opening, they unveiled a new addition to the collection. This addition was a Stuka. They had hinted earlier in the week that it might be a Stuka and I was hoping that would be the case. The other aircraft they were hinting at was the Me262 and, since we know they are close to flying their example of that, having a Stuka would be a significant addition. I was really pleased to see that was the case although the 18-24 months until it is airworthy will be a bit of a drag. Good things come to those that wait, though.
I put a fuller piece on GAR which you can see at the link below. Here are a couple of shots of the current state of the airframe.
The FHCAM IL-2 Shturmovik has been airworthy for a while but I have previously only seen it on the ground. Skyfair was my first opportunity to see it flying so I was rather pleased. This is a pretty rare type and a new one for me so having it display was a treat. The sun was rather high when it flew which is a bit less than ideal for a plane with a dark paint scheme but that is a small price to pay. It flew a number of passes, all of which felt nice and close. Great stuff.
The first plane I ever flew in was a de Havilland Dragon Rapide. It was at a small air show at Bembridge on the Isle of Wight when I was a small lad. My Gran said I could have a ride in one of the planes. There was an Islander which was the one I really hoped for. It was six pounds for a ride while the Dragon Rapide was five pounds. Gran didn’t have a lot of cash so the Rapide it was. Now I am so happy that my first flight was in such a type.
Consequently, I was a little excited to see one at Skyfair carrying out some pleasure flights. It had recently been repainted in new colors and it flew some passes as well as the normal take offs and landings. I got plenty of shots of it. Now I am even more glad I did as the aircraft suffered an accident a few weeks later at Abbotsford. A number of people were injured including its owner and pilot, John Sessions.
In some of my photos, it appears as if John is staring right at us. The pilot position is right at the front of the aircraft and it quite exposed so it is no surprise that John was one of those injured in the accident since the cockpit appears to have taken the majority of the punishment. I wish him and all of those involved a speedy recovery.
The Fiesler Storch was a most unusual aircraft. It was used for utility purposes and was able to drop in to the smallest of locations and get back out again. Speed was not its thing but it was the one for special missions. I have seen scale versions in private use and some in museums but I am not sure I have ever seen a genuine one fly before. Skyfair included a performance by FHCAM’s example. I got some shots of it airborne although the dark paint scheme was not ideal on a sunny day. When it came to take off, I figured stills would not show anything about the performance so I switched to video. This allows you to see just how quickly and easily the slatted wing lifted the plane off the ground.
Parked up on the ramp at Renton was what appeared to me to be a de Havilland Canada Beaver on floats. However, it looked different to every other Beaver I have seen. This one seemed to have a fun that was cut right down. Initially I figured it needed a repair but then I realized that there was a large dorsal extension to the fin. This would compensate to some extent to the missing top but whether it is a good configuration, I can’t say. It didn’t look good to me but it looked airworthy so maybe it flies fine? Has anyone seen more about this and can share with me some of the history?
The two B-25s that live on Paine Field are regular performers. When they both went up at Skyfair, I have to admit that I was not so excited. However, I was not anticipating a series of flypasts that were significantly better than I had seen from them before. They brought them in with a tight formation and some angles that allowed some great topside shots as they curved around on to the runway alignment.
Watching them line up, you could see that they weren’t going to come so close and ruin the photo opportunities. Instead, we got lots of banking and pulling with far better shots than I had achieved previously. I was not alone in appreciating the effort. Everyone around me was most impressed by the performance.
The FHCAM FW-190 is one I have seen on the ground a few times but I have been thwarted with regard to it flying. It was scheduled to fly at Skyfair so I was optimistic. While waiting for the Skyhawk to arrive, we were pleased to see the 190 taxi out and depart. Hopefully it would be a short test flight and after a few minutes, it came back into the overhead. A very nice early turn to final brought it around the waiting crowd and there was much rejoicing!
On the day of the show it flew again. A nice bunch of passes and some good maneuvers to give us a view of the topside of the glossy paint scheme. The light was a touch harsh but the plane was definitely worth it. Combine that with the extra from the evening before and this will count as a success for me.
Skyfair proved to be a fun day out at Paine Field. A variety of types flew and they put on some nice passes that made getting shots a lot easier than is sometimes the case. The biggest problem was the heat haze which was really tough and affected all but the closest shots. One great combination that was put up was the Mossie with the Spitfire. After an event last year where I was disappointed trying to get shots of the Mossie alone, I was hoping it wouldn’t be in formation. However, when I saw this pairing fly by, I couldn’t help but be pleased with the way things turned out.
