Tag Archives: piston

Curtiss P-36

Vintage aircraft are not my specialty. I know my P-51 from my P-47 but I am not too knowledgeable of the different types of the more famous aircraft and I am certainly on shaky ground when it comes to the less numerous types. Consequently, when I was preparing to go to Chino for the Planes of Fame airshow, the GAR team told me to get shots of the Curtiss P-36 Hawk that was going to be on display for the first time. I agreed while secretly wondering what a P-36 was. Fortunately, the internet is a wonderful source of information and I was able to get an idea of what it was I was looking for before it got there!

This P-36 has been restored at Chino and will shortly be heading to the UK to join a collection there. Not only was it on display in the static area but it also participated in the flying program. Therefore, I got many opportunities to get some shots of it for the GAR piece. It is an interesting looking aircraft, even if it didn’t end up being a huge seller. It looked great coming from restoration and was flown together with the AT-12 (which is apparently a two seat P-35 – so I am told). On a sunny spring day in California they looked very nice together. I hope everyone in the UK enjoys them when they arrive.

Anyone See Any Mustangs?

Leave a Reply

Half Moon Bay might not have been an air show in the strict sense but it did bring in a nice mix of warbirds. A good selection of P-51 Mustangs launched together to carry out some flypasts. We ended up being well placed for them taxiing out. Having a group of Mustangs rumbling past you is pretty cool. Having them lined up on the taxiway for their power checks before taking off was even better. What a great looking group of aircraft.

DC-3 Gathering

Leave a Reply

I have occasionally stumbled on to events that I really should have known about. One such time was a gathering of DC-3s that took place at Rock Falls in Illinois. About 90 minutes from Chicago, this was something I should have known about but didn’t. My friend Paul Filmer apparently knew because he was there. I only found out about it when I heard he had arrived. I already had plans so figured I wouldn’t go. I had arranged to shoot some motorbike riders off-roading in an area not so far away. As it happened, one of the riders was also an autogyro pilot. When we wrapped up the bike shoot, he asked if I wanted to go for a flight. Guess what my answer was.

While we were airborne, we came across one of the DC-3s flying in the local area. He asked if we wanted to follow it so we did. We had talked about heading to Rock Falls before we got airborne anyway. I had texted Paul to watch out for me arriving in a gyro and he thought I was kidding. Once we arrived in the pattern, he realized it was for real.

I got a chance to get some shots of the arrayed Douglas planes as we made our approach. Then, once on the ground, we were able to wander through the ranks of planes. They were in varying conditions with some in pristine shape and others looking like they were after someone with some time and money to bring them back. A couple of the planes were for sale.

It was a fine collection of planes and, since Rock Falls is not terribly close to a major town, it wasn’t over crowded with visitors. There were plenty of people there but you were not fighting for space. I met up with Paul for a chat and took in all there was to see before my pilot decided it was a good time to head home. A pretty fortuitous turn of events since I had not thought I was going to see any of this when I got up that morning.

Planes of Fame Review

Leave a Reply

After a period of relative inactivity, I have been a bit busier recently on getting material together for GAR. After a piece on the tenth anniversary of the first flight of the A380 and a review of Dream Machines at Half Moon Bay, I had my first real show of the year. I took a trip down to Chino for the Planes of Fame show. This was the first time I had been to this show, despite the fact it is one of the highlights of the airshow calendar.

The piece went live on GAR recently and can be found at this link. http://www.globalaviationresource.com/v2/2015/05/12/airshow-review…e-airshow-2015/. Meanwhile, here are a few shots that I liked from the event. I will say how much I enjoyed the access you had at this place and it was a very pleasant change not to be herded out as soon as the flying stopped. It was also a lot of fun to hang with Mark, Kev and Jim. Their company made a good weekend great and also meant I didn’t miss the sunset show! Cheers guys.

Interesting Landing Technique

2 Replies

This guy landed at Half Moon Bay while we were there. I have to admit I thought I was taking pictures for the accident investigation at first. However, he maintained this pose all along the runway until he turned off and apparently had done it earlier. I guess he had a lot of elevator authority. However, whether it is a good idea is a very different question.

Dream Machines Article

Leave a Reply

While it isn’t actually an airshow, Dream Machines at Half Moon Bay was my first aircraft event of the year. Hayman and I headed over there to see what would show up. I was also planning on writing it up for GAR again this year. That piece has now gone live at http://www.globalaviationresource.com/v2/2014/05/05/aviation-event-review-dream-machines-half-moon-bay/ so you can head over the GAR to see the finished version.

The piece focuses more on the aviation side of things than the cars since it is an aviation site. However, the cars were really cool. Here are a couple of cars along with a plane to give you a hint. I might add some more at a later stage!

DH Dove

Leave a Reply

A few years ago, my friend, Richard, had arranged a visit for a number of us to Mojave Airport. This airport does not have a reputation for being photographer friendly but Richard had made the necessary contacts to get us some time out on the field near the taxiways and runways. One of the operators at Mojave is the National Test Pilot School. NTPS operate a wide variety of types on various flight test training activities and some of them were up and about early on this particular morning.

One type that really caught our eye was the deHavilland Dove. An old piston small transport type, the Dove is not something you see around very often these days. This one is kept in excellent condition and appears to have some modifications for flight test purposes and to assist the training of test pilots and flight test engineers. It took off on a runway that brought it towards us nicely. When it returned, it used another runway so we got to see it from several angles.

C-46 Commando

Leave a Reply

Even people how aren’t particularly into aviation have a reasonable chance of having heard of the Douglas DC-3, also known as the C-47 and the Dakota. Not only was it a hugely important aircraft in WWI but it also continued to provide the post war commercial services and, even today, to fill a niche in air transportation. Far less attention is given to one of its counterparts in the war, the Curtiss C-46 Commando. The C-46 never stuck in the public conscience in the same way and its use post war was a lot more limited.

However, they didn’t all disappear and one fine example still flies at a lot of air shows. I got to see it at Pungo in Virginia a few years back at an ISAP event. The symposium was being held in Virginia Beach and we spent a couple of days at Pungo. One was the day before their annual air show. We got to look around the collection and see the aircraft in action. The C-46 put on a few great low passes and I was at one end of the field and got a great view head on.

On the day of the show, the weather was not cooperating and the train came down heavily at various times throughout the day. The C-46 did fly in the gaps provided by the not so awful weather. They were not conditions conducive to good photos but I still got some of it. However, the practice day proved to be the better day for seeing this fine machine in the air.

Sea Fury Surprise

Leave a Reply

It’s always fun to get a nice surprise while you were out. I was up at Sonoma Skypark with my friend Eric looking at a bunch of pictures he had taken. There is usually something buzzing around on a Saturday so, while the noise of an engine will cause us to look, we normally then return to what we are doing. However, the sound of this engine made us take a second look. It was a Hawker Sea Fury circling high above. This is a plane belonging to Walt Bowe and we watched him high above us. Eric said it was unlikely Walt would do a pass so we just watched casually.

However, as we watched, Walt’s path did look like he was turning in towards us. We paused a little so as not to look foolish but then it was clear he was dropping down towards the field. Fortunately, I had the camera on the table near me. Eric and I jumped up to get to the other side of the field where the light is better. We scurried across as gracefully as two old geezers can and we in position as Walt dropped into his pass. I guess he saw us as we got a great pass from him before he pulled up and continued on his way. Now I want to shoot this plane again but in a more planned way!

Howard 500 at Nut Tree

2 Replies

Just a quick post today. I have been to Nut Tree Airport a few times. There is an old Howard 500 parked up at one side of the field. I had never taken a picture of it since it was a bit out of the way. For some reason, I completely forgot about it when they had the Mustangs Day when it would have been easy to wander over and get a shot. I forgot! So, when in Vacaville recently for something else, I popped across briefly to get a couple of shots over the fence. Just something to prove to myself that I had seen it!