When over 100,000 people show up at an Air Force base, some photographic opportunities are bound to pop up.

We have some great air show photographers on this site so I won't bother you with my feeble attemps of the actual show :)

Thought these told good stories from the ground side.

and the last of them.

Thanks for looking!

Very nice Loupey. I especially like the old helmet on the cockpit shot. Was the show at Wright Patterson?

I like that helmet sitting on the windscreen photo!

(Looks like O.T. and I posted at the same time!)

What is that aircraft top of the second set ?

Loupey are you at GML?

The shot of the helmet on the canopy is awesome. And that shot of the youngster waiting at the port o potties made me laugh!

I love the shot of the Lanc off behind the crowd and the shot of the security guys on the tower. Nice!! Keep 'em coming.

Hey Paul, I'm pretty sure that's a Lancaster. British WWII bomber. Used by the Dambusters. I didn't realize there was a flying example here in the states.

Looks like a lancaster to me and I googled it to make sure.
I like that and the helmet best but all are good.

You beat me to it, Loupey! This was a great event! I was most looking forward to seeing the Raptor and Thunderbirds but I arrived late and missed the Raptor demo and had to watch the Thunderbirds from my car and the parking lot(I wasn't the only person sitting in traffic with my camera out the window!). I was soon blown away by the history and beauty of these classic planes and left with a lot of respect for the people who flew them in the war. I've never been so close to the flights at an air show before. My 3 year old son loved it and has been giving a play by play of what he saw to anyone who will listen! Here are a few of my pics from the day...

Air Force Thunderbirds

http://tmphotorestore.com/airshow/thunderbirds.jpg

http://tmphotorestore.com/airshow/thunderbirdsolo.jpg

P51 Mustangs

http://tmphotorestore.com/airshow/WorryBird.jpg

http://tmphotorestore.com/airshow/mustang.jpg

http://tmphotorestore.com/airshow/formation.jpg

B17 Flying Fortress

http://tmphotorestore.com/airshow/B17.jpg

A scary sight 65 years ago

http://tmphotorestore.com/airshow/squadron.jpg

Thanks for looking, guys!

OT - Rickenbacker AFB

drg - Thanks - I couldn't resist the shot (nor the group of other people who had swarmed around the plane)

SW - somehow I think you already know what that is :)

I_Fly - yes indeed at the GML (Gatherings of Mustangs & Legends). Thanks for all the feedback.

Frog - thanks for looking!

Tony - I was a little late too - just caught the end of the Raptor demo. Getting in was no problem (after walking about 3/4 mile from my parking spot). Getting out was another matter. What most people don't realize is that your photo of the P-51's is only a part of the "51" that they formed. Definitely a great day to be out.


A few more...

Loupey - some seriously nice images here - all the way from the minimalism of the tarmac chocks (or whatever you call them over there!) to the helmet shot. Wise move too to stick with what you know you can do well - a lesson I am always failing to learn!

Cheers
Mike

Great shots Loupey!

I love them.

Nice shots Tony!

My only nitpick... you snuck a photo of a P-40 in with the Mustangs. ;)

Another nice series Loupey. Love the shot of the kid in sunglasses behind the .50. Nice colors on these shots. What camera/lens were you using? Any post processing?

Thanks for looking! It was a fun show even for someone who doesn't have his warbird history down but is quickly becoming a fan! I live in the flight path of Port Columbus airport and was treated to the sight of about 6 Mustangs escorting one of the bombers in on Saturday morning. It was a loud but very cool wakeup call.

You're making me jealous Tony. I'm a huge aviation fan and recently moved and now have to drive a ways to seen anything aviation related. :( Right now I can only dream about seeing more than 2 Mustangs at one time.

I missed the air show, I wish I had went. It would have only been a 2 hour drive for me to get there. Great shots guys.

Very nice...I love them all! Can't beat a good airshow, and the crowds are fun to watch too. I am glad to see that they did get some of the Mustangs together. We were scheduled to have them out in Stead AFB, but things changed. I bet that was a site to see....and hear.

Great shots!

Yes that's a Lancaster, the only one I know to be flying is from the Hamilton War plane heritage museum (Hamilton, ON, Canada).

Meet Nobel Peterson - a.k.a. the "Dakota Kid"

This is the P-51 he flew in Europe between March 1944 and May 1945.

106 missions.


Honor.

Applies as both a noun and a verb.

Awesome series. It is a great honor to be able to meet and talk with veterans like Nobel. 106 missions. Wow.

Great shots, Loupey! I didn't get a chance to meet any of the Legends but from what I'm reading on other sites they were a great group of men and women to listen to. Here are a few more from the day.

They had some mock bombing runs in the afternoon. Being the last day I think they used all of their pyro materials on the last run!
http://www.tmphotorestore.com/airshow/bombing.jpg

which led to the grass catching on fire and the airport fire unit making an unexpected appearance. Good thing Scotts lawncare was the major sponsor!
http://www.tmphotorestore.com/airshow/firetruck.jpg

The 51 formation Loupey mentioned earlier. They originally planned on having 51 Mustangs participate but logistics and safety made them back it up to 20. Still very impressive!
http://www.tmphotorestore.com/airshow/51.jpg

Heck I might as well post the rest of my images from the day :rolleyes:

...and these are the last from me.

That's all I got. The story is complete. Thanks everyone for looking :thumbsup:

Hey Paul, I'm pretty sure that's a Lancaster. British WWII bomber. Used by the Dambusters. I didn't realize there was a flying example here in the states.
Nor did I, that's why I wanted to query it.

I reckon it's probably a Canadian-built Lancaster B X with Packard-Merlin engines.
Shame you haven't got a side photo, because it looks like the dorsal turret is farther forward than the UK designs - that's typical of the late production run Canadian builds.

The Shackleton was similar, and lasted well post-war with an X-band radome underneath as an AEW/ASW platform. Typically had contrarotating props though, and these appear to be simple 3-blade. I remember ASW Shackletons flying out of airfields in Cornwall as a teenager. But this has the classic Lancaster nose, can't be anything else.


OK, I googled for flying Lancasters and there only two in the world.
From the marking under the cockpit this is FM213 still painted as VR-A.

Great shots Loupey - can't get enough warbird airplane pics !
. . . and your absolutely correct SW.

The Avro Lanacaster BX (doing the run up, behind the crowd in the second series of shots) is from the
Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum based in Hamilton, Ontario.
It is known as the Mynarski Memorial Lancaster (KB726 VR-A), and was actually restored from RCAF Lanc FM213 built in1945, and acquired by the CWH in 1977, from the Royal Candian Legion in Goderich, Ontario who had purchased the plane for $1,500 after it was declared surplus by the RCAF in 1965.
After many man hours, and a very involved restoration, it finally flew again in September 1988.
It is dedicated to P/O Andrew C. Mynarski, V.C., his crew, and all Canadian flyers who sacrificed so much
in the cause of peace more than 60 years ago.
It is one of only two airworthy examples still flying, the other is in England.

Thanks for sharing this magnificent piece of history with us all Tony ! :thumbsup:

Thanks Rivman and Smartwombat for the info! Especially the background on the airplane. Even though it was a Mustang event, I would think that the Lanc would have been a hit also. For history buffs anyway. ;)

And it appears that are several of us floating around.

Most definetly Troy, - it's powered by 4 Mustang engines! (12 cylinder Rolls Royce or Packard Merlins)
You can't mistake the song they sing - swwweeeeeeeeeeet ! :thumbsup:
The CWH had a very difficult time locating serviceable engines for the Lanc.

... acquired by the CWH in 1977, from the Royal Candian Legion in Goderich, Ontario who had purchased the plane for $1,500 after it was declared surplus by the RCAF in 1965.


What a bargain! The current owner of "Dakota Kid"s P-51 said that he paid $1.7million - and that was 10 years ago.

I had no idea of the rarity of the Lancaster line. Would have taken more shots of it had I known.


Salvaged these two of the Lanc. Thanks again everyone for the interest in these planes/event.

Heck I might as well post the rest of my images from the day :rolleyes:

Glad you did! Great series of shots. I love airplanes although I can't name any. :D

Hey Rivman, wouldn't that sound like a flight of Mustangs! Sigh...I can only dream about that sound.

Loupey nice shots of the Lanc.

Thanks for those extra Lancaster pics Loupey - I've put them in my vintage aircraft files !
Bargain 4 sure at $1,500, but I wonder what it costs to keep it in the air for an hour ?
I have a limited edition colour print of this aircraft signed by the artist, and all of the surviving crew members - the CWH sold 1,250 of these signed prints to help finance some of the restoration costs.
It was passed on to me by my Dad, who spent a good part of his career in the RCAF, and is most likely responsible for my keen interest in flying and aircraft.
Gotta luv the sound of a Merlin engine, or better still, 4 of them in one aircraft !
. . . yah got that right Troy, but it could be 4 Spitfires, 4 Seafires, 4 Hurricanes,
a pair of Mosquitos, or a single Northstar ! :thumbsup:

What a way to put it in perspective Rivman. 4 Spitfires, Seafires, Hurricanes, 2 Mosquitos or a Northstar. I was tickled at that!! Some of my American aircraft prejudice unconciously showing up? Although I think the Mossie is a beautiful aircraft!!!

Troy, I spent most of my younger years on airforce bases, and grew up with the sound of those engines, along with many others, and it's just something that stays with yah, forever.
. . . and the RCAF flew Mustangs too !
I guess I just get off on those vintage aircraft pix ? :thumbsup:

My mother lived on a farm in southern Japan during the War. She can recount how many evenings would be interupted by the wail of air raid sirens. Her parents lead the whole family through the darkness to the shelter that her father had dug for them in the field. In the hole, they could hear the approaching low drones of the bombers' engines followed by the whistle of the falling bombs and finally the explosions in the distance. Even now, whenever a tornado siren goes off she gets a momentary feeling that she needs to flee.

It is amazing how fast the world and people can change. And for the better.

I love to talk to people that have experienced "the past". It's always a great treat to listen to their stories and help keep the memories alive.

Speaking of that, I happened across a website that has some wav files of a Lancaster flyby, a Mustang flyby, a Thunderbolt flyby and a Merlin engine file. It's also got a link to a Spitfire flyby but I couldn't get it to work. Here's the link (http://www.mhas.org.uk/sounds.html).

Definetly Merlins Troy !
The Spitfire soundtrak was the longest and the best, as he did several passes.
No mistaking what all those engines were, thanks for the link ! :thumbsup:

My pleasure Rivman. Anything to encourage the aviation bug. :)

Loupey - These are great shots. I'm going to an airshow in San Diego this Friday, will keep some of these in mind when I'm there. I like the way you didn't just focus on flying planes but got all elements of the event, people, emotions, and the planes into your photos.

G

Thanks for the continued interest in this thread.

All the "air" shots were with the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS with the 2x teleconverter. The compressed "ground" shots were taken with the same lens with and without the 2x.

The remaining ground shots taken with the 17-40mm f/4L.

The reason I didn't like my air shots is that I find my images look rather static as opposed to the furious action present during the moment. I also found that different engines turn the props at different RPMs - requiring shutter speed adjustments to keep the props from looking frozen.


The show ended appropriately with a missing man formation. This is how I remember that moment. A fitting end to this thread to honor those who served and are now serving our country.

Nice stuff guys. I was there for three days. I have not touched a RAW file yet though, still going through 9 days of the Reno Air Race files. I'll post some when I get a chance.

Here are some shots of the same Lancaster from OSH last year,

http://www.timadamsphotography.com/6748%20Lanc%20bomb%20run.jpg

http://www.timadamsphotography.com/6252%20Lanc%20bomb%20run.jpg

http://www.timadamsphotography.com/6295%20Lanc%20bomb%20run.jpg

http://www.timadamsphotography.com/6823%20Lancaster%20taxi.jpg

Great Lanc 'action' shots Tim - much appreciated !
Thank you for sharing. :thumbsup:

I agree with Rivman Tim. Nice shots. Your usual high quality stuff, showing off a beautiful aircraft.