Mark and I went to Geneseo this summer to see the air show again because we had so much fun 2 years ago. This year, despite almost no chance of rain, we were treated to a full day of overcast and rainy weather. Despite the 2+ hour rain delay, we got a pretty good show and met some of the re-enactors as well. It was a pretty fun time. There are a few more photos in my flickr gallery. This year I made a bigger effort to try and improve my photography by trying to get the propellers in motion, with not so good results. I ended up with most of my attempts over exposed, and blurry. Live to try again I guess. Here’s a few photos from the day.
This summer my brother in law decided it was time to take my nephew Jeffrey to his first air show. The event he chose was the Joint Services Open House (JSOH 2012) at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington DC. The lineup was spectacular and the show was really great. The flight line was huuuge! Too much to see in one day really. I was impressed by the B-52 at the end of the runway. Even had a “Modernization Effort” display projecting usage through 2025. There were lots of neat aircraft on display and performing tricks. As always, the majority of my photos are available on my JSOH 2012 flickr page. Here’s a few on scaredycat too!
I’m going back in time here, trying to catch up with some posts for the exciting summer we’ve had. Saturday August 20th I went to the Radio Control Club of Rochester’s R/C Air show in North Hampton Park. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I had a fantastic time, and saw a lot of really neat planes. The club has an airstrip at the park, that I haven’t used because I found a field a lot closer to fly in. They have four flight stations, and they were pretty much going non-stop. I saw a variety of planes from World War 1 bi-planes to futuristic looking jets. The majority of the planes were battery powered, which I think is good for the hobby. There was one plane they called a 43% scale plane. It was huge! They all flew and did loops and tricks. Here are a few photos and videos.
Habu Turbofan Jet
Plane for Sale
Large 43% Model Bi-Plane
Variety Planes
Nose Art
I had a great time, and plan to go back next year.
We had a really busy July, and on Saturday the 16th we braved 90 degree heat to attend the Rochester ESL Airshow. The Blue Angels were in town and we were both really excited to see them and the rest of the planes. We got to see a lot of cool planes, talk to a lot of neat pilots, and walk through a lot of large transport planes. You can view the full gallery on my flickr page, and a sample of some of the photos here:
Mustang and Warthog
Canadian Sky Hawks
Navy C-130
Blue Angels
Blue Angels
Heritage Flight
This year’s air show was really neat, and I hope to go back again next year. View all the photos I took on the day in my flickr gallery.
After going to the indy race on July 4th, the next weekend it was time to go to Geneseo for the Geneseo Air Show. I hadn’t been to this air show in years, and its a pretty unique air show because of the historic old planes you get to see. There is far less acrobatics, and a lot more older planes to see. Again it was really HOT. But a perfect sunny day. Highlights of the show included a replica B-17 Memphis Belle, the F-16 Viper Demonstration Team, and the Soaring of Manfred Radius. He put on an amazing show in his glider, from about 5,000 feet he spiraled down to the crowd doing loops and turns to the tune of classical music. Then at ground level he flew upside down and cut a rope with the tail of his plane, before turning back over and landing. It was really great, and made you feel like you were back in older times. I posted a few photos here, and more of them are in my flickr gallery.
B-17 Memphis Belle
F-16 Viper Demo Team
Canadian Harvards
Lysander
Manfred Radius
Many more images of many more planes are available in my flickr gallery.
On Tuesday, after the shuttle launch we decided to head up to Titusville to visit the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum. It looked pretty neat on the web site, and looked pretty small on the google map, so we decided to stop in. It turned out to be a really awesome museum, and we got a really great personal tour. The museum is located next to the Space Coast Regional Airport in Titusville. Our guide, Erik Kramer, told us this was one of the busiest helicopter flight schools in the country, and there was a steady stream of take off’s and landings as we toured the hangers.
We started our tour of the main hanger, which was just full of airplanes from World War 2 to the Vietnam era and beyond. Shortly we met up with our guide Erik Kramer who did a just masterful job of telling us all about every single plane in the museum, and about his background. Erik is a volunteer at the museum, and a former prisoner of war by the Japanese army in World War 2. His family owned a plantation in the the Far East and were imprisoned for not helping the Japanese war effort. He spun a fascinating story of survival, and was an extremely nice man to talk to.
Dave with Erik Kramer
ME208
This ME208 was used as a transporter for members of the German military in World War 2. It is shown in period colors.
Mustang Kit
Our guide told us this plane doesn’t belong in the museum and should really be taken out and destroyed :). It is a kit plane, a smaller scale model of a P51 Mustang. The fighter used by the USA extensively in World War 2.
F4 Wildcat
This plane, the Grumman F4 Wildcat has an amazing history. It was recovered from the bottom of Lake Michigan, where it was once used in aircraft carrier take of and landing practice. The plane had to ditch in the lake. It was recovered from the lake, and restored at the museum. With the tail number identified, they were able to find out all the history, and have the pilot who crashed it come visit for the unveiling of the restored plane. The engine could not be restored because of the decades of under water corrosion, but it sits nearby on display. Like many planes used by the Navy at the time, it is painted blue, and has fold up wings for carrier operations.
Next we viewed a fully functional B25 Mitchell Bomber. It is in working condition, as can be seen from the oil pans beneath the engines to catch any dripping oil. There were actually quite a few of these oil pans and rags about the museum, as they try hard to keep as many planes as they can in flight condition.
B25 Mitchell Bomber
B25 Mitchell Bomber
B25 Mitchell Bomber
Next we walked over to the restoration hanger where we got to see the C-47 Skytrain Tico Belle being restored. This was truly an amazing aircraft. Its history includes glider operations for D-Day and Operation Market Garden at Arnhem, ferrying of supplies for the battle at Bastogne, and crossing of the Rhine into Germany. She participated in the Berlin airlift, and was latter transferred to the Royal Danish Air Force as part of the lend lease program. In the 80’s she was retired and came into ownership of the VAC. In 2001 she crash landed and is nearing completion of her rebuild.
C47 Tico Belle
C47 Tico Belle
C47 Tico Belle
Also being restored in the hanger is an Avenger aircraft. This plane is really large, and has folding wings for aircraft carrier service. Our guide told us that general Motors would sometimes just rivet up all the electrical access hatches rather than leave them open, so it is quite a challenge for the men restoring the plane. There was electrical system restoration work going on at the time we were there, with lots of schematics out. The guys even had an old style radio playing nearby, really looked authentic.
Avenger Restoration
Avenger Restoration
Old Time Radio
Additional planes undergoing restoration included an Vietnam era F4 Phantom. This T2 Buckeye trainer sat outside on the tarmac at the museum.
T2 Buckeye Trainer
While we toured the hangers, we could hear the sounds of heavy gunfire in the distance, which was from a nearby army training facility in the woods. It was some heavy caliber guns, and added to the classic World War 2 feeling of the air museum. A nice unexpected touch!
Nose Art
Mig 21 and F-105
Returning to the hanger we saw the F-86 Sabre jet. Heavily used in the Korean war, the F-86 scored a 10:1 kill ratio over the russian made Mig-15. It is a really nice plane, in great condition, and still flying.
F-86 Sabre
F-86 Sabre
Mig 21
Following the Sabre and Mig jets we viewed some other Vietnam era helicopters and jets. The UH-1 Huey, and A6 Intruder. We saw the F-101B Voodoo, and a NASA/DARPA test jet with an odd nose cone for testing different shaped nose effects on breaking the sound barrier.
F101 Voodoo
F-5E
We saw an actual F-14 Tomcat up close, an F-8 Crusader, A-4 Skyhawk painted up in the Blue Angels colors, an A-7 Corsair, and lots of other neat engines and helicopters.
A4
Crusader
As always, larger pictures of our full trip to Florida are available from my Flickr photo gallery.
