2014 Warhawk Air Show

Before anything else, let me applaud the pilots. I think I mentioned the CEO's father, a WWII vet, hasn't been in the greatest health. He was really down because he just wasn't going to be able to attend the show (this was the last weekend in August). I figured, well, in addition to getting pictures to him, maybe I can get a poster signed or something. Turns out the museum didn't do posters this year, but Sue did have a spare newsletter. Since I'd taken a couple of days off from work to shoot some of the prep before the show I was sure I'd be able to get at least a few signatures.

Some of these folks are Big Names in the aviation community (Steve Hinton just got a lifetime achievement award). Several are very wealthy. Every single one of them said "I'd be honored" as they reached for an ink pen. After the show I told Mike to pick out a bunch of photos that a plane nut would especially like, worked those first and burned them to a DVD.

Phyl reported that she took the newsletter and DVD to her dad. They sat and looked through all the photos. He kept looking at the program, saying he couldn't believe they'd all signed it for him (several had written messages, as well). She said that improved his mood immesurably.

Starting in the next reply, the first of the pictures.

Planes started showing up Thursday. We got a Corsair this year, in addition to the P-38 again. Planes of Fame had wanted to show all 3 models of Mustangs, and said if they could borrow Boise Bee they'd bring the Corsair up and park it at the Warhawk for a month. They did a pretty thorough job of going over it, cleaning it up and making sure it was fit to be flown for the weekend (I do have pictures showing more of the plane, really. Be patient).

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There were a couple of people conveniently at hand, to allow me to show the size of Skidoo.

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Just hanging between tasks.

Friday got a little busier. We pulled out the museum's N3N, and Joe Dory brought his over. The T-6es showed up ( I don't think we'd had Heave Ho before, and it had been a while since Lil Ashlee was here), and Lady Jo and Speedball arrived that evening. Heather, Sue's admin assistant, got her first ride in a bi-plane. We started gathering together things like wheel chocks and making sure the tugs were working. The weather was all over the place, with the cloud cover, the types of clouds, or the lack changing faster than I could keep up with.

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A closer look at Lil Ashlee

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And the start of Heather's ride.

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The rest of Heather's ride.

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A couple of really intense planning sessions.

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And we managed to fit a bunch of the planes and tugs in the maintenance hangar! (There's more than the 4 planes and 4 tugs you can see)

Lady Jo and Speedball Alice got a late start. They were coming after the pilots got off work, but it took longer than they expected to get off the ground. Transient parking near the hangars wasn't too full that evening, which held out hope that we wouldn't have a huge amount of traffic during the show. I'll post more tomorrow. It's late and I'm pretty beat.

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I really enjoyed thos photos, aviation photography is great. I actually did ultralight flying with my dad and even attempted avionics schooling.

Cool sets Q.O! - thx for sharing them

Oh, there's more, Marko. :evil2:

Keego, if you search for my handle, there's a number of other photos of airplanes. My husband got into the warbird community around 1983 through what was then the Confederate Air Force. From there, he was invited to join the Mustang Club around 1985 (in Hollister, last time I checked). He's known some of the planes and people a loooooong time. Me, I frustrate the heck out of people. They're interesting objects to photograph, but I really don't care whether the left-hand twist wampus screw was introduced in 1941 or 1935 and a half. But folks do like the angles I come up with on the planes.

There are ultralight groups around here, but I haven't talked with anyone in them recently.

Ready for more? Of course you are. These are all from the Saturday of the show. The pictures aren't necessarily in the order they were taken, because, well, I'm still kinda tired. First up, a bunch of AT-6 pictures.

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Pilot and passenger in the L-19 (Chet's one of our older volunteers), Boise Bee (she who got us a Corsair for the show), and oh, yeah. Pictures of the Corsair where you can see the whole thing!

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More Corsair pictures. That's my husband on the ladder. The cockpit is a long way off the ground. The pilot, John Hinton, just scrambles up the wing the way it was done back in the day, but we load most of the passengers using the ladder. The last 2 pictures are the beginning of the wings unfolding (no, they don't fly by flapping them!). The rest of the sequence is coming up.

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The rest of the sequence, and rolling out for the next flight.

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The helmet was one of the "arty" shots I did. That blue did tend to blow the channels, though.

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A view of the cockpit (I had just enough time between sessions to get up the ladder before the passenger got there)

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This particular Corsair wasn't originally a 2-seater. It had a bunch of radio gear in there (really heavy in those days). It was taken out, a crude seat was put in, and loading the passenger is akin to getting into the back seat of a '70s two door car.

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'Nother arty shot. People seemed to like this one.

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Can you tell there are planes in the air? :p

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I called this one Forest of Props

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Another view of the flight line during the midday break.

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And another one of the flight line later in the day. Heller Bust in the front, followed by (of those more or less visible) Speedball Alice, Parrothead, and 23 Skidoo.

I think I'll finish for tonight with some in the air shots. Oh, yeah, I got more for Saturday (and Sunday), but it's getting late. Hope you enjoyed what you've seen so far.

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Great set of photos Quiet one. Dont ask me to comment on each shot, but you have some really good ones there. You are fortunate to have the access that you do to get in close and personal. Thanks for sharing

Runmonty, this is the only show where I've ever had that kind of access. The others in the area (defunct, as it happens) were more formal, and the pilots had a limited number of passes for crew. There were a handful of press passes for aviation photographers, too, but that was it. So even with Mike's involvement with the Warhawk, he was usually the one on the other side of the rope at the other shows, and sometimes not even then. Though I did once have a pilot offer me his rather chewed up wrist band because he was leaving early (didn't take it. Everyone knows who the pilots are, the band was different for them, and I'm definitely not one of the pilots!) Even so, yes, I'm lucky to have the access.

There's a *lot* going on, even at this show. It runs tighter than the others - there isn't a "between sessions", because something's taxiing out as something else is taxiing in. As much as I enjoy it while I'm doing it, I wonder at my sanity once I stop moving. And yeah, do it all again the next year. Even with ruthless culling, and with picking a selection for here, there's a lot of photos, since I was shooting over a period of 4 days. Hopefully, people aren't getting bored with it.

Anyone up for a few pics of Heave Ho? I knew you were. Oh, OK. Heller Bust is in there, too.

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Heller Bust, Lil Ashlee, and the N3Ns.

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This sequence is a little different. The airport isn't closed to other traffic during the show. We have someone with a radio in charge of watching for other traffic, and run spotters out to watch for landing gear on our planes when it gets busy. As a result, we get nonairshow traffic queueing up with us. We get private jets staying a few hours or overnight from time to time. This particular one had people wondering if maybe the runway was a bit short for it. But as you can see, it got off the ground and out just fine. It's a Dassulat Falcon 7X. (Mike actually had to ask someone!)

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The rest of the takeoff.

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Parrothead, the warbugs, and the P-38. I think pics from Sunday are for another day.

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Great bunch of photos, Q1! Lots of nice airplane shots but also of the crew, pilots and audience (All looking up! Priceless!)

Thanks, JAS. I'm known (quietly) for some heretical thinking - the classic angles on the ground and in the air are boring, because they've been done so much. Yeah, I shoot some of them, too, but I like the fiddly bits. I also think it's interesting (and important) to show just what goes one when it comes to running these shows. Not to mention the paying public who helps fund keeping these birds flying.

And now, a selection from Sunday.

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Yep, most of these planes have rear view mirrors one place or another.

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The windows on the wing of the L-19. All of the windows on this plane can be opened. It's a great advantage for observation and photographing.

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Looks like a consultation. Actually a quick brake job.

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The Corsair's engine is rather infamous for belching smoke when it starts up. More than most planes of this vintage.

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This shot is after landing, all flaps down to help scrub off speed.

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Fill 'er up, check the oil, and don't forget the windshield

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The Corsair's tailhook.

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I think they're flying again...

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Part of the audience for the P-38's walk around (John Lane usually does that one)

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Flight line before the gate opened Sunday. This is the most organized it gets.

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Last session of the show. It's an "everybody in the pool". The warbugs are up, too, but they can't keep up and these birds can't slow down enough. I liked having the moon in the shot, even if the framing wasn't perfect.

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Mark Peterson, owner/pilot of Heller Bust

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This was after the ropes came down and people were allowed to get close to the planes. History being passed on.

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John Maloney, VP of Planes of Fame. He flew Boise Bee for us. Seems like every show he gets pretty crispy. We really should corner him once an hour and hose him down with sunscreen.

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Lady Jo's "money streak"

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Lady Jo's owner. If there isn't a fund raiser going on in a show, he's the passenger most of the time.

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Lil Ashlee. Looking things over before the gate opens.

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This was actually after the last session. I thought Joe was taking the plane to Caldwell; then I noticed he had 2 passengers. They were waving to everyone the entire flight.

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Another "art" shot. I liked this one in particular.

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That back seat's still a tight fit

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Just some of the setup that has to be done before the gates open.

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Best time to get casual stuff is before the gates open.

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Steve Hinton. He did the walkaround for the Corsair. He was also the P-38's pilot.

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Boise Bee is swinging extra wide because visibility to the one side is worse than for most warbirds.

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Why walk when you can ride?

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This tug gave us fits over the week. It stalled here just as it was pulling the P-38 out for the next session.

That's the last of the photos on this thread. I've got fiddly bits that I'll post on other threads over the next couple of days.

The only thing I don't like about these shots is that they don't happen anywhere near where I live! GREAT SHOTS!

Thank you, Justin. Is Reading PA near enough to you to be practical? If it is, Mid-Atlantic Air Museum looks like it has a number of show and ride events.