I love an Air Show, like most people.

[BobR]

We had an airshow at Fairchild AFB last weekend and I did something that someone in my house thought was crazy. I rented a nice Nikkor lens (70-200 2.8 auto-focus and vibration reduction) and a 1.7 teleconverter so I could get some decent pictures. I took about 350 pictures throughout the day. Some came out, some didn't. But that is the beauty of digital cameras, you can see right away whether or not you want to keep them.

The Air Force SERE school is here so instead of a service parachute team, they did the opening jump honors.



I also took a chance and snapped a pic of the free fall jumpers leaving the C130 and got them just off of the ramp...but you have to look close!  :)



I love the sound of radial engines, the first plane I crewed on in the Navy (C1A) was a twin radial. I guess the love of the sound never goes away. This twin was one of the most prolific planes of WW2. They made a bunch of them, and quite a few are still flying. The B25 Mitchell.



And no Air Show is complete without an old war-bird. In this case it was a P51B, notice the canopy, a Malcolm Hood verses a bubble canopy or earlier canopy.



After WW2 we moved into Korea, I never knew a Mig 17 had an afterburner, but now I do. It was flying around with an F86, quite the sight.



And then for me, the star of the show. I didn't realize the AF still had active F4's, but they do. There is nothing quite like the sound of those 2 GE-J79 single spool engines screaming at power. I am partial to them because a long time ago, in a different life I was fortunate enough to get a 2 hour back seat ride in one of these as a re-enlistment incentive. From cat shot to trap it was a thrill a second.



Another airplane that is instantly recognizable, at one time they were doomed to extinction but cooler heads prevailed and they are still doing an outstanding close air support job in the wars of today.



I always considered the F4 and A10 as fairly small planes ( I was a P3 Flight Engineer so I was used to bigger). But when these guys flew together it was obvious the P51 was a tiny plane by the standards of today.



There wasn't much Navy presence  :cry: , but they did bring out the latest plane they have, the F/A 18 Super Hornet. If you have seen one Hornet, you have seen them all, so here is a little different perspective. Something you don't get to see every day.



Then it was time for the premier event, the reason people braved the heat, the crowds and all of those nasty little screaming and whining kids.... the USAF Thunderbirds. While they aren't the Blue Angels, the announcer didn't know that. At one point he mentioned it was only 30 minutes until the show put on by "The ambassadors in blue...the USAF Blue Angels", it made me feel all warm inside...or was that the heat?



And this is a shot that would have never happened without the zoom...I think renting that lens was the best thing I have done in quite a while. Now if I could just afford one of them I would be a very happy camper indeed.



So there it is, the 2010 Fairchild AFB airshow, not the biggest nor the best, but an airshow none the less!

bob

****** BONUS PIC ******

Just because I like it. This is from the local herd that lives on state land near the State Hospital (crazy people).


 :D

bob

[MechAg94]

Nice.   

[41magsnub]

very nice pictures.

I live next to the airport in Missoula and every couple of years we have the standard small town airshow with one of the two demonstration teams, visitation from various combat aircraft, and all the old warbirds.  I climb up on my roof with binoculars and a cooler to check them out.

We get buzzed by P2V Neptunes and random other firefighting planes several times a day.  It is odd to look up at times and see a Navy P3 buzzing around in the middle of Montana (they are patrolling for fires using their FLIR).

[MillCreek]

That B-25 Mitchell and P-51 are from a collection at Paine Field in Everett, not very far at all from my house.  I see them flying around frequently on the weekends.  The owner of the Warbirds Collection is a wealthy attorney from Seattle.  He just got certified to fly the B-25, and he has been having a blast with it lately. 

[BobR]

He just got certified to fly the B-25, and he has been having a blast with it lately. 

There was a husband/wife team flying it over here. I think it may have been the attorney you mentioned.

bob

[MillCreek]

It was.  His wife is the co-pilot.  At our recent General Aviation Day at Paine Field, the B-25 and P-51 were doing flybys in front of the crowd at about 200 AGL. 

[Devonai]

I've got a lot of love for the P&W R-2800 Double Wasp.  Makes my heart go all a-flutter when I hear one (or two).

[Boomhauer]

You're not going to like how the F-4 is still in service, though. They are target drones.

[roo_ster]

Thank you for renting that lens and the images.

[BobR]

I know they are drones, some manned, some unmanned. At least this one has escaped the dreaded orange paint job for now. This particular one came up from Holloman AFB. Seems like an interesting place, Raptors, Predators and Phantoms all at the same place.

bob

[Jocassee]

You're not going to like how the F-4 is still in service, though. They are target drones.

I think I just died a little on the inside

[Boomhauer]

I think I just died a little on the inside

Think about how a pilot feels about that...we HATE it when an aircraft is scrapped or used for a target drone. We remember the huge fleets of WWII aircraft that were systematically blown up or chopped up and then melted down and then 60 years later there's only a few examples left after the attrition of their post war jobs has further dwindled the numbers.

Kind of like how seeing a surplus rifle butchered. Sure, there's plenty of Mosins now, but in 20 years or so? They'll go the way of the Garand and Springfield rifles...

[Lennyjoe]

Nice pics.

As for the F-4, I think the Germans are still flying a few out at Holloman AFB, NM.

P-3's huh?  Thats what we have in our hangar now doing some depot level maintenance.  Old bastards.....LOL

[Brad Johnson]

I loves's me some A10s.  Mostly because they are like me - not very pretty but brutally effective.

Brad

[Gowen]

Thank you, loved it.  I like the Thunder Birds, but I like the Blue Angels just a bit more.

[Tallpine]

very nice pictures.

I live next to the airport in Missoula and every couple of years we have the standard small town airshow with one of the two demonstration teams, visitation from various combat aircraft, and all the old warbirds.  I climb up on my roof with binoculars and a cooler to check them out.

We get buzzed by P2V Neptunes and random other firefighting planes several times a day.  It is odd to look up at times and see a Navy P3 buzzing around in the middle of Montana (they are patrolling for fires using their FLIR).

I've been pretty darn close to a P3 doing a retardant drop.

We were up on a little ridge and they were dropping in the coulee so we could look right in the cockpit windows as they flew by. 

Interesting thing I heard is that they can't (or won't) land with a load of retardant.  It's too heavy for the landing gear or takes too long to stop.  So once they take off, they have to drop their load somewhere even if it's no longer needed.

[wmenorr67]

Yeah until the 1st Gulf War the A-10 was getting ready to transition over to the Army to replace the Mohawk.

[BobR]

the Mohawk

I can remember seeing the Mohawks parked on the ramp when I lived in Germany in the early 60's. I thought it was a neat plane then and still do. I suppose most (if not all) of them are out at the boneyard now, or destroyed. 

bob

[Boomhauer]

I can remember seeing the Mohawks parked on the ramp when I lived in Germany in the early 60's. I thought it was a neat plane then and still do. I suppose most (if not all) of them are out at the boneyard now, or destroyed. 

bob

Did some research. There are at least 11 ones flying in the US (they belong to aviation foundations and museums), 10 in Argentinia flying, and about 10 static display aircraft. That's a pretty respectable fleet when you consider the OV-1 is one of the more obscure aircraft out there.

[Lennyjoe]

I crewed A-10's from 1985-2007.  Love that jet.

[Tim L]

I love a good airshow, heck I even like a bad airshow .  Good pics.  Check out the Collings Foundation http://www.collingsfoundation.org/menu.htm, they fly some pretty neat birds..

Thanks for showing them.

[Hutch]

How did you get that pic of the B25???  Lovely shot.

[BobR]

How did you get that pic of the B25???  Lovely shot.

Thanks.

Standing on the ramp and shooting several pics as it flew by the crowd.

I have several more of it, and the closest one I cut off just a bit of the starboard vert stab. Other than that you can see a lot of detail. Just a lttle too much zoom. 



bob

[Leatherneck]

when you consider the OV-1 is one of the more obscure aircraft out there.

The Mohawk is a dream to fly. I first flew one in Vietnam on a trade-you basis with an Army pilot I knew. Then in TPS at Pax river we got a few flights to examine lateral-directional stability and control in one engine-out situations. I always thought of the OV-1 as a grownup version of the OV-10.

TC

[kgbsquirrel]

Think about how a pilot feels about that...we HATE it when an aircraft is scrapped or used for a target drone. We remember the huge fleets of WWII aircraft that were systematically blown up or chopped up and then melted down and then 60 years later there's only a few examples left after the attrition of their post war jobs has further dwindled the numbers.

Da, tis a sad thing. On the plus side the F-4 is still going strong in air forces around the world. In happier news though, for anyone who didn't notice, after a few years of restoration there is once more a flight worthy B-29 Superfortress in the world. May I introduce, "Fifi." 


Image courtesy of the Commemorative Air Force