The big feature is the Thunderbirds, but there are some other things worth watching. Early this afternoon, I heard a bit of a rumble outside and said "that's not a regular prop driven plane". I hopped outside, looked up over the house and grabbed this snap in the two or three seconds I had.
That's the B-17 named Memphis Belle, from the movie by that name. I've never seen one in real life.
The other headlined airplane that was going to be here was to be a today-only flyby of a B2 Spirit bomber. Unfortunately, here's where my location about 3 miles north of the runway was an issue. The bomber did a low flyby heading east over the strip, continued out east (probably offshore) then turned around and flew west over the strip again. It never really presented anything remotely "photogenic" to me.
Only one or two passable shots of the T-birds.
I'll probably try again tomorrow because challenge. There's a few P-51s flying, Memphis Belle again and the 45 minutes or so of the T-birds.
For the photographers, my lens is a 300mm Sigma budget zoom, and I generally leave it focused at infinity on aperture priority autoexposure in my Canon T6i DSLR. With the APS-C sensor, that's equivalent to a 480mm lens on a "full frame" 35mm sensor. I use IS800 allowing me to shoot at roughly f11 and 1/2000 second. Of course that varies a bit, but I try to push for depth of focus and fast shutter speeds.
Not bad for being not close!
ReplyDeleteThe most exotic thing I've seen fly over in the last six months was a CH-46 Chinook. Once in a while I'll see a "Huey" or three, and I could swear I've heard a V-22 Osprey. I used to see those fairly often in the Long Beach harbor when I worked there. They have such a distinctive sound that once you've heard one, you'll remember it.
Because of our proximity to the KSC and Patrick Air Force Base, we get to see a lot of aircraft, including things like Harriers and F-18s that aren't regular Air Force inventory. My wife says she has seen V-22 Ospreys once or twice and heard there's a company in town that does (did?) some specialty work on them. I haven't seen the Ospreys.
DeleteExcept for the actual birds; those are everywhere.
I see Chinooks every now and then. I saw an F-117 a couple of times, but years ago. Years ago, you could almost set your watch by a U2 on approach to Patrick, but that hasn't been the case in a while.
Pay for the flight. Worth it. You might not get another chance, the plane in this clip burned to the ground a couple of years later.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwHhj-heDmI
There is nothing in the world that sounds as great as large piston engine airplanes.
ReplyDeleteAnd while attending an airshow quite a while ago we found that a low level flyby by an F-14 traveling just below the speed of sound was well up there on the awesome list.
Nice pic. I've seen it fly by twice, but not so close.
ReplyDeletehttps://borepatch.blogspot.com/2013/03/seen-overhead-today.html
What are waiting for? Get out to the show and at least tour the B17. It gives a whole new perspective on what those bomber crews went through.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite b 17 memory was playing around with a C 152, in the clear air between classic puff ball cumulus, making tight descending circles, and seeing one fly underneath me about 500 agl. What a thrill.
A B-17 just about killed me a few years back. Rolling along in my Jeep with the top off, enjoying the sunny day when that thing flew overhead...I stared so long I made an unplanned off-road excursion.
ReplyDeleteI could totally see that happening.
DeleteMy dad was a B-17 pilot with the 447th Bomb Group. He flew 35 combat missions over Europe.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.447bg.com/
Here is one of my all time favorites. Be sure to watch the one that follows about the making of--
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlFD0Zyl_f0
That commercial is great.
DeleteYou are aware that the real Memphis Belle is on display in Memphis, Tennessee. When I saw it in the late 60s it was at an outdoor park in Memphis and in deplorable condition. I think it has been moved to an indoors display on Mud Island.
ReplyDeleteNo, I wasn't aware. The air show's web sitereferred to this plane as "The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress from the movie “Memphis Belle” " with no indication there was more than one.
DeleteInteresting to know.
Ahhhh...that makes sense. This was the plane used in the movie. The "real" Memphis Bell is now in Dayton at the USAF Museum. They just finished restoring it and are going to display it in the Museum in May. Anyone that get's close to Dayton and loves planes, check out this Museum! It's AWESOME!
DeleteI encourage you to at least tour the B-17. My wife left me fly in the Aluminum Overcast last year and, even though I know all about the B-17, I was still dumbfounded at how little protection there was for the crew. And...sitting in the nose at the bombardier station is as close as you can get to feeling like your flying without a plane!