P-51 Mustang – An Adventure in Awesome

EAA AIRVENTURE OSHKOSH

Show 4, Post 2, Part 3: Saturday and Sunday

Day 4 at EAA Oshkosh

Saturday morning in the kitchen, Vincent and Chuck were eating breakfast and talking about Vincent’s P-51 Mustang Ride he got the day before. After a while the rest of the house had awoken and made their way into the kitchen. We all figured out what we were going to do for the daily events. It being Saturday, means there is a night show after the daily show. Vincent and Peter were planning on staying for the night show, so they drove over together. Bonnie, Scott and I were planning to meet up with Craig, Gary and Gary in warbird alley. There we were to try to find some re-enactors to pose for the group around warbirds. Larry was going drop Scott and I off in warbird alley and we were going to meet back with him later.

Down in warbird alley, we found Ryan and Steven, two great guys willing to pose for us. After Ryan was all suited up, we made our way over to Eric Hollingsworth’s P-40 Warhawk. It quickly became clear that this was not the first time Ryan, Steven and Gary Daniel has done a photo shoot like this. Ryan and Steven both were great, patient, took suggestions as well as suggested ideas. Gary Daniels too was just as great, he did a wonderful job with Ryan and Steven fine tuning their positions as well as asking the group how we felt. Everybody was very respectful of each other and our surrounding, we played very well with each other. After we felt we had enough of the P-40, we moved on to Jack Larson’s P-51 Sierra Sue II. There we continue the same routine of position, shoot, experiment, reshoot, all the while being mindful of others and we were starting to draw a crowd! For me, that shoot was the most memorable experience during my 2017 trip to Oshkosh.

After that charged shooting session, Gary Daniel, Scott Slingsby and I, slowed down and get a bite to eat. From there Scott and I made our way over the vintage area to see one of the award-winning aircraft.

We met up with Larry at the media center, where he got Scott and I a better shooting location in the VIP area. Which was far less crowded than the rest of the show line.

Saturday’s airshow was a special for aviation enthusiasts. We got to see all the iconic WWII bombers we all love. Flying in formations that has not been seen in well over 60 years, with Fifi and Doc, the last two flying B-29s. This was Doc’s first time at Airventure after a meticulous 16-year restoration. Which was followed by a parade of bombers with 2 B-29 Superfortresses, 4 B-25 Mitchells and a B-17s.

Then the USAF brought all 3 of its heavy hitters together in a rare formation. Leading the pack was the sleek B-2. On one side was the aging B-52 soldiering on with over 50 years of service. And on the other, was the B-1. Also known as the Bone (B-one), looks like it feared the B-2 by how far out of the formation he was. But oh well….

Each of the bombers performed various passes. It was refreshing to see the B-2 do a photo pass. Here’s a little fact about the B-52 that performed at AirVenture, B-52 number 61-0007 was brought back into service after sitting in the Bone yard for 7 years.

2017 marks the first time the USN Blue Angels flight demonstrate team perform at AirVenture. I have seen the Blues many time and there are always entertaining as well as very photogenic in the afternoon light at Oshkosh.

The finale of the show was again the USAF Heritage flight. The F-35 lead two P-51 Mustangs on its wings and an A-10 Thunderbolt II in the slot position.

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Making our way to the media center, I realized just how many people were here. During the week, the crowd was not so big, which is understandable. But come the weekend, everywhere you looked there was a sea of bodies. With the number of people there and how traffic was going to be after the night show along with there were no jets flying in the night show, we decided to head back to the house.

Back at the house, it was time to dump cards, find something to eat and prepare for the morning like we did all week long. But Saturday night was a little different, it was the end of the weekly grind. Most of the members in the house was leaving tomorrow and heading home. Scott packed up, said his goodbyes to everybody and was off to Milwaukee to catch his flight home in the morning. I think everybody went to bed early, but Peter and Vincent stayed for the night show and returned late.

Sunday, Last day at Oshkosh

Time to put the House the way we got it. Making beds, cleaning dishes as well as packing up our clothes and gear. We all said our goodbyes and exchanged information. With everybody’s car packed and the house locked up, we took a quick group selfie and we all parted ways. On the drive home, I reflected on my experiences from the past week and begin to process the whole trip. My takeaway from EAA AirVenture is that it’s a photo grind. I mean that in a good way. The repetition of each day but still looking to do things differently from the day before. Trying to contain the feeling of being overwhelmed by enormous amount of aviation stuff and yet stay focused on my task. AirVenture is something I know my photography cannot do if justice. It is something every aviation and photography nerd must experience at least once.

If you missed it, here’s

Part 1…https://anadventureinawesome.com/2017/08/12/eaa-airventure-oshkosh-2/

Part 2…https://anadventureinawesome.com/2017/08/16/eaa-airventure-oshkosh-3/

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Until next time,

Steven

2017 Goshen Freedom Fest

Show 3, post 3: Pretty light and Old lessons learned

Well after a long day yesterday, I wanted to write this while my thoughts and feelings are still fresh. Yesterday was hectic! Where to start?… So, flying at the Goshen freedom fest wasn’t going to start until 6:30pm. From my apartment to Goshen, Indiana is 3 hours away. I told my buddy (fellow photographer) to meet me at my place at 2pm, load up my car and go. Figured we will get there about 5-5:30 and give us an hour to look around, shoot whatever statics are there and find a shooting location on the crowd line. My thinking was, it’s Goshen, Indiana, how many people are going to show up for this small-town show? We should have plenty of time…. Plus, the last show I went to there, I had no problems getting to the airport and finding parking. What can go wrong?!

With our gear packed in the trunk and the tank filled, we headed off to Goshen. On the way over, we had time to caught up on how our summers are going, what other shows we were planning as well as any updates on the Freedom Fest. Well come to find out their added a few great additions, Warbird Heritage foundation Skyraider “Bad News” and their P-51 Mustang “Baby Duck” were both there at the airport. I was thinking that “Baby Duck” was going to fly down with the F-22 from Battle Creek, do the Heritage flight and go back to Battle Creek. Goshen Freedom Fest and Battle Creek both have the F-22/P-51 heritage flight in their shows which happen to be the same weekend. Two TBM Avengers showed up along with a Grumman Wildcat and Bearcat. The P-51D “Pettie, 2nd” also was there. The F-86 Saber turned out to be Paul Keppeler’s which I spoke about in Show 3, Post 2. The big addition I had no idea about was Dean “Cutter” Cutshall was going to fly his beautiful North American F-100F Super Saber at the Freedom Fest. The F-100, nickname the “The Hun”, was going to stage out of its home base in Fort Wayne, Indiana. His Super Saber is on my list of aircraft that I want a unique image of and with the lovely evening light, I’m hoping to check it off my list. But every time I get a chance to shoot Dean’s Hun, Mother Nature decides to make a bunch of clouds and place them right in front of the sun while it is flying. Another late addition, is a newly repainted B-17 Flying Fortress, was formally known as “Chuckie” now being flown as “Madras Maiden”. I had forgotten that the Military Aviation Museum had sold their Flying Fortress. I had lost track of where it was and what its new owners was doing to it.

The trip over to Goshen municipal airport, the weather was sunny and looked to be a very nice evening. A few clouds here and there but nothing to be worried about. All we have to do is get there, park, scout around and find a promising spot to shoot from. But as we got within a few miles of the airport, we were greeted by bumper to bumper traffic from others like us, trying to get on to the airport to see the airshow. I was excepting some traffic around the airport, which is not uncommon to most airshows. Just due to the surge of people trying to get on to the airport grounds.

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But most of the time traffic is slow but flows smoothly. This was a dead stop and we only moved one or two car lengths at a time. It was now 5:30pm and we were not ever in sight of the airport. And after about half hour, we were still not in sight of the airport. Now we are starting to doubt if we would get parked before flying started. Then as 6:45pm nears, Mother Nature had to put her 2 cents in. In all western Indiana and southern Michigan, you can guess where she decided where an isolated thunderstorm was going to pop up at? Yeah that’s right, Goshen municipal airport!

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It rained good for about 20 minutes, which in some way we felted was a good thing. It delayed the flying while, which gave us a little bit more time to inch closer to the airport. And at least we were almost there and that we and our gear was dry. By the time the rain stopped, we had advance enough to see the airport and the passing storm overhead. Still off the airport grounds and some distance from parking and about there we see plane start to take off and pass over head. A flight of 4 AT-4 Texan opening the show.

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One of our associates already at the show and waiting for us to show up, told us that the F-22 and P-51 Heritage flight was to be at 7pm, which was quickly approaching. But traffic is still only moving one or two car lengths at a time. By now, we can see the complete line of car in-between us and where they are parking cars. We were hoping to be parking be soon, like within 30 minutes. But that was not the case. Another text from our buddy about the show, B-17 in bound.

Goshen17_1 — Shot out of my sunroof with my iPhone

And our frustration level just went up another notch. “Why are not moving? I don’t understand why thing is taking so long?”, my best friend said as we watch the B-17 line up for a photo pass over the crowd line. So, close but still too far away. 7 o’clock, I ask my friend if wants to get out and go to the trunk to get his gear so he could walk beside the car and shoot when the F-22 shows up. Yeah, that’s just how slow traffic was moving. He gets out, pops the trunk and grabs his 7D MKII along with his 100-400mm MKII and starts shooting.

Now Vlado Lenoch in the P-51 “Baby Duck” gets airborne and started his aerobatic routine before the Heritage flight. I know now that I’m not going to be able to replace my NAS OceanaF-22/P-51 shot with one here. I’m driving along the road way, all the windows down so I can try and spot the Raptor. The Mustang is doing pass after pass and as I’m creeping along, hearing my friends shutter just clicking away. Getting antsy and I want shoot too, I ask my buddy to grab my 7D MKII and ask if I can use his 400mm F/5.6 that he was bring to the show for our friend to shoot with. Still moving along at a snail’s pace, the F-22 Raptor show up and joins with Vlado in “Baby Duck” for the Heritage flight. Got my camera and lenses in my lap, I’m shifting in-between park and drive trying to shoot what I can of the Heritage flight. Fortunately, the airport we to my left and I could snap a few shots here and there. But It sucked. Here’s my F-22 and P-51 Heritage flight image, shot through driver window while sitting in traffic.

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After the Heritage flight was over, we were both hoping that the F-100 was not up next to perform. We were glad to hear the jet truck started up, as we do not care to photograph jet truck at airshows. The truck did buy us a little more time and once it was done, we were on the airport ground. The line of car was still inching forward slowly and by now my nerves were starting to wear a bit. By the time we parked and started looking for our other buddy already there, a high performance aerobic act (I like to call spinners) had flown its routine and landed. We quickly geared up, locked car and started walking for a spot to shoot from on the super crowded show line. Holy Fuck, Goshen! I truly think all of Goshen’s population was crammed on to the tiny airport. Young, old, big, tall and what seems like Indiana entire Amish community as well!

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It took us an hour and half to get through traffic, park and finding a spot to shoot from. Yeah, half as long as the drive over. Our shooting spot was not an ideal location, with so many people already there. Didn’t have much of a chose. We were about 150ft from the rope that started the crowd line. But we did have a good view of the runway for takeoffs as the sun began to monumentally peep from behind the clouds. And just after the show announcer said that Dean Cutshall is inbound from Fort Wayne in his F-100, the sun slides behind a cloud. I manage to capture this one I’m happy with.

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Once we were in our shooting location, it was business as usual. The light was as I imagined it would be, rich golden color and was a treat to shoot.

Click on thumbnails below to view larger image.

I learned some valuable lessons this past weekend. One is to get to the show early so you will have enough time to look around and find what going to work best for you. The whole time from sitting in traffic, final parking the car to the time we found somewhere to shoot found was the most frustrated I have been at a show or event. It is something that I do not want to repeat anytime soon. And underestimating the amount of people going to a show. Because I failed those two things, we miss shots in which we travel there to shoot along with having a poor shooting location.

The best lessons in life are learned through pain.

Until next post,

Steven

Possible pretty light and a few pre-show thoughts

Show 3, post 1: Goshen evening airshow

My next show is a little show down in Goshen, Indiana. Back in 2015 I attended their show, Rotors and Ribs, a small one day helicopter event along with a Rib cook off. Unfortunately, it was rained out. But I did like the feeling of the show, small town show put together by locals and not a huge over done production. This year’s event is going to be an evening show with a handful of flying displays. Here’s a link to the shows website…http://www.americasfreedomfest.org

My main reason why I’m going this show is the possibility for some amazing afternoon light. Flying doesn’t start until 7pm. The runway at Goshen Municipal Airport runs east/west and come late afternoon the light off to the east should be nice and only get better until sunset. Along with the crowd line was pretty close to the active runway, which make for a good opportunity for some panning shots. And in the lovely late afternoon light… Oh man!

Here’s a few of my pre-show thoughts. I have a shot of USAF heritage flight with F-22 and a P-51 that I shot at NAS Oceana back in 2008. It’s an OK image but it was shot is the bright mid-day light. The quality of light is boring and flat. As well as it’s a shot that many photographers shot during that show.

crapter and little house

I’m hoping to replace that image with one with more dynamic lighting. The challenge is I’ll get only shot at trying to get the image I want. Again, it’s only a one day show, no practice or Sunday show. That means shooting higher in my comfort zone to have a higher “keeper” rate. So that means shooting in shutter propriety at 1/320^th. Which is slow enough to show some prop blur on the P-51 but high enough to get a few keepers on each pass. I would like to shoot it at 1/100^th or 1/125^th but again it is a one day show. Getting a properly exposure image will be a little tricky. The paint on the F-22 like to shine a bright hot bronze color in late afternoon light. Which looks stunning but the camera tends to underexpose the Raptor, which isn’t a problem if I’m shooting the Raptor by itself. I can adjust the exposure in Lightroom no problem.

goldern craptor

But during the heritage flight at Goshen with the P-51 Baby Duck, which has a highly polished metal finish, wonder how and if the light bouncing off it will mess with the exposure? Here’s an image I shot back in 2007 at Selfridge ANGB show. You can see the light bouncing off the P-51 Moonbeam McSwine’s and hitting the Strike Eagle fuselage. It’s cool that my camera’s sensor can pick that up but it makes a strange detail in the image.

mudhen and mcswine

Also on the shows website, it shows Paul Keppeler’s CL-13B Sabre Mk 6(Canadair built F-86) will be attending the show. But I’m not sure if whoever put the website together just grabbed any picture of a F-86 or if that’s the one that will be there. There no mention of the owner and that’s has me worried about who’s Saber is going to be there. Warbird heritage foundation (WHF) owns and operates a beautiful F-86 out of Waukegan, Illinois, which would be short hop down to Goshen. I have no problems seeing it again but I have many great images of WHF Saber and not sure if I would be able to shoot a better one at Goshen. If so, great but would rather see Keppeler’s Saber. Will keep an eye out on their Facebook page and show website for any news or updates on attending aircraft. Here is a few of my favorite images of WHF F-86.

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To add to the unknowns, not sure if the Saber would even be taking off and landing at Goshen. The runway there is only 6,050ft long and I’m unsure how much runway is required to operate a Saber. It could stage out of another larger airport and fly over for the show. Which is very possible. The F-22 along with the P-51 are flying down from Battle Creek, Michigan, doing the heritage flight and then heading back to Michigan.

I would like to get some static shots of the warbirds if possible in the afternoon light. Shooting good static images are always troublesome to shoot. Always fighting with background clutter around the aircraft. Everything from cones and ropes to porta johns to tents. Making it difficult to isolate the subject. There is also a good possibility that the aircraft will not be acceptable for shooting. Some show separates the flight aircraft on the “hot ramp” from the ones on static. Will know more as the show gets closer. If not, I’ll know when I get there and take a look around.

There is one more thing to consider, weather. Thunderstorms are notorious for popping up in the Midwest during the summer. There is a good chance the show could see some rain before, during or after the show. It is something you should always be prepared for. Seek shelter if a storm comes your way. Inside a cargo plane, a hanger or tent, something. Get you and your gear out of the rain. If there is a chance of rain at an event, I will bring a ziplock bag to put my gear in if the sky opens up. I know you’re thinking “A ziplock bag? To do what? Protect your cards and batteries?” Yes and my 500mm F/4.5 and whatever body I’m shooting with. Ziplock makes large bags for clothing which are perfect for protecting your gear from the elements. They come in many different sizes, you can get one that you can put you whole camera bag in or one just that would fit just your camera and lense. Priced around $10 to $15, which I don’t mind spending if it can save my gear. Amazon has them, search for “large ziplock bags”

Until next post,

Steven

Better late than never!

Show 1, Post 3: My images from TICO

I’m glad to have finally made it down to Titusville to attend the show. Here’s brief pictorial review of the 2017 “TICO Warbird Airshow” at the Space Coast Regional Airport.

Click on thumbnails to view larger images!

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