Northwest Flying Photography Blog

Just in case you forgot:

I had booth duty in the morning so there was not a lot happening. I say that almost tongue and cheek, because while at booth duty, I was busy answering questions and keeping the kid in the orange shirt in line.

Ah yes, the Orange Shirt Kid.

The Orange Shirt Kid was one of the many children I refer to as “drop offs.” You see, some parents turn their children loose at the booth with a pat on the head, a quick “stay here” and are off doing what ever they do when they are not doing the parenting thing. At times I feel that we should put up a sign with hourly daycare rates. I’d be rolling in money.

Drop Offs are normally very nice kids, and are good to move along to get in line at another machine when asked. That being said, some are better than others and Orange Shirt Kid was solidly in the Other category. When asked to give another person a chance, he often would say something to the effect of, “I’m just going to land.” Never mind he was 50 mile from the airport and had already made 5 or 6 landings. When asked again, he would repeat his call of landing. When told to move he would ignore you. After this we would be forced to reach over to the keyboard and end his flight. Whereupon he would loudly exclaim, “That’s not fair!” and move to another computer where we would wait for a good 15-20 minutes and wash rinse and repeat. It was very tiresome.

This routine would be broken by the occasional friend that would stop by, such as Barrington Irving. (Who actually stopped by yesterday) Barrington is a great guy, a fantastic pilot, and the youngest person to fly solo around the world. He’s 23. I could barely drive a car to the store at 23.

After booth duty, it was off to the EAA Museum to look at airplanes.

The museum’s collection is impressive, but my favorite is the Bugatti Model 100 Racer

On the way out of the museum, we were met with a very loud noise. An ear splitting, roaring noise that could only mean one thing. The Raptors were flying. And we were missing it.

We got in the golf cart and put the pedal down, rocketing at the pace of an enthusiastic jog. We missed it. Sadness. But we were in time to get some good shots of the Heritage Flight. This one comprised of the Raptor, Snort’s F-86, and Glacier Girl the P-38.

I also got some shots of some other warbirds, like JT’s Seafury,

And a P-51

And some bombers. (Three B-25s, A B-24 and a B-17)

Then it was back to the Super 8 (where we are staying) to freshen up for dinner at the Hilton (where we are not staying.) Afterward we took a leisurely cart ride for some sun set photos of airplanes.

Some of which turned out decent.

And some not so decent.

There are some more good ones up on Flickr.

Comments(0)

Flying is safe. But then again it is less safe than not flying. Just as driving you car is less safe than not. There was an accident today at the show where two P-51s collided on the ground during a formation landing. One of the pilots was fatally injured when his aircraft flipped over on it’s back. My deepest condolences go out to his family and friends.

I mention above that flying is safe and it is, but there is inherent risk in everything, and close formation flying increases the risk of an accident. Those who practice close formation are very conscientious, very precise in their flying and they practice a lot. Today’s accident only highlights the need for that practice and precision. I apportion no blame and will not second-guess the actions of either pilot. That is was the investigation is for. But I will learn, and I will apply what I have learned.

Today’s photos, with out comment

Flickr

Comments(0)

I’ll start out by saying that this is written in the morning of the forth day, because I took the increasingly rare opportunity to go to bed early. I feel much better now.

Yesterday started very wet and stayed that way for a long time with showers, down pours, light sprinkles and “Oh my GOD it’s wet” dropping down on us through out the day.

It was also my (almost) day off. I did have to cover the booth for a short time in support of some new arrivals. What time I didn’t spend at the booth was naturally spent having Hal chauffer me around in the golf cart. I love that cart.

I spent some time on the flight line, and a little bit of time just cruising around, but due to the oppressive gray inspiration was not forth coming. I did manage to get some shots of two of the best formation teams is the biz. The Aeroshell Team

And the Red Barrons

This last one gives you a good idea of what the sky was like all day. Really. If it wasn’t a hazy blur, it was raining. I love my days off.

One special arrival was the C-17 that was kind enough to do some photo passes and a performance landing. Amazingly, this aircraft came in and landed in what I guestimate was 1500 feet. I can’t even land a Cessna in 1500 feet..

Just like before, go to my Flickr Page to see all of my photos.

Comments(0)

Today was a good day. I got up early. (Not so good) It rained very hard. (Also not so good) and I got to meet and greet some very interesting folks. (Very good)

After the not so good waking-upings, we proceeded to the booth for start up and the daily what the heck is every body doing discussion. Discussion is a kind word for it, it’s more like a bunch of us standing around and wondering who is supposed to do something, and who is supposed to do that something later so the fist guys can stop doing something and do other somthings. If I make is sound kind of nebulas, it’s only because booth duty is somewhat hard to describe. It not really demonstrating the product, although we do some of that. It’s not really “evangelizing” just because we are preaching to the choir in this particular venue. Basically we stand around, help people that need to figure out how to launch from the cat, answer some questions about the product, ($65.00…we don’t sell it, they sell it over there…that is the show special…As big a computer as you can afford…No, I don’t know why your copy of Dell Flight X Sim does that…) and have a good time hanging out with folks that love aviation as much as we do. It’s a cool gig.

My doing somthing at the booth time was in the afternoon today, so me, Hal and Dan scooted out to gawk at the warbirds. I kind of sort of know a guy that flew in with a Hawker Seafury, so my first task was to find, and say hello to JT.

That being accomplished, my second task was to con him into letting me get my grubby mitts on the aircraft. Here I am, looking goofy in a very expensive airplane.

The guys on the Seafury were great, and very generous with their time. Thanks JT! I promise you’ll get all the pictures, even the crappy ones.

Next was a leisurely drive through the warbirds, with only the occasional photo stop. Since tomorrow is my day off, I plan on doing a hard-core photo day.

Of course, no drive through the warbirds would be complete with out a trip to the Mustang Corral, and whom do we spy on out little jaunt? Why it’s Dale “Snort” Snodgrass. If you don’t know Dale, familiarize yourself, ‘cause that’s a sad state to be in. Dale is the man. Seriously. THE… MAN. Dale was very nice to us, and again, we somehow managed to convince someone to let us man handle their aircraft. Here is Hal telling Dale how to fly the P-51.

I know it looks a bit like Hal is worshiping, but trust me, there is a serious transfer of knowledge going on. I however, steadfastly avoided eye contact, thus making me look a little bit confused. I do wonder how I got there.

Both of these conditions were avoided by Young Gentleman Dan, who managed to look both not-confused and competent and the same time.

After all that excitement it was off to booth duty, and a rain squall that came through and canceled the warbirds display. Sucks to be early shift today.

After the show it was off to the sponcers dinner, where we all gathered about and Hal met Greg which is a story I’d better let him tell.

Them

 Flickr is the place to be.

Comments(1)

After a sleep in which I did not sleep as much as I would have liked, I woke up to my first full day at Oshkosh, and since I did not arrived at my hotel until well after 12:00am I have ended up writing after midnight now for two days in a row.

Please stop the madness…

I had the morning off so I, and a couple of others from the team, golf carted around the vintage area where I took some shots of old airplanes. I like old airplanes.

Hal regaled us with tales of daring do is his trusty Tiger Moth.

Mike the CFI remained unimpressed.

The Tiger Moth made no comment.

A new bird for me was this Swallow, a very nice looking aircraft.

I do like the engine. It looks cool…No, it looks Capital C cool….Cool.

As always, additional photos are found On My Flicker Page. Which will be updated every dayish.

Comments(0)

I arrived.

I was supposed to fly through Detroit, that flight was canceled. I had to wait for 3 hours for the next flight through Minneapolis, getting me into Oshkosh at 11:30 pm.

I was supposed to have a rental car.

There are four rental car agencies at the airport. All of them close at 11:30. Fortunately, after I got off the airplane they had stayed open for a few extra minutes. Well, all but one. Naturally the agency that I had the reservation at was closed, dark and empty. Hate fills my very soul.

Cab ride to the hotel.

I’m sending Hal the bill.

Comments(0)

Ok, I dumped some photos up on Flickr so you all don’t go hungry while I’m at Oshkosh.

Here are some of the shots:

Ok, there is not a lot of detail in this shot, but I really like it.

I really think that this pic tells a good story. A short one, but a good one.

Comments(0)