Summary of the 2006 Season - Behind the Scenes
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Introduction Since the last air show at Edwards AFB in October, 2005, planning for the 2006 season was already underway. After many days of research, I chose the shows I will most likely attend in 2006. During the winter months, I acquired 3 additional lenses. Two of them will be used for my wide angle shots. During the air show off season, I was busy testing the new lenses with outstanding results. I photographed a variety of subjects, including Christmas Lights, insects, flowers and landscapes from the coast to the snowy Sierra Nevada and the desert. My
newest additions also include a high end tripod and a top of the
line external flash. These additions will be used when I start to
photograph portraits and weddings.
Please select a topic below
Air Shows
The first 2 months of 2006 were relatively dry and clear in Northern California. For the month of March, it was a different story. Cold and wet weather set in late February and I kept a watchful eye on the weather pattern during the first 2 weeks of March. I have found out that the proximity of the viewing area to the runway at El Centro provides a great viewing angle for photographers, anotherwards the sun is behind you. In addition to that, the weather is almost always clear. This was the determining factor for making the long trip from Northern California to a location over 100 miles east of San Diego. One week prior to the El Centro show, I checked the weather forecasts for the area, which was fluctuating from a 20 percent to 60 percent chance of rain. A huge cold unstable air mass moved into my area and by the time I departed my house, the entire state of California was affected. I encountered hit and miss rain the entire way and snow in the Grapevine on Interstate 5. I stayed overnight at my parents house in Orange County and my brother accompanied me for the trip to El Centro. We departed at approximately 05:00 on March 11, the day of the show. I had figured it would take about 3 hours to get to El Centro. During the trip, we encountered just about all the elements of weather, including rain, thunderstorms, hail, sleet and snow. At the Interstate 8 junction from Interstate 805 in San Diego, it was raining so heavily that our speed was reduced to 30 MPH. As we approached the grade, the Highway Patrol had closed the road at about the 2,000 foot elevation, due to ice and snow. We waited and about 20 minutes later, a snowplow and Highway Patrol cruiser escorted us and a convoy of vehicles heading east. I had never seen snow fall this heavy, even in the Sierras and we were in San Diego County! As we made our way down the grade, the weather seemed to clear, at least the precipitation wasn't falling. 5 miles out of El Centro, I spotted a CH-53 helicopter dropping the U.S. Navy Leap Frog Parachute Team. We made our way on to the base an hour past the scheduled arrival time. There weren't many people, since it had been raining the night before and earlier in the morning. Due to the heavy mud, the boundary and VIP/Press area had to be relocated. My preference for major air shows is show center. We attempted to purchase tickets for the preferred seating, only to find out they sold out 5 minutes prior to our arrival. We got permission to view the show just to the right of the VIP/Press area. To get there meant walking through nearly ankle deep mud. The mud was like wet clay and stuck to our shoes. I asked a Navy Officer if I could use a couple unused pallets to stand on. We placed them on the muddy surface and that's where we staged for the entire show. Although the day was mostly cloudy, we did experience some breaks of sunshine, which provided for some excellent shots. By the time the Blue Angels crew were in place, a steady rain was falling. This continued throughout their performance and by the time they taxied back in, the sun came out for the remainder of the day. I'm sure if the team knew this, they would have delayed the performance 45 minutes or so. Although I didn't get many great shots, their performance was outstanding! It goes to prove that the F/A-18 is an all weather aircraft. This show was worth the trip! At this time I would like to congratulate the Blue Angels for 60 years of wonderful flying. Happy Anniversary, Blue Angels! We opted not to take the same route back to Orange County. It looked like it was still snowing in the higher elevations, at least the mountains had a heavy cloud cover. We drove along the Salton Sea and through Riverside and back to Orange County. After returning from the Southland, I kept a close eye on the weather for the Sacramento area. It was forecast to rain all the way through Friday. I took the day off work to purchase advance sale tickets and to watch the rehearsal. If things went less than perfect in El Centro, the following week would surely pay off. Mather Airport (formally Mather AFB) is only about 15 minutes from where I live. It had rained steadily all week and thick overcast hung over the region on Friday. I arrived at Mather shortly after 12 noon. I purchased tickets for both days and headed out as close as I could to the flight line. To my delight, the weather had partially cleared and I was able to park my pickup truck right near the fence outside the flight line. This was especially good, because I could sit on top of my camper shell and have a fairly unobstructed view of the rehearsal and some of the static display arrivals. There were very few people where I was at, but the weekend performances would prove much different. Both Saturday and Sunday were flawless, weather-wise. As always, I got a very early start and made the 15 minute trip to the show. I was so early (got there at 07:30) that I didn't know where the entrance gate was. By 09:00, there were quite a few vehicles line up outside the gate. The officials decided to let us in to the parking areas at 09:30, thirty minutes earlier than the scheduled time of 10:00. After parking my vehicle, I headed directly for show center. I stayed there for the entire show. Many acts highlighted this show. The civilian performers were as follows: Rich Perkins and the L-39 "Firecat" jet, Tim Decker (this man lives in the same town as me) with his Pitts Bi-Plane, Michael Hunter with his Laser 230, Nikolay Timofeev with his Sukhoi SU-26M, Chuck Lisher with his F-260 Warrior and Miss Julie Clark performing a very patriotic show in her T-34 Mentor. On the military side was a UH-60 Blackhawk demo, U.S. Coast Guard (with C-130 and HH-65 Dolphin helicopter) rescue demo, T-38 (from Beale AFB) fly-by, A-10 Warthog (with Rich Gibson's incredible pyro) to be followed by a heritage flight with a P-51 Mustang, various warbird fly-by's and the Blue Angels. There were much more people than anticipated for the show, so much that traffic was backed up in both directions for almost 2 miles on U.S. 50. Officials had to close the gates, because the enormous parking area had filled up. There was also very long delays getting off the base, but I never knew this, because I hung around a long time after the show to photograph static displays. To prevent a repeat of the traffic problem on Sunday, a task force was formed to organize traffic flow. It worked out flawlessly, because spectators experienced no delays getting off the base, onto city streets and onto the freeway. Hats off to the Rancho Cordova Police Department, Sacramento County Sheriff's Department and the California Highway Patrol. Anticipating a large crowd for Sunday, I arrived at the show about 45 minutes earlier than Saturday. Sunday's performance was a repeat of Saturday and it gave me a chance to photograph some static displays I missed on Saturday and to actually talk with many of the civilian performers. The day after the show, the rain returned and stayed for almost the entire week. This air show (in contrast to last year's static display of warbirds) was the official inaugural event for this area and will most likely be held annually. The airport has not seen a major event since it was decommissioned as an active military installation. It took me several hours to sort through the photos I took and 2 days to process and add them to the gallery (the largest on this site to date). After a very wet March and most of April, it was time for the next air show. After checking the weather forecasts for the San Diego area, I headed for Southern California once again. Rain was forecast for Northern California for the weekend of the April 21-23 show, but the southern part of the state predicted cloudy to partly cloudy skies for the weekend. I departed on April 21st in the afternoon. The first couple of hours on the road had no significant weather, except for a few rain showers. I knew I wasn't going to experience the wide variety of weather I did when I took my last trip. When I got near Coalinga, which is in the central part of the state, I saw cloud to cloud lightning ahead of me. The storm seemed to increase in intensity (the lightning strikes were more frequent) as I headed south. I could see where the downdrafts were and the sun in the west produced a rainbow within the cloudburst. Lightning was seen in vertical and horizontal bolts in and around the rainbow and slightly south of this was a well defined white "criss-cross" pattern of precipitation. Within a few minutes, my pickup truck was pelted with hail nearly the size of golf balls. I had to pull over, because I was sure my windshield was going to be broken. I had thought I would be making a call to my insurance company. The hail lasted for several minutes. After I started driving very slowly for a quarter of a mile, I was out of the storm. Northbound traffic was almost at a standstill for nearly a mile. I was lucky I didn't sustain any damage, this was due to the fact the hail was relatively "soft". It sounded like hundreds of rocks on top of the cab of my pickup. I arrived at my parents house in Orange County that night, where I spent the night. I departed for Gillespie Field at about 05:30, with my brother accompanying me. Gillespie Field is in El Cajon, which is approximately 10 miles east of San Diego. We arrived so early that the volunteers were not even in place yet to direct traffic, so we parked very close to the gate. A fellow photographer who I met last year at the Wings over Wine Country show was the first in line. At about the scheduled time of 08:00, the gates opened and we made our way to the flight line. Our early arrival gave us plenty of time to photograph many static displays. The first planes in the air were the Collings Foundation's B-17 Flying Fortress and B-25 Mitchell on revenue flights. A trio of sport bi-planes took off shortly after, followed by T-6 formation and T-34 missing man formation and the national anthem. The Collings Foundation's B-24 Liberator also took to the skies on a revenue flight. Other performers were John Collver and Chuck Lischer performing aerobatics. There was also a mock battle with 2 A-1 Skyraiders and pyrotechnics. There were many various warbirds, including a F4U Corsair, a P-40 Warhawk, T-6's, a T-28 and Chuck Hall in his P-51 Mustang "Six Shooter" performing fly-bys and another mock battle. Other Planes included the AN-2 "Little Panda" (the largest bi-plane in the world), 2 Cessna L-19 Bird Dogs a Mig-21 and other vintage aircraft. Although the weather was overcast most of the day, the layer was high enough to where aerobatics could be performed. The angle of the sun relative to where we were standing provided us with acceptable lighting and a unique backdrop. I saw many fellow photographers, whom I met through their websites. Many thanks go to the people who put this fine show together. The March ARB show took place on April 29-30. For the third time this year, I drove to Southern California, this time with my wife accompanying me. There were no abnormalities as far as the weather was concerned during the trip on the 29th. After we arrived at my parents house, I logged on to fencecheck, a forum that members can post photos and stories about air shows. I found out that the weather that day was mostly cloudy and very hazy. In addition to this, the sun was in front of the crowd for the latter part of the show, which meant photographic opportunities were not good. My wife and I left for March ARB at 05:30 (reminiscent to the times I left the same location when I was a reservist there). We arrived in the area at about 07:00. The weather was clear with a bit of haze. I was deciding whether to photograph the show from the base side or at the March Museum, which is on the other end of the runway. We opted to go onto the base, mainly because I know a crew from Travis AFB who had a C-5 Galaxy on static display. I also have a good friend, whom I met in the reserves and is still a reservist there. We drove through the gate at precisely the time the gates were scheduled to open, which was 08:00. Since we were one of the first on base, we parked very close to the entrance of the flight line. After a security check, I set up the equipment and started photographing the static displays. We met up with one of the crew members from Travis AFB, a buddy who worked with me at United Airlines in Oakland. After that, we got our press pass and waited for the show to begin. One of the first performers was Ed Hamill doing a practice run. This was especially good, because the morning sun was behind us. The Canadian Skyhawks Parachute Team officially opened the show. Other performers were March Aero Club's T-34 formation fly-by, Craig Teft aerobatics, L-29 formation, Rob Harrison in the ZLIN-50 “Tumbling Bear”, John Collver in the SNJ-5 “Wardog”, a jet truck (raced John Collver), KC-135 tanker, C-130 cargo drop demo, Heritage Flight with F-15 and P-51 Mustangs, Legacy Flight with F/A-18, Hellcat and Bearcat, C-17, Julie Clark (my apologies to you, Julie for only one photo in the gallery, my camera was set on the wrong setting and I only salvaged one shot, but you should have heard the response to your wonderful act) and the USAF Thunderbirds. The ground shows included the Budweiser Clydesdales, Robosaurus ( this is a giant robot who breaths fire and snacks on cars), and the most bizarre ground display I've seen yet, a jet powered porta-potty outhouse. During the performances, the photo opportunities were fairly good, until the sun crossed onto the other side of the runway. I was still able to get decent shots, which I would later edit them digitally. My good friend from the reserves arrived a couple of hours after the show started and another good friend who I worked with at United Airlines in Orange County met up with us. After the show, my wife and I were able to tour the flight deck of the C-5. Thanks to all for making this possible and it was great to see my good friends once again! On May 5, I purchased the Canon 1D MKIIN, one of the finest cameras for air show photography. In addition to improved features, this camera is a truly professional body with a frame rate of 8.5 frame per second. It took a little time to get used to the controls, but with little time, I was feeling very comfortable with it. I took some test shots once again at Sacramento International Airport. The frame rate is unbelievable and every shot came out perfect. My 20D will now have the job of getting the wide angle shots and the Rebel with the standard lenses (this is what I started with) will be used as general purpose camera and to teach my wife the basics of DSLR photography. With the "L" series lenses and these fantastic bodies, I think I am now set for great air show photography. Is there room to upgrade? Sure there is, but the real big lenses run in excess of 5 grand! We'll see. On May 16 and 17, EAA brought their B-17 "Aluminum Overcast" for display and revenue rides to Mather Field, near Sacramento, the site of the California Capital Air Show. Although much smaller than the event 2 months ago, this event proved to be the perfect opportunity for photographing with the new 1D MKIIN. I also put the new 580EX Speedlite flash unit to the test, photographing much of the interior shots and experimenting with the manual settings. The results were stunning. I will also be experimenting with the manual mode, photographing the fly-bys during future air shows. The Planes of Fame Air Show took place at Chino Airport on May 20-21. After checking the weather, my wife and I headed down to Southern California, where we stayed at my parents' house in Orange County. On the way, we encountered a thunderstorm on Interstate 5, the third time such weather was seen out of four trips to the Southland. The weather forecast for the Chino Airport was partly cloudy on Saturday and a chance of rain for Sunday, due to a system moving into the area, which is unusual for this time of the year. My brother, who has an interest in warbirds, accompanied me on both days of the air show. Upon our arrival on Saturday, the weather was mostly cloudy with the layer giving way to mostly clear skies. We arrived early, which gave me a chance to photograph the aircraft on the "hot ramp" and the static displays. The first flying acts were a few fly-by's by a formation of homebuilt aircraft, four L-19's and a beautiful Beech Staggerwing. The opening ceremonies commenced with a formation of a Boeing P-26 Peashooter, Seversky AT-12, P-51 Mustang and an F-86 Sabre. This formation represented the aircraft from Pre-WWII to the Korean War. Shortly after, a Grumman F3F joined the fly-by's with formations with the AT-12 and the Peashooter. During the fly-by's, a Sopwith Camel and a Fokker Tri-Plane were launched and performed fly-by's, along with some formation passes. The Silver Wings wing walking team with Margaret Stivers performing the wing walks and Hartley Folstad piloting a Stearman followed the WWI formation. This was Margaret's 1000th wing walk, Congratulations, Margaret! During the conclusion of the team's performance, Margaret displayed the American Flag and saluted the fans, during the final fly-by's. We look forward to seeing this team perform at future air shows. The next performance consisted of several fly-by's of many aircraft that represented the war in the pacific. Amongst those was a rare Japanese Zero, I believe this is the only Zero that is in airworthy condition. A Goodyear F2G-1 Corsair with the big R-4360 engine preceded the Pacific Theater flight with aerobatics and joined the rest of the aircraft fly-by's. An F-86 Sabre and MiG-15 represented the Korean War with formation passes. The European Theater flight took place next, with several very rare aircraft, including a Bell P-63 Cobra, British Fairey Firefly, Supermarine Spitfire and a pair of P-47 Thunderbolts, one of them being a G "Razorback" model. A Tailhook Legacy Flight with an F/A-18 Hornet and a Grumman Bearcat took place after a demonstration by the F/A-18. After the Legacy Flight, every plane that was available to fly was launched in a mass gaggle of warbirds. I believe as many as 25 airplanes were airborne at one time! A Sea Fury performed aerobatics with smoke generators at the wingtips, demonstrating the vortices that form in flight. This caused the smoke to swirl at a very high rate and break into "ring" formations. The final act was an F-16 demo and a heritage flight with a P-51. Sunday's performance was a repeat of Saturday, with the exception of the MiG-15 unable to fly with the F-86 Sabre. A P-38 Lightning participated in the Heritage Flight with the F-16 and P-51. Although the sky conditions were a bit less favorable than Saturday, it did not rain as forecast and the addition of the P-38 to make the 3 ship formation Heritage Flight was a real treat! There were so many different types of warbirds at this show and I did not have the time to list them all in this report. You will have to go to the gallery to see them. I believe I photographed every one that flew. A total of nearly 2,000 shots (and four gigs of CF cards) were taken with the new 1D and the 20D. There is a notable difference in color and detail. Although post editing took over 12 hours, most of the photos shot were" keepers". The 20D was used for the static displays, while the 1D with the "big lens" was used for the flying. The most difficult and time consuming part of the post editing was choosing the shots that would end up on the gallery. This gallery would surpass the Capital Air Show as far as the number of photos on a single gallery. The Beale AFB open house and air show was a success. Seasonally warm weather and clear skies made great photography possible on June 3 and 4. This was the first major event I attended in Northern California since the Capital Air Show in March and the drive from my home to the base took only about 30 minutes. Beale AFB has not hosted an air show since 9-11 and the return of this event proved to be special. I arrived on base Saturday morning at about 07:00. I picked up my media badge and started photographing the static displays before the general public arrived. I got to meet up with some good friends, Bill Reeseman and his wife Julie Nistico Reeseman, who make up Red Bull MiG team. I had not seen them personally since the Fleet Week Air Show in 2000. After a talk and a Red Bull drink, I continued on with the static displays, where I met up with a fellow photographer Matt Davis from Digital Bubba dot com. Matt and I were invited to ride along with the U.S. Army Parachute Team, The Golden Knights. After watching a few of the opening acts, we proceeded to the aircraft for a briefing. I was provided with a jumpsuit, due to the cold temperatures at altitude. It got down to near 30 degrees at 12,500 feet above the show. The temperature was almost 90 degrees when we took off. As we climbed to the jump altitude, the jumpers were preparing for their performance. We got to see this up close, since we were sitting at the rear of the aircraft, near the doors. It's amazing how fast the jumpers disappear when they leave the aircraft. As each jumper departs, there is a "whoosh" and they are gone. The fast frame rate on my 1D allowed me for a few good action shots. I personally would like to thank the team for the invitation, I had a great time and lasting memories from this experience. After we landed, the F/A-18 Super Hornet took to the skies. We arrived at the media area shortly before the Red Bull team got airborne. Chuck Yeager, the first person to break the sound barrier, made his presence and gave a speech, while a 2 ship warbird formation flew by. A few more acts followed before the highlight of the show, the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds. Prior to their performance, about ten Airmen were sworn into the U.S. Air Force right on the flight line. Best of success to these young people! The Thunderbirds gave a wonderful performance to close the show. On Sunday, I arrived on base a little earlier than Saturday. I photographed more static displays before getting to the flight line. Sunday's show was a repeat of Saturday's show with the same beautiful weather conditions. The performers were as follows: Golden Knights Jump Team, Bill Cornick and his Pitts S2-C, Eddie Andreini and his Super Stearman, F-15 tactical demo followed by a Heritage Flight with Greg Anders in the P-51, C-17 demo from March ARB, Rich Perkins and the L-39 "Firecat", KC-135 fly-by, U-2 fly-by, Chuck Lischer and his F-260, Bud Granley and the Yak-55/Yak-18 two ship performance, Dan Buchanan with his hang glider (with Eddie Andeini and the Stearman), Golden Knights Jump Team (second performance), T-38 four ship fly-by, F/A-18 Super Hornet demo, Steve Cowell, the only remaining flying Tuskegee Airman with his T-6, Air Force Reserve jet car (raced Steve Cowell), MiG-17 "Red Bull", flown by Bill Reeseman, interview with Chuck Yeager (with P-51, Sea Fury and T-28 formation fly-by), Ellsworth "Getch" Getchell with his Hawker Sea Fury and the final act, the U.S. Air Force Thunder birds. I would like to recognize Maj. Nicole Malachowski, who flies the number three position for the Thunderbirds. Major Malachowski is the first female officer who has ever flown for a U.S. demonstration team, a historical achievement for her. Congratulations, Nicole! I met her parents on Sunday, who are attending every Thunderbirds performance. It was very nice talking to them, they are wonderful people! A special thanks to the personnel at Beale, for making me feel at home, you are truly professionals. I'm looking forward to future air shows at this fine base. This annual event is held at the Marysville (Yuba County Airport) by the Experimental Aircraft Association. My sincere apologies for not being able to make this one, I was in Boston photographing a graduation. I will look forward to next year's event and will be able to donate my photography services to these fine people. The Vertical Challenge is an annual event that takes place at the San Carlos Airport in the San Francisco Bay Area. What's unique about this show is that it is a helicopter air show. It is put on by the Hiller Aviation Museum and this year's event was the seventh consecutive show. This year's event took place on Saturday, June 17. The day started out very early as I departed for San Carlos at 05:30. The weather was forecast to be clear with temperatures in the mid 80's. Upon my arrival, I started photographing static displays. Helicopters from law enforcement and news agencies were also arriving at this time. The show officially started with "Otto" the helicopter towing an American Flag with 2 helicopters from Showcopters in formation. Other flying acts included a formation fly-by of vintage Bell and Hiller helicopters, a rare and restored Hiller H-32 (the rotor blades are powered by ramjets at the tips of the blades) brought in from Classic Rotors from Southern California, a CDF water drop, a C-5 Galaxy fly-by from nearby Travis AFB (OK, there was an exception to the rules), "Otto" and a quick "lesson" done by the Showcopters. Silver State Helicopters flew a Bell 407 with a car slung underneath and dropped the vehicle near the end of the runway. The Coast Guard was scheduled to give a demonstration, but got called out to a real world emergency. A small plane was ditched into the San Francisco Bay on the way to nearby Palo Alto from Oakland and the pilot was rescued. Several US Marine recruits were sworn in during a ceremony between the flying acts. During the day, law enforcement and medivac helicopters were called to duty and had to fly out. After the show, I photographed some of the departures. The Vertical Challenge was the largest gathering of helicopters I have ever seen with aircraft from law enforcement, news agencies, military, medivac, fire and private owners represented. The Hiller Museum is a must see for any aviation enthusiast. Many thanks go out to the people who put on this show. Father's Day Fly-In and Pancake Breakfast Up until now, every air show on this website has been unique since it was started last year. I have been attending the Father's Day Fly-In since 2001. This year was their 40th annual event and was held at the Columbia Airport near Sonora in the Sierra Nevada Foothills on Sunday, June 18. As I mentioned in last year's report, this air show has the best pancake breakfast. People from all over fly in to see this show. Although there are no aerobatics performed, there are fly-by's of some beautiful vintage aircraft. CDF usually performs a demonstration if they are not on call. They did go out on a couple of calls, but were able to perform a demonstration with water drops from 2 S-2T air tankers and a helicopter. An OV-10 Bronco coordinated the drops from above. This was the first time I had seen the fixed wing tankers perform water drops at this show. In addition to the fly-by's and CDF demo, there was a spot landing contest, a flour bag drop contest, a race between an airplane and a race car and airplane rides from a Twin Beech, Stearman, P-51's and a couple of Cessnas. One of the highlights was Ellsworth Getchall in his Hawker Sea Fury performing high speed passes and demonstrating wing tip vortices with smoke generators. A temporary control tower was in place with people from NorCal Approach keeping us all safe. The weather was in the mid 90's and clear. I had also departed very early at 05:30 for Columbia. This show along with the Vertical Challenge made for a very busy weekend. A lot of miles were covered between the 2 shows. Many thanks go to the people who organized this fine show. Airshowpix dot net one year anniversary Friday, June 23, 2006 marked the one year anniversary since Airshowpix dot net was launched. During this time, I have seen nearly every type of air show imaginable and traveled through just about every weather condition to get to these shows. A lot of progress has been made acquiring the best equipment made for photographing air shows and many new friendships began. Nearly two months have gone by since I photographed the last air show. On August 12, the Auburn Airport hosted their annual event. After a couple of weeks of temperatures in excess of 110 degrees, it cooled down to the lower 90's. My wife and I made the 15 minute trip to the Auburn Airport. After a great pancake breakfast, we started photographing the static displays. The air fair officially started with the traditional national anthem, followed by a demonstration of very talented radio controlled aircraft operators, one being a fixed wing and the other a helicopter. CDF aircraft arrived shortly after with a water drop from 2 S-2T tankers and a fly-by from the air attack, an OV-10 Bronco. The OV-10 landed and was on static display for most of the day. Many aircraft arrived and departed during the first "break". The California Highway Patrol performed a rescue demonstration with their Eurocopter A Star helicopter. The Trainer fly-by's were the first of the warbirds, which included a pair of BT-13 Vultee aircraft and a pair of AT-6/SNJ's. Four T-28 Trojans took to the sky and performed a series of fly-overs. One of the T-28s is owned by Julie Clark. Julie was not present, due to an air show she was performing in another state. After the T-28's, 3 P-51 Mustangs, a Corsair and a YAK took to the skies and also performed a series of fly-overs. Air traffic control was provided by local controllers from NoCal Tracon and the portable facilities were provided by Tower Tech Inc., a local company who provides a portable control tower for airports without a control tower. Tower Tech also provides facilities for controlling aircraft utilized for wild fires. The day concluded with a ride in an ultra-light aircraft provided by one of the controllers. I have flown in just about every aircraft with the exception of an ultra-light and a blimp. The open cockpit gave me a real sense of the freedom of flight. Many thanks go to those who organized this fine event, especially Mr. Evan Wolfe. Evan has been seen at many other air shows with his beautifully restored navy blue T-28, based here in Auburn. Another successful show was put on by the Pacific Coast Air Museum at the Sonoma County Airport, better known as the Charles M. Schulz Airport. After a check on the weather, my wife and I departed for Santa Rosa at 05:30 on August 19. At the Napa Valley turnoff outside of Fairfield, a low ceiling was seen obscuring the tops of the local foothills. These weather conditions existed all the way to our destination, very much like last year, but it was a beautiful drive through Wine Country. We arrived so early that the parking officials weren't even there yet. After a traditional pancake breakfast, we waited in line for tickets and admission. We were able to secure a spot inside the media area, thanks to Mr. Doug Clay, public relations director for PCAM. The first acts were done by some very talented remote control aircraft "pilots". Some of the aircraft are so realistic, it would be difficult to distinguish these from the actual aircraft they represent (see for yourself in the gallery). After the remote control demos, the marine layer quickly started to burn off, revealing the beautiful blue skies of Northern California. The lighting was optimal during the first part of the air show and acceptable during the final acts. The official opening ceremony was the traditional national anthem accompanied by a motorcycle bearing the colors. The tailhook legacy flight followed shortly thereafter with an F/A-18 hornet and a Sea Fury flown by Ellsworth Getchall. "Getch" is a regular performer at most air shows I attend. Next up was the CDF demo with water drops from a tanker. The Sonoma County Sheriff and Sebastopol Fire Department performed a demo with the S.W.A.T. team, a ladder truck and a Bell 407 helicopter. Airport crash/rescue teams also gave a demo with one of the most unusual pieces of equipment I have ever seen. Other acts included aerobatics in Pitts S2-C (Craig Teft) and Edge 540 (Bill Stein) aircraft, a wing walking act (Eddie Andreini) U-2 Flyover, C-5 Flyover, A-10 demo followed by a heritage flight with a P-51, A comedy act by Kent Pietsch (jettisons the right aileron in flight), gaggle of warbirds, including a salute to Mr. Art Vance (who was lost in a plane crash last year), C-17 Demo and the F/A-18 demo. A lot of good friends were at this show, including members and moderator of the Fencecheck Aviation Photography website and the "air bosses" from the Hiller Museum in San Carlos (thanks for the DC-3 tour). We briefly met up and talked with shuttle astronaut, Dr. Steve Robinson. Dr. Robinson (from Sacramento) served as a flight engineer (July 26 to August 9, 2005) on STS-114, the first successful shuttle mission since the loss of Columbia. Dr. Robinson performed many spacewalks in order to inspect and repair the heat shields needed for re-entry. There was an extensive collection of static displays, including many from the PCAM. It is well worth the time and effort to see the many types of aircraft on display at the museum. Thanks again for another awesome show! On September 2nd, the Chico Airport and the Chamber of Commerce held their first air show in 10 years. My wife joined me for this wonderful event. We left for Chico at 05:30 and arrived at 07:30. The weather conditions were perfect for an air show. In addition to many military and civilian static displays, many performers took to the skies of Northern California. There was a twilight show the night prior. The pre-show festivities started with a plane pull contest. After the opening ceremonies, Chuck Hall joined an F-15 for a heritage flight in his P-51 Mustang. Other activities included the F-15 demo, radio controlled aircraft, a demonstration and water drop by CDF, Eddie Andreini aeorobatics, Dan Buchanan, Dr. D's Old Tyme Aerobatics and Ken Fowler's Rocket Aerobatics. A second heritage flight was performed in the afternoon, giving those who arrived later an opportunity to photograph the formation. A special thanks to Gayle Womack from the Chico Chamber of Commerce for organizing this event. Mr. Willie Turner did a fine job as airboss and the sound was taken care of by Mr. Tracy Peters. The Reno National Championship Air Races took place the week of September 13-17. My wife and I left for Reno on Saturday, September 16 at 04:00. We planned to camp somewhere in the area and were lucky to find a parking lot near the main gate. I had checked on the weather prior to departing to Reno. There was a weak system moving through the area, which brought gusty winds and cold temperatures in the Reno area. We saw a trace of rain in our area on Friday. Fortunately, Saturday and Sunday turned out to be the best days, weatherwise. I bought the usual reserved seats in the grandstands and we entered the airport at about 07:30, in time for the first race. The seats had a light coating of frost from the night before, but the weather looked great. The first races were the Sport Planes, followed by the Bi-Planes and T-6 class. The Jets and Unlimited Class raced in the afternoon, with an air show act in between races. The official opening started out with a 4 ship group of F-15's from the Oregon Air Guard flying past at the conclusion of the National Anthem. A C-130 from the Alaska Air Guard dropped a few skydivers, one who was displaying our flag. At the same time the F-15's took off, the Navy's F/A-18 Super Hornet took to the skies, along with a F-6FHellcat, F-8FBearcat and a very rare FJ-3 Fury for the Tailhook Legacy Flight. Another F-15 and 2 P-51 Mustangs departed for the Heritage Flight. Airshow acts included Gene Soucy, Kent Pietsch, Michael Goulian, David Martin and the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds. After the first day, my wife and I drove to the far pylon to visit some friends who were camped out there. We got a good night's sleep, unlike last year, because we had sleeping bags this time. The second day was basically a repeat of Saturday's show, with the exception that this was the final race in all classes. We enjoyed a pancake breakfast and photographed the static displays before making our way back to the grandstands. Before the Final Gold Unlimited Race, a flight of 4 P-51 Mustangs flew in tribute to Mr. Art Vance. Mr. Vance, who was active with the Air Racing Association, was lost in a plane crash last year. After an exciting race in the Gold Unlimited, Mike Brown won in his Sea Fury, Dubbed "September Fury". A complete list of the 2006 results can be seen at http://www.airrace.org. |