Welcome to my website! Check out the links above for more information (especially the Air Show Schedule if you're interested in upcoming events in the North West). Clicking on the photos here should open another window and take you to my Photobucket account, where you can find higher resolution pictures. -Allen
2012 Air Shows
Tacoma Freedom Fair Airshow and Wings and Wheels (July 2nd, 4th,
Tacoma, WA)
Tacoma
Freedom Fair and Wings and Wheels Airshow Pictures
KPAE Aviation Day (May 19th, Everett, WA)
Paine Field Aviation Day Photos
2011 Air Shows
Lincoln Guardians of Freedom Airshow (Sept. 10th-11th,
Lincoln, NE)
The Guardians of Freedom Airshow was held in Lincoln, NE in early
September. This airshow had an expected
attendance of around 300,000 people over the two days of the event. The second day of the show was the 10th
anniversary of the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks, and
included a moving ceremony with speeches by a number of distinguished people,
including the governor of Nebraska. The
Blue Angels were the headliners, but there were a number of other interesting
military and civilian acts as well.
The A-10 East and the F-18 West Demonstration Teams performed along
with fly-bys of a B-2, E-4, and KC-135 aircraft which comprised the jet
performances. The world war two era was represented by three P-51 Mustangs, and a P-38,
Zero, and a TBM avenger. The Wings of
Blue skydiving team and the Jet Bus (and jet powered
outhouse) driven by Paul Stender all put on great
performances. Aerobatic acts were
performed by Doug Roth in his Staudacher S-300 and
Jesse Panzer in her Pitts Special.
More
Guardians of Freedom Airshow Pictures
Vintage Aircraft Weekend (Sept. 3rd, Everett, WA)
The first weekend in September of 2011 marked the second Vintage
Aircraft Weekend held at the Historic Flight Foundation (HFF) at Paine Field in
Everett. Although this is not called an
“air show” it was a day full of historic aircraft doing fly-by’s
over the airport that was still open to other aircraft. The organizers from the HFF were able to get
quite a large array of older aircraft to come to their ramp for the day. The fly-in aircraft were owned by museums as
well as individuals and for the most part came from British Columbia,
Washington, and Oregon. A number of the
flying aircraft were those based at the HFF, and a few came from the Flying
Heritage Collection, also based at Paine Field.
The aircraft at KPAE for the day include the only flying example of the
Boeing 40 and other rare aircraft including a DC-2 and a P-47. The following aircraft also flew a few passes
each: 6 T-6s and Harvards, 2 P-51s, 2 Stearmans, 2 Piper Cubs, a Champ, B-25, and Spitfire, 3 Nanchangs, 3 Navions, an A-26,
T-28, and an F-8F. There were many flights
spaced out over the day, and the great viewing area from the HFF’s location on
the west side of the airport was busy into the evening.
More
Vintage Aircraft Weekend Pictures
Oregon International Airshow (August 19th-21th,
Hillsboro, OR)
Here are some of my pictures
from the Oregon International Airshow. If
you’re really interested, click on the “More Pictures”
album on the right side of my Photobucket page.
The Oregon International Airshow
is held in Hillsboro, OR each year, with 2011 marking the 24th time
it has been held. This airshow is fairly large, drawing about 75,000
people, but is well-run and still has a small town feel, with performers
standing near their aircraft before and after the show talking with the
crowd. The profits from the airshow go to local charities, with the air
show having contributed over $1.2 million prior to this year’s event. The
Friday night show is fairly unique for the area, and has had great weather the
last few years.
The Friday night show
included performances by the Viper West F-16 Demonstration team, Matt Younkin, Jim Peitz, John Klatt and the Flash Fire Jet Truck. The 6 L-39’s of
the Patriots Jet Team performed just as the sun was setting, and on their last
pass raced Bill Braack in the Smoke-n-Thunder Jet Car down the runway at
Hillsboro. The evening was closed with a great fireworks show.
Saturday and Sunday at
Hillsboro included quite a variety of performers. The aerobatic acts
included John Klatt, Renny
Price, Bill Cornick, Spencer Suderman
and Jim Peitz. Bob Carlton flew his aerobatic
routine in the Super Salto jet powered glider, and Matt Younkin
flew his unique act in the Beech 18. The military jets performing at the
show were the F/A-18 Super Hornet and the Viper West F-16 demonstration
teams. Fly-by’s were made by a flight of F-15s
and a C-17 and an Alaska Airlines 737 specially painted in the Portland Timbers
colors did a landing and takeoff. Jim Vanek
flew his gyrocopter, even rolling and looping the little contraption.
The Patriots Jet Team ended the show each day. This is the
first season that the Patriots have 6 aircraft, and it seems like they bring
more energy to show center than when they had 4 planes.
More
Oregon International Airshow Pictures
Abbotsford International Airshow (August 12th-14th,
Abbotsford, BC)
The Abbotsford airshow seems to have become my yearly trip to
Canada. This year there were quite a
diverse assortment of airplanes and helicopters, but everyone was talking about
what the show might do next year for their 50th anniversary. The Abbotsford Airshow has a couple epic
airshows in its past, the kind of airshows that have the Snowbirds, Blue
Angels, and French and Italian demonstration teams. I usually only post at most 40 pictures from
an airshow, but this time I wasn’t able to choose just 40, so there are 70
(including a video).
The Abbotsford International
Airshow is held yearly at the Abbotsford Airport in British Columbia,
Canada. This is usually one of the largest airshows in the area, and did
not disappoint in 2011. The most impressive part of this airshow was the
variety of displays, which included aerobatic acts, skydiving, helicopters, warbirds, The Snowbirds, military jet demonstrations, and a
jet powered outhouse (no, really).
The aerobatic acts for the
weekend were Rob Holland, Bud and Ross Granley, Dave
Mathieson, Julie Clark, and Kent Pietsch. Warbirds that performed were Hawk One (a Canadian F-86 in
custom paint), a P-51, T-6, B-25 , Spitfire, Hawker Sea
Fury, Harvards (4), A-1 Skyraider,
T-28, Fleet Finch, de Havilland Tiger Moth, and a Waco AQC-6. The Hawker
Sea Fury “Argonaut” from Sanders Aeronautics put
on an aerobatic display with specialized smoke canisters on the wings that
showed the wingtip vortex effects.
Military demonstrations
included the Canadian CF-18 Hornet in its custom paint and the U.S. Air Force
A-10 “Wharthog”. The Canadian Forces also
performed an “Assault Demonstration” in which ground forces in simulated battle
were supported by two CF-18s and a CH-146 Griffon.
The helicopters that
performed were the MH-65 Dolphin from the U.S. Coast Guard, and the CH-149 and
CH-124 from the Canadian Forces. The Canadian Forces SkyHawks
jumped out of a U.S. Air Force C-17 and performed under their Canadian flag
painted canopies. The Snowbirds put on a good show to close each
day. Although the Snowbirds lack the power and speed of the U.S. military
jet demonstration teams, they keep things interesting utilizing 9 aircraft and
performing maneuvers that keep the planes in front of the audience.
More
Abbotsford International Airshow Pictures
Seattle Seafair Airshow (August 5th-7th,
Seattle, WA)
The Seattle Seafair airshow was the start of
3 weeks full of airshows for me here in the northwest. The following weekends are Abbotsford, BC,
and Hillsboro, OR. I was planning on
getting to ride in Fat Albert (the Blue Angels support C-130 aircraft), but it
was down for maintenance on Sunday and didn’t fly in the airshow. Check out my friend Bernardo Malfitano’s
picture from flying on Fat Albert on Saturday here,
and his picture of flying with John Klatt on Friday here
(facebook links).
The Seattle Seafair Airshow is a yearly event that takes place in early
August over the waters of Lake Washington just East of Seattle. The Blue Angels
are the usual headliners, but there is typically a good mix of other aircraft
displays and acts interspersed with hydroplane races. Spectators of the
airshow gather all over the shores (and in boats on) Lake Washington to watch
the planes and race boats, but the prime viewing location for those not lucky
enough to be on a boat is Genesee park.
This year there were a number
of aerobatic acts, including Sean Tucker, Tim Weber, John Klatt,
and Red Eagle Air Sports. Sean Tucker was impressive as always, and made
the crowd stare in wonder at some of the maneuvers he performed. Besides
the Blue Angels, the US Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier demonstration was the only
military jet (other than the A-10’s and C-17 that just did one fly-by). A
Bell Huey and Cobra from the Olympic Flight Museum and a Coast Guard Dolphin
helicopter performed as well.
The vibrant local warbird community was represented by John Sessions and
Carter Teeters flying the Historic Flight Foundations Spitfire and Mustang
respectively. An A-26 also made a number
of passes over the airshow and Clay Lacy flew his Lear 24 Smoker. On the
last day of the airshow, the new Boeing 747-8F made a couple of passes over the
crowd. The Blue Angels ended each day with their low show due to clouds,
but it was still exciting, especially the low pass just over the water by one
of the solo pilots at near the speed of sound.
More
Seattle Seafair Airshow Pictures
Arlington Fly-In and Airshow (July 6th-10th,
Arlington, WA)
The Arlington Fly-in and Air show is a yearly 5
day-long event and is unique for the northwest due to the large number of
fly-in aircraft. During this week, there are EAA events, talks and forums
held by knowledgeable people, helicopter and airplane rides, and an air show
each day. This year there were a lot of fly-in aircraft, but not too many
visitors from the public joining for the airshow. This event has the feel
of a fly-in much more than an airshow. When walking around the grounds,
it is necessary to pay attention so that you don’t get in the way of a moving
airplane.
From the opening act by Will Allen, singing the
national anthem from his Super Decathlon, to the closing fly-by’s
from an Alpha Jet operated by Alpha Jet’s USA, the 2 hour airshow was an
entertaining display. There was fast-paced aerobatics by Dave Matheison, Renny Price, and Vicky
Benzing, along with a show of precision formation
flying by Bud and Ross Granley and Team Rocket.
John Mrazek in his T-6 Texan and the CAF B-25 “Maid
in the Shade” represented the WWII era, and a Boeing 40 and Stinson model O
represented an even earlier time. The air show also included, Paul Hajduk, who showed off his aerobatic routine in a glider
with smoke canisters on the wings, and a display of radio controlled aircraft.
There were also quite a few other interesting
aircraft that flew into Arlington that were not necessarily associated with the
airshow. These included a Spitfire, T-6, multiple Stearmans,
a S2F Tracker, and aircraft taking part in the judged competitions for the
fly-in.
More
Arlington Fly-In and Airshow Pictures
Tacoma Freedom Fair 2011 (July 4th, Tacoma, WA)
The Tacoma Freedom Fair is a July 4th tradition, of which
the airshow is only a part. This event
occurs down on the waterfront in Tacoma, and includes about two miles of
walkway with food tents, bands, and various other activities. The air show this year was a significant
improvement in acts over last year. With
3 jet demonstrations and a number of other performers, it was certainly worth
making the trip from Seattle. I decided
to try to take the cruise boat out on the water that was being offered for $40,
which the website said was the best place for photographers. In retrospect this wasn’t a good idea. The location of the boat ended up being about
2 times further away than the waterfront walkway from the aerobatic acts (which
were biasing their routines toward the crowd), and the lighting on the
airplanes was back-lit when they were close.
The cruise did offer great views of Mt. Rainer and the opportunity to
get pictures of the airplanes with the crowded waterfront behind them.
This was the first year they tried doing a “wheels and wings” show at
the Tacoma Narrows airport on the 3rd. I think the organizers were a bit overwhelmed
by the response (despite in my opinion poor promotion of the event), because
people were parking up to a mile away from the entrance. This offered the opportunity to see the
airplanes up close and had a small-airport feel, with some of the performers
hanging out by their airplanes talking with the visitors. They also had a large variety of exotic and
vintage cars for show on the airport and had organized for helicopter rides. Due to some issues with objects around the
airport, they could not get a FAA waiver to perform aerobatics, but they were
able to get a speed waiver so the Harrier and F-18 could do fly-bys. They also held a race between Bill Braack’s Smoke-N-Thunder Jet Car and Tim Weber’s Geico Extra 300S. I
definitely hope they do this again next year and do a better job with logistics
like parking and the main entrance booth.
List of Acts/Performers: F-18F West Demo Team F-16
Demo Team AV-8B
Harrier
Will
Allen Tim Weber P-51 B-25 “Maid in the Shade”
C-17 Bud and Ross Granley
(Dueling Yaks)
More
Tacoma Freedom Fair Pictures
KPAE General Aviation Day 2011 (May 21st, Everett, WA)
This is the usual start of the airshow season for me. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate
and some of the airplanes that had planned to fly (including the Historic
Flight Foundation’s B-25 and P-51) didn’t.
The Young Eagles flights, which were taking kids up in single engine
aircraft, were still able to fly since the clouds were above the pattern
altitude at Paine Field.
Planes Of Fame 2011 (May 14-15th, Chino, CA)
I happened to be down in California for work over the weekend that this airshow was taking place. This is one of the best places to be to see many of the rarest war birds fly. The airplanes flying included the only Mitsubishi Zero flying with the original engine and a P-47. At one point there were 26 WWII vintage aircraft in the air at the same time. I can’t remember all of the airplanes that were there, so I’m not even going to try.
More Planes of Fames Pictures World Airshow News Article (coming soon)
Other Links: World Airshow News Magazine Flying Heritage Collection Historic Flight Foundation Museum Of Flight