Just thought I’d give a quick update to let you know about things I’ve been working on!

On the right-hand side of the journal, you will now see “AirShowBlogger.com Additional Material” which has links to our Youtube.com account so you can watch some videos, our Flickr.com gallery so that you can look at more pictures, and just yesterday I launched the AirShowBlogger.com online store! As of right now there is only one design available, but I’ll try to have more in the near future. I chose to put our design on primarily light-colored clothing because if you were to wear our gear to an air show, the light clothing will help ward off some heat. When I get some new designs, I will be sure to post about them.

Working on the next post, now. I’ll be doing a post that is designed to help people who might not be terribly familiar with air shows. It will include some tips and a helpful checklist that you can print out and use for the next time you go to an air show!

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B-25 “Axis Nightmare”
Originally uploaded by airshowblogger

B-25
Originally uploaded by airshowblogger

Thunder Over Michigan 2007 was the year of the B-25, and what a sight it was! I am lucky enough to have family within 15 minutes of Willow Run airport, so the show has been a staple of the air show season for my family. The Yankee Air Museum does one of heck of job putting on one the best air shows in the country, every summer. They do something that is quite neat, they have a specific group of aircraft that they try to concentrate on. In 2006 it was Spitfires, in 2007 it was B-25s, and in 2008 it will be P-47 Thunderbolts! The amount of time and energy spent on contracting the few warbirds that are left in each group is quite a daunting task, to say the least. However, the Yankee Air Museum does an incredible job and have clearly forged very solid relationships with many warbird owners and pilots — and it shows.

Special Delivery
Originally uploaded by airshowblogger

 

Arrival day was quite a departure from the 2006 show. During the 2006 season, people who attended arrival day couldn’t wander the tarmac (for obvious reasons), but we were able to get MUCH closer to the action. There planes taxing by 25′ (7.6m) away from me and I was able to get some neat shots of pilots waving and what not. For the 2007 air show, that kind of access seemed to be reserved for a very select few people. I assume the photographers were either media or friends with someone who was part of the air show. Did I mention, it’s about who you know? While I greatly enjoyed the 2007 arrival day, I felt that 2006 was much better. The big change in the way arrival day was presented was because of the new air show layout for 2007, something I’ll cover in just a bit. I fully understand that the Yankee Air Museum wants people to be close to the action, but due to the size of the B-25s, the amounts of them, and the focus on safety, the layout had to be changed.

P-40 Warhawk
Originally uploaded by airshowblogger

The layout for Thunder Over Michigan was changed drastically, as I understand it, to accommodate all of the B-25s, the Blue Angels, and to have ample parking as well as the safest possible layout for spectators. The previous layouts simply would NOT have yielded enough space for crowds and B-25s to safely move around, The Yankee Air Museum did a great job finding a logical solution. There was quite a distance between the crowd line and the static displays, however. A long enough distance, where I didn’t feel it was worth the walk or the hassle with crowds to trek all the way over there. One thing I noticed was that many elderly people who attended had to walk these great distances. With the field being full of un-even ground (it’s the infield of a busy airport, no big surprise there), the distance, and the lack of carts to shuttle some people around, I feel that many senior citizens did not get the full experience of the air show. I did see the Yankee Air Force busting their butts to fix this problem, which was great and I’m sure they learned some very valuable lessons.

Blue Angels systems check
Originally uploaded by airshowblogger

Saturday’s show was amazing. There was almost non-stop action. The only real down time was during the Blue Angels Pre-flight routine. There are some people out there who don’t like big acts like the Blue Angels, but I must say that because all of those extra people were drawn to show, The Yankee Air Museum furthered their rebuilding efforts by leaps and bounds. There were a number of highlights for me during Saturday’s show. I always get a kick out of seeing an F-86 at Thunder Over Michigan. Thankfully, one was able to make it and gave a few great passes. Another great moment for me was seeing Sean Tucker in the Oracle Challenger. Sean has captivated me from the first time I saw him fly. His passion for flying is infectious and exudes out of every pore in his body. There was a neat moment towards the end of the show as he drove down the crowd line to get somewhere. No one was cheering him on — they had no idea what the guy in the red plane looked like! I sprang to my feet and gave him a holler and clapped my hands (as did my girlfriend) in appreciation for his performance. He slowed down, waved, pointed and cheered right back at us. I felt like I had gotten noticed by a legend. Yes, I admit, I am a huge Sean Tucker fan!

When the Blue Angels went up, the crowd was more than ready. They’d baked under the sun all afternoon (it was a scorcher!) and were ready for what a large number of them had come to see. I always get excited to see the Blue Angels (although I’m a bit partial to the Thunderbirds) because they fly such beautiful formations and the demo is so incredibly energy packed. I felt as though they were closer to the crowd than any of the other acts (not sure if that is reality or just the feeling I got) and it really made for a neat experience. They put on a solid show, but I could see where some safeties were going to be taken. I was glad to see that by Saturday, the jet without a number had one painted on and that the maintenance crews had found a solution to whatever problem they were having on Friday.

Blue Angel pulling vapor
Originally uploaded by airshowblogger

The best part of the air show, hands down, was the massive B-25 launch and fly over. The sounds were just amazing. There are no words for me to describe it for you, but hearing all of those engines purring over head as the formations meandered about was simply awesome. The B-25s felt very far away and the pictures from my lens were pretty bad given that I didn’t have much reach, but I do have a video of the massive flyover! Do check out our youtube account (details at the bottom of this post) and you can watch it and hear the sounds for yourself!

I was at the show for arrival day and for Saturday, sadly I wasn’t able to go to the show on Sunday. However, I did make it for the photo tour on Sunday morning. I must again, applaud the Yankee Air Museum for letting some photographers into the gates a couple of hours early. It was nice to be out there with the planes without hordes of people to contend with. I had a great time with my dad, snapping photos of the planes and being able to get up close and personal with them, it was quite nice. Despite how amazing it was, I really wish that all of the B-25s could have been in one place, at one time. It would have made taking pictures much more efficient and it would have allowed me to photograph all the B-25s that were there. The experience was great, but I think it could have been just a tiny bit better in a couple ways.

The bottom line for this air show is that the Yankee Air Museum did a hell of a job. With the weather being rainy during the week and the logistical nightmares faced by the coordinators, they pulled off an excellent air show. It was amazing that they were able to get so many B-25s on one ramp and up in the air at one time. It really says something about them and their organization, not to mention how well they can coordinate and execute an air show. The only real complaints I can have about the show are ones that HAD to happen for safety’s sake, and that is totally understandable. I learned a lot regarding photography after reviewing my pictures from this show. I now realize the importance of documenting just which planes are there, to make sure I have an accurate representation for myself and whoever reads this site.

I cannot wait for 2008’s Thunder Over Michigan, it’s going to be incredible!

Don’t forget, you can click the pictures to see the enlarged versions! Also, there are MORE PICTURES on the AirShowBlogger.com Flickr account. If you have a Flickr account already, feel free to add AirShowBlogger and see all of our pictures and leave your comments! And same goes for the AirShowBlogger.com youtube account!

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GML 2007 line up (Thursday)
Originally uploaded by airshowblogger

Taxi
Originally uploaded by airshowblogger

The Gathering of Mustangs and Legends was held in Columbus, OH at Rickenbacker International Airport (KLCK), Sept 27-30. There was gossip that around 100 mustangs that originally were to be a part of the event. Due to incredibly bad weather for the majority of arrival day, some planes didn’t make it or had to come in later than expected. I still have not seen anything that’s being a called a firm number on exactly how many P-51s attend at some point during the weekend, but all the numbers I have seen hover in the 75-80 range. Having that many P-51s, no one can really complain about the ones who didn’t make it.

I had a lot of fun at arrival day. I haven’t been to many air shows where the arrival day has been even 1/2 as active as this arrival day. I got to watch around 35-40 P-51s come in. It was quite a site for me because until that day, the most P-51s I’d seen in one place was 7. I was amazed at how they just kept pouring in. Seeing P-51s fly over the site, in formation, then peel off and land was beautiful. Moments after landing and checking in, the planes were towed into a hanger where they were photographed by a great bunch of people. I didn’t catch names (they were really busy and I wanted to stay out of the way), but they were impressive how quickly they moved. I cannot wait to see the pictures — they said they would be putting out a book. When the book becomes available, I will make a post with all the information.

Extreme Close-up #1
Originally uploaded by airshowblogger

There was a lull in the warbird arrival and all of sudden, seemingly out of nowhere, a pair of F-16s came screaming across the field! Moments later, a few more came into the patternn. The Thunderbirds had arrived in Columbus! I’ve seen them before, but I’d never seen the arrival process they do. It was incredible to watch them buzzing around the area. At times, I could like I could reach out and touch the planes.

Because it had rained pretty much all morning, when the Thunderbirds arrived in their F-16s, there was a lot of vapor to watch. I’ve always been fascinated by watching air bleed off of the edges of an airplane, especially the F-16. It was really a sight to see them swoop in and instantly gather almost everyone’s attention.

Arrival
Originally uploaded by airshowblogger

The air show itself was amazing. That’s the only word I can use to describe it. The pilots and the organizers were hustling to get things in place and to keep the show moving. Heck, I saw Ed Shipley scurry out of a P-51 only to hop onto a golf cart to go to work in the TV truck! It really was evident that people were doing their best to keep things going along and most off all, to keep things safe for everyone. It was incredible to watch the dedication everyone put into the show.

The only slow point during the show, was the time before the Thunderbirds took to the air. They were in a spot where all their pre-flight check/routine was pretty far away from the crowd. So as far as the crowd was concerned, there was about 30min of engines warming up behind them. On one day, it was especially bad because Thunderbird #5 reported trouble and planes had to be swapped out. I believe that barnstormer John Mohr went up to keep the crowd entertained during some of the wait. He’s an incredible pilot, especially with his “gotchya” move. I would have to say he’s one of the most exciting civilian barnstorming acts I’ve seen in recent years. His “Falling Leaf” is absolutely amazing.

The only part of the show that really bothered me was how the GML media representatives treated the “smaller” press. I was covering the event for a large Michigan-based news service than carries stories for many of our papers, that had interest in the pilots that fly often in Michigan, the veterans words, and what people thought of the gathering. I was promised certain shooting opportunities, and interviews. In addition, I was told I’d have the ability to come to the show early so I could get shots of the planes, free of people, and that I could stay late and shoot dusk/evening shots. To put it bluntly, none of that happened. The media that got to come in early/stay late were people who were friendly with the pilots, it’s all about who you know. I understand that the logistics of an event like this are incredibly hectic and crazy, so things change often. I heard media members that flew in from Europe talking about how frustrated they were with their media flights vanishing and the media reps not returning phone calls.

F-22 Raptor
Originally uploaded by airshowblogger

The media credential did allow me to get access to one of the USAF’s newest aircraft, the F-22 Raptor. Paul “Max” Moga came out to have a brief talk with the photographers and to answer questions before he went into pre-flight. He was a really nice man and he said it was an honor to be flying such a machine at such an event. “Max” was a pretty nice fellow who answered all of our questions and was incredibly humble in regards to flying a $200,000,000 (USD) aircraft.

Paul “Max” Moga and his ride
Originally uploaded by airshowblogger

I didn’t read many forums leading up to the event, because I wanted to be surprised. I was perhaps a little unprepared because I didn’t read as much as I could have, but I sure am thankful I chose not to read. The reason is, at the end of the air show on Saturday and Sunday, the flying was closed with a formation of P-51s flying a giant “51″ in the sky, right over the audience. It was an amazing formation to see and well worth the wait as they formed up.

 

51 Formation
Originally uploaded by airshowblogger

The end result of all the effort was a world class air show. One can easily understand why shows like this cannot happen every year, but I don’t see why they can’t be held every 5 or so. I think it was incredible to see all these planes, owners, and pilots come together to have the planes there, but the logistical side of things on the ground seemed to have gone pretty smooth. The layout was a bit big, but with an event like this it has to be. I’m happy to report that all of the planes made it home/to their next stop with no bent metal. What an amazing weekend, I sincerely hope that this is not the final round up.

Don’t forget, you can click the pictures to see the enlarged versions! Also, there are MORE PICTURES on the AirShowBlogger.com Flickr account. If you have a Flickr account already, feel free to add AirShowBlogger and see all of our pictures and leave your comments! And same goes for the AirShowBlogger.com youtube account!

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Hello! Welcome to Airshowblogger.com! Right now I am just getting things up and running, expect some sort of content in the very near future! Our first blog post will be a full review of GML2007!!!!

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