Warhawk's June Airshow/Heatwave - Warning: Image Heavy!

[QuietOne]

Back at the end of June, the Warhawk had its annual airshow. The "guest" plane was a P-47 from the Planes of Fame collection. As I mentioned elsewhere, the weather that weekend was hot. Not just a little. We went through 1,000 pounds of ice on Saturday alone. And that day started out overcast. Sunday did not.

We also had more photographers than usual. Jim had 3 friends visiting, and they brought a reenactor with them. He came with a suitcase stuffed full of real uniforms and pilot's gear. Combine that with the scissors lift Jim rented, and that meant they were doing lots of posed stuff before the gates opened both mornings. For the days' events, though, that meant 6 photographers. I figured the taxiway was going to be a bit crowded, and besides, I had pictures of all the planes taking off and landing from other times, except for the P-47. So I stayed back, except for 1 session, and concentrated on the crowds, flight lines, volunteers, and so on. I especially wanted to capture some of the stuff that goes on before the public even gets there, and the number of things volunteers do during the show to keep it safe and moving. Here are some of the results, starting with Saturday.


Barriers go up, both ropes and something at ankle level. This is Sander, JC's son, helping out.

Sorry. It's my favorite tug. You'll just have to put up with a picture of it every time there's a show.


Popup for the concessions booth.


The guest of honor.

[QuietOne]

I don't know how many runs Brian made for ice before it was even noon. The cafe running the concessions finally called their soft drink distributor and had them send a pallet of it, and more drinks.


It's already melting, and it's only 9:30!




Fueling up one of the planes


Another angle on the P-47

[QuietOne]

Pieces of Dottie Mae, a restoration project. The pilot was hotdogging, and accidentally ran into a lake in Austria. The pilot survived.


Setting up an additional location for gift shop stuff.


The first of the visitors. By this point, I'd taken nearly 100 pictures (though I didn't keep all of them)


The L-19's battery was low, so they basically jumped it every flight.


JC handing out safety vests. Or recruiting for a cult. I'm not sure which...

[QuietOne]

Not a bad crowd, given the heat. The cloud cover helped.


Max taking the L-19 out for the first session of the day.


Our visiting reenactor, Christopher Miller. He's with Historic Aviation Guild.


Look! Up in the sky!


Chocking one of the N3Ns after its flight.

[QuietOne]

xxxx
I did work the exhibit space some. All the hangar doors were opened, which helps the light, but on the back wall, it's still difficult without a tripod.


Speedball Alice's pilot


P-47 lights off


There was a talk midday about the P-47 and its role during WW II. We were fortunate to have a P-47 pilot talk and answer questions.

[QuietOne]

xxxThis gentleman is Captain Jeff Thompson, retired from the US Navy. He was one of the sponsors of the event, and also flew L-19s during Vietnam. It was used as a spotter plane. Unfortunately, if you were low enough to see the enemy, you were low enough for them to see you. A lot of these pilots didn't make it back home.

xxxChris again, talking with a visitor. He's a really nice guy.


By the afternoon, it had gotten hot enough to clear a lot of folks out. This was the point when I started seeing melted sneakers on people who had stood still too long.

xxxSue Paul, the museum's director


Captain Richard H. Fleischer, retired from the Army-Airforce. He's the P-47 pilot who spoke during the presentation.