warbirds

[squirl033]

Paul Allen's Flying Heritage Collection put on another of their "free fly days" today, featuring restored warbirds with "round" (radial) engines... a P-47 from Paul's collection, and an F-8F Bearcat and F-7F Tigercat from the Historic Flight Foundation across the airfield. Again, the weather was less than optimal - it seems i'm doomed to shooting airshow pics against cloudy skies! - but with some tweaking, i managed to salvage some fairly nice shots...

silver wings on high - a sunbreak reflects off the wings of the P-47D Thunderbolt...

http://i812.photobucket.com/albums/zz47/squirl035/IMG_4418cropsm.jpg

the feisty, stubby little F-8F Bearcat makes a pass...

http://i812.photobucket.com/albums/zz47/squirl035/IMG_4387croprdx_filteredsm.jpg

the big Tigercat seemed a bit slower, but in reality is capable of faster speeds than either of the other two...

http://i812.photobucket.com/albums/zz47/squirl035/IMG_4439croprdx_filteredsm.jpg

[QuietOne]

Mike was on a salvage ship when he was in the Navy (his second ship, U.S.S. Brunswick). He says he saw a Tigercat under the water off of Wake Island. He wonders if it just got pushed off the flight deck of a carrier after the war. Happened to a lot of planes that are now rare.

[Mad Aussie]

Bad Kitty :))) Nice shots Squirl!

[Iguanasan]

Yes, indeed. Nice set and well done!

[Bambi]

these shots all work for me. I would love to go up in a smaller plane like these sometime but I doubt it will happen :(

I love the silvery wings on the first and the angle on the third. Can I ask how you took these shots? We seem to be so close and in some instances at the same height.

[squirl033]

thanks, everyone!

Bambi, this isn't an officially sanctioned "airshow", and the viewing area is just a hundred yards or so from the runway. the planes fly pretty much right over the runway, and usually between 100 and 500 feet up. the pilots bank them a bit on some of their passes, to show off the top and bottom surfaces and markings, and the bank angle gives the illusion that they're almost on the same level. as for being close, well, let's just say i often have to back off my 100-400 a bit to get them all in! ;)

[Marko]

Excellent set! Nice sharpness and exposure for sure! I favour shot 3 here.

[Bambi]

thanks Rocky for the explanation!

[JAS_Photo]

Very cool set! I favour shot 3 as well for its angle of view and the appearance of flying in the clouds.