2009 Cleveland National Airshow

Usually I attend the Saturday show. However this year I had a family reunion picnic on Saturday and a wedding to shoot on Sunday. That left Monday for me to attend.

The day started out great. My 2 oldest sons were going to man the Civil Air Patrol booth, so I needed to drop them off and park the car. Since we needed to be there early, my brother and I were third in line to enter. This always allows us to get our chairs in position for a good seat. On our way to "setup camp", we met a few friends along the way. It's great to see familiar faces at the show!

The morning weather was good, a little hazy, but not too bad. So off we went to shoot the statics. This year the Cleveland Airshow static list was impressive! It beats the scores of F-18's we had hear a few years ago!! I was really excited to see the E-6B Mercury. I had hoped to see the Growler, but it didn't attend, hopefully next year!

Before you know it, the flying starts. I was glad to see many acts and aircraft that haven't been to Cleveland in years. Top of the list was the Harrier, it's last appearance was back in 1995. It was loooong overdue to be here! I was also glad to see an Apache flying this year. Usually they are on static and the only way to see them flying is to be here on arrival or departure day. And it brought back memories seeing Kyle Franklin flying in the familiar black and silver Waco.


This year's lineup did not disappoint! Skip Stewart is just amazing! I'm astounded at what he can do with an airplane. John Klatt never ceases to astound. His flying is as crisp as you can get, the ANG should be proud to have him flying for them!

Of course the military lineup was awesome, Ritz and Gizmo never disappoint when doing their demo and this year was no exception. With all the moisture in the air it was vapor heaven! The A-10 demo was exceptional, again moisture + high-G turns = vapor!

The big downer was the rain. Just before the Thunderbirds were supposed to perform, the rain hit and hit HARD. The team tried to wait out the weather for as long as they could, but unfortunately they decided to cancel their act. I felt really bad for the people who came out to see them for their one and only time this year. Fortunately, I got to see them at Dayton this year, so I was only mildly disappointed.

The only good thing about the rain was the fact that it opened up a bunch of opportunities for shooting the statics. With puddles of water come reflections! :)

All in all, this year's show was great - despite the rain. As I told my brother, a bad day at the airshow beats a great day anywhere else! This year's lineup was awesome! It's too bad that the Growler didn't show and the F-18 demo canceled earlier this year due to the Navy's budget constraints. As always, we'll be back again next year!

More photos from the airshow can be seen on the main AoA site here.

One more week!!!

There is only one more week until the Cleveland National Airshow. Am I counting down the minutes, ah, YEAH! :)

My brother, Mike (Phoenix6), and I plan to catch arrivals and practices on Friday 9/4. We'll both be attending the Monday show. So hopefully we'll catch you there!

Russian Heavy comes to Cleveland!

On Sunday 8/23/2009, Cleveland spotters were abuzz over the arrival of one of the second largest planes in the world - an Antonov An-124 Ruslan (UR-82027). Physically, the An-124 is similar to the U.S.'s C-5A Galaxy. However, the 124 has a 25% larger payload and unlike the C-5's T-tail, the 124 has a tail similar to that of the Boeing 747.

The craft that arrived at Hopkins is owned by the Antonov Design Bureau and was allegedly bringing equipment for delivery to Rolls Royce. You'll notice in the photo that the plane is capable of "kneeling" to assist in unloading its cargo.

Crews worked through the night unloading the plane's cargo. Originally, the plane was scheduled to depart at 08:00 8/24/2009, but rumor has it that the crew wanted to do some shopping before leaving. So at 14:05, the 124 finally took off for it's next destination, Newark, NJ.

More photos of the 124 can be seen on the AoA Photo main site here.

A great spotting week at KCLE!

This has been a great week for spotting at Cleveland Hopkins Airport!

First, we had a visit by Air Force One on 7/23. The day was the not the greatest for photography due to the weather because it was overcast with low clouds and rain. Thankfully, the rain stopped in time for Air Force One's arrival. The added moisture in the air was wonderful for vapor and vortices! Despite popular opinion, I love shooting planes in the rain!

President Obama was in town to visit the Cleveland Clinic and sell his Health Care Reform plan. So while he was away, Air Force One sat on Atlantic's ramp getting attended to.

Of course, with the arrival of the President and Air Force One, there's always other interesting craft that show up as well. A USCG Dolphin provided air support. A C-17 from McGuire AFB was present to take the motorcade. And a second C-17 from Dover AFB arrived after the President's departure to take other equipment.

The next day, a Saudi 747SP came to Cleveland to pickup someone before heading to Paris non-stop. A fellow "Opshotter", Paul, found some interesting statistics regarding the 747SP. Only 45 planes were built, 16 are still active, 18 have been scrapped and the remaining 11 are either being stored, derelict or being repaired. ( see Opshots for info and link) So this was a rare sight indeed!

For further photos, please see the main AoA Photo site here.

July 18 - Dayton Airshow

This was my second trip to the Dayton airshow. I was really looking forward to the Brazilian Smoke Squadron, Apache, A-10, F-18, Tora^3, Sean Tucker, Patty Wagstaff, the Thunderbirds in newer (louder) F-16s, B-2, B-52....well, ok, I guess I should just say I was looking forward to airplanes and the people who fly them.

And boy did the Dayton airshow deliver! I was impressed with the quality and diversity of the acts. There really weren't any lulls during the show (That were not weather related or mechanically induced).

I thoroughly enjoyed the Brazilian Smoke Squadron's performance. I did not know that this was their only North American appearance. That makes seeing them feel a little more special. It was quite impressive to see them put those 7 Tucanos through their paces. There seems to be a different "feel" to the foreign teams performances and it was a breath of fresh air to witness something out of the "norm".

This was also my first time seeing Tora, Tora, Tora. One word: WOW!!!! It was really cool to see those planes diving and coming from all directions. How you guys keep tabs of each other and not collide I don't know. I am astounded at the caliber of your perfomance!

Props:

1-Brazilian Smoke Squadron's only North American performance. My hat's off to this team for a job well done!
2-I really love the layout and diversity of the statics. There's plenty of room for ALOT of people to move around without getting into a bottleneck. And there weren't alot of multiples to "fluff" up the static lineup.
3-The first time I went to the Dayton airshow, I didn't like having the "midway" of consessions. However, this year I appreciated this layout even more. It's nice to have that in one location for those people into that sorta thing. That leaves the static areas free from the clutter of concessions and mobs of people waiting for them.
4-Excellent pacing of the show! The only real lulls came from weather and a mechanical issue with the F-18. (BTW, what happened? I'm glad they got her down safely. I salute the pilot and WSO for their professionalism and keeping safety the utmost priority!)
5-Danny Clisham & Rob Reider - I'm glad to see you guys announcing shows together! You both bring a unique perspective to the table and I enjoy the work you guys do!
6-An awesome lineup with great diversity.
7-Louder Thunderbirds! I REALLY LIKE the Block 50s!!!
8-FREE WATER! Thankfully the temps were low enough that dehydration wasn't a concern. But it really irks me when I'm expected to pay $1 for a dinky bottle of water to make sure I don't pass out from sun stroke. I wish all airshows did this!
9-Photo Tour/Pit - I wish more shows would offer this (do you hear me Cleveland?). I have yet to take advantage of this, but I think it's great that it exists!

Slops:

1-Weather - I know it is out of the show management's hands. But this is a review of the show I experienced. I was really hoping for some blue skies to peak through. At least we got SOME blue towards the end. The rain, IMO, wasn't a factor. In fact, I look forward to a little rain at a show. that only means more vapor for later!!!
2-Only one pass from the B-2 and B-52. I was really hoping for more. Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful for the one pass, but it's frustrating to hear that Michigan got 3 passes out of the B-2 and we only got 1.
3-The F-18 Super Hornet demo getting cut short. I know he had a mechanical issue and I salute the pilot and WSO (see above). But I was disappointed that we didn't get to see the whole demo. Same thing happened last year at TOM. (Boy, I hope it isn't me.... )
4-Getting smoked out from the Tora^3 performance. If only the wind was going the OTHER direction. Again, out of the airshow management's hands, see my comment on weather above.

All in all, this show can be summed up by one word: AWESOME! Dayton delivered another quality show and I will definitely be back again. Thank you Dayton Airshow management, staff, performers and volunteers for a great show!!!

Photos can be viewed on the AoA Photo site: here.

Sad Day!

The Wings Over Pittsburgh airshow has been cancelled for this year. I was really looking forward to this show since it was the kick-off for the season.

I just hope this doesn't foretell the future of airshows for this year!

New banner

Ok, I just put up the new banner. Please let me know what you think of it.