Jones Beach Air Show

moose135moose135 Registered Users Posts: 1,413 Major grins
edited June 2, 2011 in Other Cool Shots
The annual Jones Beach Air Show was held on Long Island over Memorial Day weekend. While the actual air show is Saturday and Sunday down at the beach, it's nearly a week-long event for me, and sometimes I don't even get down to the beach for the show itself.

Most of the participating aircraft stage out of nearby Republic Airport, and park on the ramp at the American Airpower Museum. With arrivals starting Wednesday, and events at the museum continuing through Monday, it's long days and nights for me. I'm a volunteer photographer at the museum, which affords me some "insider" access to the aircraft and personalities, and allows me to capture some amazing images while helping to promote the museum. As such, I usually spend the bulk of my time at the museum/airport, going down to the beach for Friday practice.

This year, the show was looking to be a bit thin - we were due to get the USAF Thunderbirds as the featured performers (they alternate years with the Blue Angels) but the T-Birds were heading to Europe this week...the Air Force scheduled an F-22 Raptor demo in their place, but the Raptor is on a safety related stand-down.:cry

We did get Fifi, the only B-29 flying in the world, a B-17, as well as demos from the Super Hornet and A-10 teams. The museum also has a gaggle of WWII aircraft that they fly, including a B-25, P-40, P-47, and Corsair. Some low fog at the beach played with the schedule Friday and Saturday, but in the end we had another great show.

1 - Fifi taking off for a few laps around the pattern.

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2 - A-10 returning from his demo at the beach. The A-10 was designed and primary construction completed at the Fairchild Republic plant that was located at Republic Airport, so this is a homecoming of sorts. And this is also a look at some of my "insider" access - there is an old control tower that is part of the museum, and they permit a few of us to photograph from its outside catwalk.

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3 - Super Hornet departs for their demo. Just enough humidity in the air to give us some vapor.

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4 - Fifi makes a low pass over the airport.

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5 - P-51 Glamorous Gal makes a pass over Jones Beach. I did go to the beach - sort of. A WWII-era PT Boat, which is working with the museum, was down from Upstate NY for the show. I got to ride her Saturday morning, making passes along the beach while the war birds were flying overhead. Trying to shoot with a 100-400mm lens on a boat bouncing along at 20 knots - just a little challenging!

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6 - Glamorous Gal on the museum ramp. As I said, some long nights...I really enjoy shooting these birds at night, and the museum lets us play after dark.

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7 - Once Cold War adversaries, retired Soviet Colonel Vladimir Edelman and retired US Army Captain Jack Hayne are now friends and regular visitors to the museum.

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8 - One of the other cool things about the museum - they have their own armored division! Here, we're taking a few patrons, along with some 101st Airborne re-enactors, for a patrol in a wooded area of Republic Airport. With Glamorous Gal making trips around the traffic pattern, it even sounded like 1944 Europe!

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9 - Keeping an eye out for enemy troops.

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10 - Fifi after dark.

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More photos here and I'll be adding more in the coming days as I process the 4,900 photos I shot.

Comments

  • black mambablack mamba Registered Users Posts: 8,319 Major grins
    edited June 1, 2011
    Nice work. I had an occasion to go all through the FIFI a while back. Having previously spent some time in the cockpit ( as a visitor...not a pilot ) of a B-17, a B-24, and a B-25 ( all of which I took a flight in ) , I was amazed at the room in the cockpit of the B-29. Compared to the other bombers, it was huge.

    Thanks for sharing,

    Tom
    I always wanted to lie naked on a bearskin rug in front of a fireplace. Cracker Barrel didn't take kindly to it.
  • FlyNavyFlyNavy Registered Users Posts: 1,350 Major grins
    edited June 1, 2011
    Nice work Moose. I really like the night shots.
  • rwh64rwh64 Registered Users Posts: 2 Beginner grinner
    edited June 1, 2011
    Super pics and even better background information. I was at Saturdays show (I'm the one on shore with the hat in your PT Boat shot) and got some pictures of the boat from shore. I agree that the show was thinner than last year but it was still well worth the trip. Thank you for your pictures and information.
  • moose135moose135 Registered Users Posts: 1,413 Major grins
    edited June 2, 2011
    Thanks, Tom - I got much the same impression when I got into the B-29 cockpit. I think it may have more room up front than the KC-135s I flew back in the day.

    John, I really enjoy shooting at night, and the museum likes having us. For about five years now, I help host a "History Under The Stars" shoot during the show - we invite about a dozen photographers in, and get to shoot the airshow aircraft after hours.
    rwh64 wrote: »
    I'm the one on shore with the hat in your PT Boat shot...
    I thought that was you! Actually, I'd love to see how we looked from the beach.
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