I apologize for how long it took to process and weed 1400 shots down to a few dozen presentable photos, but I better get them up here before harvest season really hits.

 

Skip Stewart cutting ribbons in Prometheus.  



 "Victory 203" arrives.  The crew of this jet were both Wisconsin guys coming to their hometown show, they and the rest of the Jolly Rogers from VFA-103 had just returned from a deployment attacking ISIS.  Note mission markings, they were putting a lot of ordnance on target.

 

It was blind luck that I happened to be walking over to the Warbird park and caught this spread of history, FM-2 Wildcat (Goodyear-built Grumman F4F) taxiing out in front of the F/A-18s on the ramp.

 

Grumman Albatross in colors of both the Coast Guard and naval aviation centennials.

 

NASA arrives.

 

Thursday's warbird formation.

 

P-40.

 

Mustang cruising by the pyro.

 

First time I've ever seen a Spitfire fly, and got to catch this Mk. IX with a gorgeous background.

 

TACDEMO F/A-18F from the Gladiators of VFA-106, out of NAS Oceana, Virginia.  - "We bring the noise."



Crummy weather at least sometimes breeds righteous vapes.



Girl in a Rhino- "Purple" and "Sneaky" taxi in after performing Friday's Super Hornet demonstration.  She's one of my favorite people I had the chance to meet at Airventure.  Note the Navy single-ship demo teams have been flying with a number 6, in remembrance of Blue Angel 6 who was killed in a mishap in Tennessee this summer. 



Hamilton Metalplane, one of the very earliest parts of what would become the Boeing corporation.



C-5M Super Galaxy gets pushed back from static display to the active runway.  It's not your standard air show where you can get up this close to a military heavy with engines running on the move, but... at Oshkosh you can!



C-5 departs.



Being able to see the interior of this Curtiss C-46, and watching it fly (next photo) was especially interesting as I had a great uncle who flew The Hump over the Himalayas in Commandos.  





Replica Bleriot, other than a somewhat more modern engine very similar to the machine Louis Bleriot first flew across the English Channel in 1909.  That's the owner in front of it with jacket, cap, and goggles- he told me getting your ticket from the FAA for ten hours of wing-warping experience is a struggle....






I knew the story, but had no idea this was in existence.  This airplane was actually in flight over Hawaii on the morning of Pearl Harbor, and was hit by Japanese fighters.  



Wish I had good photos of it later, but this Customs HH-60 did a really neat demonstration of apprehending a suspect after dark.



U-2 flyover to start the Friday show.

 

Matt Chapman.

 

RV formation flights.

 


 

Skyraider warming up. 

 

F-86 Sabre.



MiG-17.



The Martin Mars does a fire drop demo.



Exceptionally rare Bell P-39 Airacobra.



The North American P-64.


Great fun to sit with a cold one and watch GA departures.  



Where's Waldo?

 

SPAD VII replica, in the markings of Georges Guynemer.

 

Fokker D.VIII

 

Feels somewhat like the Western Front.



 Sopwith Pup.

 

Fokker Triplane.

 

C-2A Greyhound.

 

Coast Guard C-130J.  Neat to see a Herk in some shiny colors.

 

 

Seaplane Base.    

 

Border Patrol P-3 Orion.

 

Gorgeous P-40 in New Zealand markings.

 

Patty Wagstaff.

 

Jeff Boerboon and the jet Waco.  What an awesome bird.

 

Maj. Craig "Rocket" Baker takes the Viper Demo F-16 three miles high in 20 seconds.

 

Heritage Flight with Rocket and Vlado Llenoch.

 

 

 

The magnificent Canadian Snowbirds.

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

American Airlines bringing an Honor Flight of Vietnam vets home from DC.

 

The crowd to cheer them deplaning was huge.

 




Being very much a class act, Fifi flew over them in salute.
 

Cathay 747-800 departs.  They were only hopping down to Chicago, the spiraling climb they did directly above the field in a huge but very light jumbo jet was something to see.

 

Patriots parachute team (former Navy SEALs) jump the flag.

 

Super Hornet Demo was supposed to be the opening act of the Saturday twilight show.  The announcer came on and said we have to launch Gump and Bueller before the show starts so they can get back to Oceana, I didn't think much of it as they had 3 crews and spare jets on site- just assumed they were going home and the actual demo would launch next.  Of course, what really happened is they circled out behind the crowd, and as the jumpers with the flag touched down and the national anthem hit "land of the free" they screamed overhead at 600 knots in full afterburner, pulled into the vertical, and rolled out on cue "of the brave."  Pretty awesome.



And then they went on to fly the twilight demo.





Touch-and-go demonstration of a carrier deck bolter.





Aeroshell team puts on an incredible display in the dark.










Fireworks, and wall of fire as seen from Fifi.