Missing the Airshow
I missed the first day of the Westfield Airshow on Saturday because I was flying to Lancaster, PA for a
Cardinal Flyers flyin. I did manage a few shots of the airshow setup as I departed Westfield at 7:00 on Saturday morning. The pictures are very large, so be patient. Hopefully, they're worth the wait.
Midfield and the VOR, with a C-5 parked on Runway 15, The
Red Bull MiG-17 and its companion on Taxiway Bravo, and a FedEx freighter and a P-3 on Taxiway Golf.
A little farther north, we see some military demonstrator aircraft on Bravo, and more static displays on Golf. The entire 104th FW ramp is taken up with static displays.
The Thunderbirds lined up on Bravo. Beyond, the static display ramp contains a mix of mostly current training types, plus an F-16 and F-15. Oddities include an Antonov AN-2 of the Pioneer Valley Military & Transportation Museum, a civilian O-2 (ar at least a Skymaster painted up in military markings) and a couple of stuffed and mounted jets (F-86H and T-33) painted in Mass. Air Guard markings. The 104th FW had a couple of A-10's on display at the south end of the ramp as well.
The warbird area next to the main hangar. In attendance were a P-51, (which was in the pattern as I departed) a P-47, an L-17, a TBM, an F4U, a T-6, a B-25, and a C-47
One last look back at the whole show
Much later in the afternoon, about an hour and a half after the show ended for the day. They were supposed to open the field at 5:30, but it was 6:00 before I was cleared to land.
Midfield and the VOR, with a C-5 parked on Runway 15, The Red Bull MiG-17 and its companion on Taxiway Bravo, and a FedEx freighter and a P-3 on Taxiway Golf.
A little farther north, we see some military demonstrator aircraft on Bravo, and more static displays on Golf. The entire 104th FW ramp is taken up with static displays.
The Thunderbirds lined up on Bravo. Beyond, the static display ramp contains a mix of mostly current training types, plus an F-16 and F-15. Oddities include an Antonov AN-2 of the Pioneer Valley Military & Transportation Museum, a civilian O-2 (ar at least a Skymaster painted up in military markings) and a couple of stuffed and mounted jets (F-86H and T-33) painted in Mass. Air Guard markings. The 104th FW had a couple of A-10's on display at the south end of the ramp as well.
The warbird area next to the main hangar. In attendance were a P-51, (which was in the pattern as I departed) a P-47, an L-17, a TBM, an F4U, a T-6, a B-25, and a C-47
One last look back at the whole show
Much later in the afternoon, about an hour and a half after the show ended for the day. They were supposed to open the field at 5:30, but it was 6:00 before I was cleared to land.
I was there Sunday! All it did was rain!
I had a lengthy talk with the An-2 owner. I love those things. The A-10's and F-15's went up; very impressive. T-birds never flew.
Were you there Sunday? I was the soaked yet stoked kid in the "Live to Fly" shirt. I could probably be found at the Texan II's; gawking.
Aaron,
Thanks for the note. I did make it to the airshow for about an hour on Sunday, but I left after taking in all the static displays and concluding that not much would be flying. I heard various aerial performances from my living room, (I missed the MiG - dang) but didn't feel it was worth it to go back.
If I had known you were coming, we coudl have hooked up and I could have introduced you to Yellowbird. Maybe next time...