Flying high

Doing the countdown to the engines starting..

 Last Friday afternoon, on a gorgeous, cloudy/sunny, breezy perfect afternoon, i was visiting Mom and Dad for a coffee.  Now, anyone who knows our family, knows that when airplanes go by overhead, we all go trotting (or sometimes tearing) off to see what kind of plane it is, where it's heading and to marvel at the sight of them.  We grew up in the shadow of the airport and since Dad's been involved in volunteering at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum (gotta use the full name eh?), we've been that much more interested.  So, after chasing out of the house for the fourteenth time, nearly breaking necks to see these crazy planes, i suggested to Dad that if he had nothing else to do, that we might head up to the airport to watch the planes coming in for the airshow.  He agreed, pulled out Mom's volunteer tag and we headed off.  And boy, what a great decision!!  The weather was absolutely perfect and we found a perch on the observation deck of the museum and parked ourselves there for a good couple of hours whilst we basically got our own private airshow.  All the working planes at the museum were outside and we could watch the hustle and bustle of the planes being parked here and there and moved back and forth.  We watched all the guest airplanes coming in for landings and going out again to practice loop-de-loops and other crazy maneuvers.  And all from our birds-eye vantage point.  We chatted to a fellow next to us for a while about airplanes - he is a pilot and he was able to fill us in on details of planes and we were able to tell him some stuff about the museum so that was kinda neat too.  You always learn from every interaction you have, i think... maybe little things, maybe facts, maybe deep things...
But for now, sit back and scroll to your heart's content to see some shots from the afternoon.  I'm totally heading there again next year!!!

I'm afraid i'm terrible with names, but this guy had a beautiful plane - and it was so neat to see flying

The Lancaster had already flown by the time we got there, but the Mitchell was heading out followed by the Helldiver!  Such fearsome names for these planes, though i did feel kinda bad for the Faerie Firefly...hardly a name to strike awe into your enemies but it was a really cool plane!

The Nanchang... a little Chinese plane who did some pretty cool acrobatics and made a lot of noise for a little guy!

This tiny little guy did some pretty crazy acrobatics, pouring on the smoke and making loops and flying upsidedown and really low right over the runway - it's a Pitts Special .

The Avenger...it's still in pieces, but it's getting there, but a bit more work to do before she's airworthy!

The Westland Lysander - this plane took off so quickly, it was neat to see... looks like a giant bumblebee!

I don't really know who this guy is, but he was pretty cool!  Might be called a Skyraider!

It's kinda hard to get overhead shots, mostly doesn't work but here's the Mitchell nonetheless!

The Helldiver!  His wings would fold up so he takes up less space on a carrier... really neat to watch that happen!

One of two Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses  that flew in...this one was called Chuckie...not sure if i like that name, but the plane was really cool!  The other one was called the Memphis Belle - kinda neat to see it since i've watched that movie!

Oops...but i still like this shot, the Lysander getting his five minutes of fame, heading for a wing-over of the museum!

The Mitchell, it's a very picturesque plane!

The World War I planes - i think these might have been my favorites of the day - they were pretty cool to see flying all together!   From top to bottom, the Fokker DR1, the Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5.a, and the Sopwith 11/2 Strutter...

Someone wants to fly badly but has been without essential parts and wings for a while...the Bolingbroke...restoration is ongoing...and ongoing...

The Red Baron (Kees is piloting - he's the one who took my mom on her Harvard ride - nice guy!) leading the two bi-planes into the hangar!

The Fokker again - looked like such a little toy airplane but it's actually not that small when you stand next to it.  This is the kind of plane that the Red Baron flew in WWI

Three Harvard Trainers doing acrobatics over the airfield... i think you would have to have a lot of trust in your fellow pilots in order to dare to do this!

And the Harvards again...

Nope,don't look for any airplanes, it's just the amazing cloud formations all afternoon, it would threaten rain and then clear...made for some cool shots!

An old propellor...so neat to be surrounded by this history!

A hangar full of yellow warbirds!  Kinda scary how tightly packed in they were, but it was all done with precision and care!