Ranger, Texas Show

My friend Jay and I launched off for the morning at the Ranger, Texas Flyin/Airshow early so we could make breakfast.  This was my first time at the famous Ranger Airfield.  As the historical marker states... Amelia Earhart landed there years ago.  Jay and I enjoyed breakfast but it soon became warm as the Texas sun heated things up.  We sat under the 170 for a bit watching vintage aircraft come and go.  The heat didnt stop the vintage aircraft from flying in!  We wanted to stay longer but other commitments had us leaving late morning.  Sounds like it was a good show.  My pictures from the morning are here.  Hats off to Jared Calvert for preserving history in Ranger and inviting aviation enthusiasts to drop in for the weekend.

Chino Wrap Up

To wrap up the posts on Chino here are the links to the pictures from that long weekend.  As noted were spent some time at the Yanks Air Museum shooting pictures of their outstanding Curtiss Robin.  Detailed Robin pictures are here.  This is one of three Curtiss Robins they have.  This one being powered by a Challenger radial.

The welcome shade from the California sun was provided by my friend Les Whittlesey at his hangar.  The hangar that he calls the Cal-Aero Aviation Country Club.  If you want to develop a serious case of hangar envy take a look at these pictures!  Thanks again Les for the place to hang out! (The picture above is my wife and I standing with Les's award winning Lockheed 12.)

The complete gallery of edited airshow pictures is here.  A great Warbird Airshow and an amazing long weekend with my lovely bride.

Chino Saturday

It is Sunday morning and we are enjoying the slow start to the day. Saturdays show was worth the trip from Texas! Lots of sunshine and cool breezes. We walked the show line in the morning to get pictures and then watched the airshow from the shade of my friend Les's hangar. The large gathering of Mustangs, the formations of two Hellcats, Corsairs and Lightnings highlighted the day. Rudy Frasca's FW190 replica was on static display next to the Lyon Air Museum's B17. Word is that it made a few flights the few days before the show. Still good to see it on the show line!




So, one more day of show to go!

Friday Chino Visit

After snagging the car and checking into the hotel we made our way to the Chino airport. A friend of mine has an awesome hangar on the field (pictures to come) so we said a quick hello to him. One of the goals for this trip was to shoot pictures of the Curtiss Robin at The Yanks Air Museum. Thru a friend I made contact with the director of the museum who let me take some detailed photos of the Robin. Our friend Alan was due to arrive in his Super Swift in the early afternoon. So walking the field, visitig the museum and watching airshow practice made for a very nice afternoon. The three ship Mustang acro act, The Horsemen flew a great practice show. Sounded great and was very tight formation. To many Warbird aircraft types to name now but I counted 13 Mustangs on the show line. My first time to see the award winning Happy Jacks Go Buggy! Can't wait to see the freshly restored A36 Mustang! Weather looks good and the Warbirds seem ready!




Alan made it in his Swift after some scheduling issues with the airshow practice. We looked over some of the show line and then went to dinner. Good to catch up on flying stories with him. Winding down the evening and looking forward to the show tomorrow!

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Friday Travel

The morning of day one of vacation I ended up stiring at about 5am. Airshow excitement started building! I dozed a time or two and finally got up about 6. My wife and I were mostly ready for the flight to Ontario, CA. So we wrapped up the packing and loaded up. Mom Linn made the airport drop for us.

Being fairly seasoned travelers my wife and I make the airport lines and boarding with ease. Most of the morning entertainment comes from watching little kids pull tiger striped roller bags and trying to tune out chatty passengers in the seats near us. Chatty Kathy and her new friend Chatty Nancy didn't stop talking until the beverage cart came by! The chatting started up again after a sip of the $300 drinks with a free trip to CA thrown in.

This will be my fourth trip to Ontario/Chino for an aviation event. The first with my bride. I prayed all week for cool temps and blue skies so we could enjoy the show together. Chino is one of those rare airports in the U. S. that offers a very large collection of historic aircraft all in one place. Just the place you want to go for an airshow with family and friends!

We will arrived late morning and plan to swing by the Chino airport in the afternoon. Check back later for an update of our Friday sightings.



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Off to Chino

This weekend we are off to Chino! A large showing of Mustangs is expected and a FW190 surprise! Watch here for updates!


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Robin Advertisement

In my sorting the piles of magazines, that I have mentioned a few times on this blog, I have found a unique Curtiss Robin Advertisement.  This one shows a four seat arrangement for a Robin.  Has anyone else seen a Robin in this arrangement?  Of the flying Robins I have not seen one like this.  Time to break out the Juptner books to look it up!

Chino Airshow Soon

The last time I made it to the Chino Airshow was back in 2007.  The years since my last visit have proven to be quite the aerial spectacles!  One year the show attracted a large collection of Grumman Bearcats.  Scott Germain caught the powerful Grumman fighters in the air as can be seen in the picture above.  The 2010 show is nearing and I have been talking about it to just about anyone who will listen!  This year should provide another amazing show with some of the rarest ships flying the skies today and it will be my first time to see The Horsemen live in action.  The Planes of Fame Museum will host the airshow and will display their rare Warbirds for the weekend.  Another museum on the field is the Yanks Air Museum.  This museum also features many rare Warbirds but has a large collection of vintage aircraft as well.  Watch this blog for updates and photos from the event and the visits to these museums.

Warbirds Over Wanaka 2010

Stunning photos from Warbirds Over Wanaka 2010.

The forum post is here.