Boston Portsmouth Airshow



Army Golden Knights



                I recently took advantage of the awesome folks at Southwest Airlines and joined my son Sean for a trip to a major airshow featuring the US Air Force Thunderbirds. It has been quite a while since seeing a featured demonstration team. My usual airshow is the WWII weekend at Reading. He has been venturing to 3 or 4 shows within 2 hours of his Boston area home. Last year he took in this show and felt it was worth visiting again. The draw to this venue, besides the planes, is the photo pass you can get. For an extra $50 you get close up parking, a program, $8 food coupon, 2 pins, early admission, access to cockpits not available to the public, water all day and VIP seating. Sounds expensive at first but is actually  a good deal.

                The group was split into two as the numbers were just under a 100. You never know what will show up as a photographer on these soiree's. On guy traveled really light and just used his I-phone and the other extreme is the guy with the 4 cameras and light meter around his neck and the rolling suitcase with the 2 monster lenses. We prefer light. Two lenses in a back pack, with the other essentials;  sunscreen, water, micro fiber cloth and extra memory chips.

                Going in we knew by the end of the day we would be shooting right into the sun. This was one of the challenges facing us. Also, compared to Reading and the top speed of the show being 400mph and usually half that, speeds are going to be between 400 and up to really, really close to Mach 1. Gotta' love the F-18 and the F-16! A quick review of camera settings made sure we were ready. Meter settings, focus settings, ISO, aperture, RAW, all set. This is  a good place to know you and your camera limitations. When an F-18 is screaming past you at 600 mph, you have to know when to pause to let your buffer empty so as not to lose the next the picture you really want. And without the right focus point, it is going to search and cause you to lose focus when you really want it.



Crossing Thunderbirds



                I need to give kudos out to the fellas' running the photo group portion of the show. Glitches always pop up and they did their best to rectify them as quick as they could. At one point permission wasn't granted to go up to the cockpit of the C-5 Galaxy cargo plane. Within a short time small groups were up where not many people get to go. Pilots and crew were giving talks on specifics of flights and plane performance. Later, there weren't chairs for us in the Media section and they soon arrived. Black tarmac can get really hot on a 85° day.



Mig-17 Low Photo Pass



                It is unique to see a civilian demonstration team that flies with the precision of the Navy or Air Force teams. Team Heavy Metal flies Albatross L-39 trainers and a Mig 17. These guys are not timid, love speed and can "Wow" a crowd. The Mig pilot flaunted gravity with the wing just off the runway pass after pass. It helps to have a former member of the Thunderbirds as part of the team. Their precision is on par with the 2 major teams.



                Although at a much slower pace, Team Aeroshell, flying their pre-WWII aircraft performed with the same precision level. These AT-6's with smoke pouring out of their exhausts worked the skies in unison. Earlier, before the actual show flying schedule began, they took some guests up. Usually this is just a flyby to make everyone on the ground a little jealous but they went right into part of their routine. I hope the back seaters were expecting rolls and hammer heads!

                No big airshow is complete without the Golden Knight's Army parachute team. Most airshow pilots are a rare breed and brain cells may come into question, but to prefer leaving an airplane before it gets on the runway brings on a whole new set of questions. Some of these guys have made over 1400 jumps.

                There is so much for so many. Warbirds, a Heritage flight with a Corsair and a F-18, aerobatic performers and many others. I got a kick out of the KC-135, an in-flight refueler. This airport is home to a refueling wing and of course they have to get their time in the limelight. I happened to be partaking in lunch when they were flying. My sirloin burger was the first time my beef was bigger than the roll it was in. A KC-135 did a "dirty" flyby (wheels and refueling boom down)  and in the time it took for it to go down turn around I had finished 3/4 of my sandwich! Couldn't say the same for any of the other planes there.



Thunderbirds Mirror View



                Of course, the biggest draw is the Thunderbirds. It has been a number of years since watching them. I love the roar of the engine, the echo staying long after the jet is gone. Their formation flying is superb. Flights on rare occasion are below 500 mph. I was very happy with one image. Opposing jets are coming at each other about 300 feet above the runway and flying with a closure speed over 1000mph (each doing 500+ at each other) and at the last minute turning to face each other cockpit to cockpit and pass out of harms way. I was pretty happy with my result. Occasionally, you just need to put the camera down and watch. Photographing this team is a challenge. Making sure you  have a new chip handy is a plus because you are going to go through them in a very short time. As I mentioned before, the skies are not in your favor. August usually brings hazy days and you are shooting into the afternoon sun. White skies and white jets are work for auto focus.

                It was a good trip. Good to Sean and good to see the show.  It will take some time to cull through the images but I am happy with the results so far.

                Until next time, remember......Always go to the light, Steve