Warbird Information Exchange

Hi All,

Just got home from the TBM Gathering in Peru, IL today. Will post photos when I can. Great show - after a foggy, cloudy morning it turned sunny and lots of flying.

The TOTAL surprise of the day was a quick visit with multiple passes of the AU-1 Corsair!!

Yesterday we saw the A-26 doing a photo shoot with PK's F-86 and the F-86A. They made a few passes in that formation.

Today we had a "Heracy" - Heresy? Flight (Combo of Heritage and Legacy - A-26, F-86, Corsair and Wildcat.

11 TBMs - super cool!!

Couldn't resist a quick upload:



More tomorrow or so....

"Heracy" Flight:

A Couple from Friday 5/18/18 - Preshow Fun.

Thanks for posting the photos, Paul. Any idea whose Wildcat that is?

Mac

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WWII Naval Aviation Research - Pacific
https://www.ww2nar-pac.com/

Mike Gillian's (N909WJ), based near Chicago.

Paul, thank you for sharing these initial images from this really great event - looking forward to more!

Thanks, John.

Mac

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WWII Naval Aviation Research - Pacific
https://www.ww2nar-pac.com/

I've got the video footage from Friday and Saturday edited and posted to SmugMug.

Friday Video here:


Saturday Video here:


CLICK on the teaser photo and the link will take you to the video.

Enjoy!
VB

Made it there, short 2 hour drive and was pleased with the show. Watching the video and it seems I missed a lot. Being pushed back to according to the safety gang because of the FAA rules to be 500 yards(?) from runway, their party, your video really brought it up close. Never seen a TBM with triple rudders, ,A TBM3E, N85650, BU 85650. Silver Dragon was back to it's prime. Wow free admit and parking AANNDD free ice cream and pie and popcorn, really affordable, bought lots of patches and made donations wherever a jug was set up. Some no-shows but an appearance by the 2nd Corsair was cool. F86 and Mig 17 tearing up the sky. Weather really cleared up to be perfect, when leaving it was mid 80's and got home it was mid 60's, thanks lake effect. The Veteran salute was inspiring, wish my brother could have come. Met great people and seen lots of smiles and grins. My day off and I'll mow the grass some other day.

My first visit to this event and it was absolutely awesome. As good as any warbird show I've been to in years and it was FREE. I will have this weekend blocked off to attend every year. I wish there had been a second day to go to.

It was a bummer that the weather was so crappy across much of the midwest and throughout the morning because it kept quite a few of the planned aircraft away, but there was more than enough there as it was! Notables included 11 TBMs, F4U-4, F4U-7, A-26, FM-2, two F-86s, MiG-17, C-45 and numerous trainers. A lot of credit should be given to the airboss for working passes in for the late arrivals and coordinating with the F4U-7 pilot to get some fly-bys. Some really unique formations I hadn't seen before: an A-26 and FM-2, a TBM with two T-34s and the A-26, F-86, FM-2 and F4U-4 formation Vagabond has already posted.

Moving back the show line from where people had initially set their chairs up was a bit of a bummer, but being able to stand right next to the 11 TBMs when they taxied out on the ramp more than made up for it.

I don't shoot aerial photos (prefer to just watch and remember with my eyes), but I've shared a few photos I thought captured the essence of the event below.

IMG_2147 by Matthew Vader, on Flickr

I really liked this SAAF T-6. Haven't seen one in those markings in a long time.

IMG_2182 by Matthew Vader, on Flickr

IMG_2215 by Matthew Vader, on Flickr

IMG_2232 by Matthew Vader, on Flickr

IMG_2247 by Matthew Vader, on Flickr

IMG_2253 by Matthew Vader, on Flickr

IMG_2259 by Matthew Vader, on Flickr

IMG_2281 by Matthew Vader, on Flickr

IMG_2291 by Matthew Vader, on Flickr

IMG_2363 by Matthew Vader, on Flickr

IMG_2396 by Matthew Vader, on Flickr

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Matt

WOW! Is this airshow an annual warbird event? It's what Thunder over Michigan USED to be.

This was the third year. The first year featured around 9-10 TBMs and a bunch of other warbirds. Last year was basically a wash due to weather. The event has been the third weekend of May two years in a row, so that's about the time I'd expect it to be again if they continue to hold it every year.

The best parts about it are how close you can get to the aircraft and that they aren't dependent on acts. It seems like they figure out what's going to fly and when based on what shows up. It's not the type of event where you're going to get an itemized list of aircraft or performers in advance. It feels a lot more like a fly-in that just happens to have an airshow in the afternoon. I'm not sure if any of the aircraft even get a performance fee, but the city sponsors the show. It reminded me a lot of the old Warbirds Over Kalamazoo shows. Real laid -back atmosphere and all of the focus on the aircraft and veterans without chalets, stunts and gimmick ground attractions.

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Matt

Yeah - it was AWESOME!!

Nice stuff kalamazookid - great job of capturing stuff on the ground!

Glad you enjoyed the video, pjpahs - happy I could bring you stuff you missed!

WHAT is the deal with the triple stablizer on the Heritage Flight Foundation TBM? Something from a sprayer past?

I've finished posting images from Friday - Preshow to here:

https://www.vgbimages.com/AirShows/2018 ... iday-51818

Friday Teasers:

Vagabond,

We were speculating that the TBM with the triple stabilizer might have been from a previous conversion to a Guppy or something similar. I don't know the aircraft's history though.

Great videos and photos!

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Matt

Thank you, Matt!

Just finished the gallery of static photos from both days - here:

https://www.vgbimages.com/AirShows/2018 ... Ms-Statics

Some nice stuff I hadn't seen before: