Warbird Information Exchange

Hi all,

Well I made it back home again on Wednesday morning, after a great 3 week trip around America. It was fantastic to finally meet a bunch of the people from the forum at either Oshkosh or Thunder over Michigan. Special thanks have to go to Brandon, Tim, Scott and Ryan for their efforts to catch up with me away from the airshows. Spending time with everyone was one of the highlights of the trip and hopefully I can return the experience when people visit Australia.

The following are a few photos from my travels. Not up to par with some of the great shots shown on here but I don't think they're too bad while I get my head around this new camera. Hope they don't show up too large - still trying to determine the best way to present them.



B-24/LB-30 at Oshkosh



Heritage Flight at Oshkosh



Mustang at Thunder over Michigan



P-47s at Thunder over Michigan

Have a good weekend everyone.

Cheers,
Matt

Hey Matt,

I'm glad to see you made it back ok and are now enjoying the photos. It was great meeting you at Thunder and hearing your comments over dinner. We did manage to get a good wix crowd for dinner each night, even Sunday. Thanks for the magazines and I'm spreading the rest around Southern Ontario. I see the camera served you well.

Cheers,

Eric

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The air resounds from the Rolls-Royce roar!
To an enemy the warning is dire: here only eagles soar,
and the last thing he'll see is a mirrored Spitfire!

Matt
Glad to hear your home safe. If Kelly and I are ever able to make it down your way I'll be sure to look you up and say "Good-day Mate".

Tim

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www.tailhookstudio.com

Great shot of Diamond Lil.

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So Matt, what are your impressions of OSH & ToM? How well do they match up vs. airshows in Oz?

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It was a good idea, it just didn't work.

Looks like you had a great time Matt -cant imagine you found many Wirra parts though!

Shame you couldnt stop off at the UK on the way back, mind you with the security alert at all our airports its probably best!

All the best fella

Ben

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Life's a Beech and an Armed T-6

Matt,

Glad you had fun in the US chap

I'll speak to you soon mate, we are well overdue a chat

John

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John

Hi Dan K,

Interesting question you've asked and a topic that also got raised with me during the Thunder weekend. Before mentioning any specifics, I need to say that I really enjoyed both events although they were very different to our local ones.

Probably the most obvious difference (and this applies to both events) to Aussie airshows is that the aircraft generally flew 'racetrack' type patterns with little or no manoeuvring. Down here, many aircraft will do smooth, flowing, aerobatics. I believe that they're done to a very sensible level, which shows the aircraft well but doesn't really subject the aircraft to high loadings. Non-aerobatic displays will often still include wing-overs and turns to keep the display at crowd centre. Having the aircraft presented to you at different angles and directions is great for viewing and for photography.

I've not been to Europe so I can't comment on what their shows are like, but all reports seem to suggest that they fly the aircraft relatively 'hard'. This would be fantastic to the spectator and might technically be demonstrating the original capabilities of the aircraft however one has to ask if such historical machinery needs to be operated in this manner.

The big warbirds airshow at Oshkosh on the Friday was very impressive for the number of aircraft in the air, and providing a 'layered' display. Both shows, although especially Thunder, had aircraft flying down to a lower level than we generally experience down here. If our Civil Aviation Safety Authority give their complete blessing to an airshow, then the lowest height for a display is 200 feet, straight and level (defined as no more than 30 degrees of bank - I believe). Performers may only go lower if they are suitably endorsed.

The number of low level flights at both shows would suggest to me that more relaxed rules exist on this in America. Those strafing runs by the P-47s and P-51 at Thunder were fantastic, as was the sight of Rob Gillman flying the Hurricane low while chasing the '109.

My personal opinion is that Australian airshows probably have a good balance in terms of providing a spectacle (borrowing from the European shows) while also preserving airframe integrity (flying the aircraft without sudden loadings being inforced upon it).

Hope this makes sense and is of interest. Feel free to ask any other questions, and also to come downunder to experience at least one of our airshows.

Cheers,
Matt

Ben,

Great to hear your still floating around this neck of the woods mate. Must send you an e-mail sometime - still haven't told you much about the new toy, nor even sent you any photos. My apologies.

No Wirraway bits for me to grab over in the States although I did get to have a good look over Kermit's Wirraway. Had to see that machine during my travels!

You know, when I was originally planning my big overseas trip this year, I actually considered 2 weeks in Europe first (which would have included Legends), and then 2 weeks in the States (co-inciding with Oshkosh). However it wasn't long before sanity prevailed and I just chose one of those destinations. Still keen to get over to Europe but it'll likely be at least 2 years away. More big plans before then!

John,

Great to hear from you as well mate. The whole trip was fantastic - although very fast-paced. That's just my typical holiday style though. I got your e-mail the other day. Will reply in the near future, and do also look forward to chatting again soon.

All the best gents.

Cheers,

Matt

TADan,

Thanks for the compliment. It was the only close up photo I got of Diamond Lil in the air and thankfully it turned out quite nicely.

Eric,

It was great to meet you as well mate, after having seen so many of your fine images on here over time. Many thanks for the photographic advice you gave. I'd guess that only around 5-10% of my 'action' images are acceptable to me. Further practice with the camera will hopefully get this up to around 30-40% and then that'd be fine with me. If I ever go for a DSLR then I'd be looking for further improvement! I'll get an e-mail through to you when I have a chance.

Tim,

Many thanks again to yourself and Kelly for the warm hospitality. As with Eric, I'll also get an e-mail off to you at some stage.

Cheers,
Matt

Matt,
glad to hear you got back safe and sound. it was a pleasure to meet you and hang out on sunday. nice shots too! see, all those big lenses around us and both of us with our point and shoots!!! ha, anyways, take it easy and best of luck with all.

brian

Greetings matt,

glad to see you got back ok.. and very happy that you enjoyed running
around here... please keep in touch, and if you get back to the wisconsin
way, feel free to look me up and come on down and experience a little
post oshkosh lake life on the way over to thunder... ...
perhaps I can get you up in the air for a bit of flying as well.. although
I don't have any warbirds to strap you into... ..

so take care of yourself and fly safe..

henning

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"The best way to control the future is to create it".

Brian,

It was likewise great to shoot the breeze with you on the Sunday at Thunder. Look forward to doing so again at some stage in the future, either when I convince you to visit Australia or when I'm back over there again. Regarding how we both managed to get some good pics with our small cameras, I guess it comes down to the old saying "it's not the size that matters, but rather how you use it". Still, a DSLR with a long lens would be nice!

Take it easy mate, and we'll keep in touch.


Henning,

It was great to meet yourself and Rich during my travels. Regardless of the spectrum of aircraft that I saw, the social activities along the way are one of the highlights of the trip. And so far I seem to have remembered most names!

I'm certainly planning on getting back to Wisconsin as I've now got a taste of Oshkosh. Would be great to see more of the nice countryside from the air so I might have to take you up on the offer of some flying at some stage. No need to worry about not having a warbird to strap me into. Sure I can strap into one down here, but the only noise it makes is when I make pretend engine sounds with my mouth! Hopefully a vintage/antique machine would suffice for me to return the gesture if you make it down here at some stage. Speaking of the Auster, she's now back flying again as of Saturday afternoon.

Cheers,
Matt