Meeting the Enemy - VFC-12 Super Hornets

Airshows start with two types of aircraft displays, aerial and static.  There are lots of reasons aircraft will only be on static display.  Any reason from old age to cost to fly.

For the Thunder over Michigan show, I saw that there were two F-18s from the VFC-12 squadron.  Time for internet research.

VFC-12 is an Adversary squadron.  The Navy's version of an Aggressor Squadron.  Or visa-versa.  Both do the same, fly American jets performing enemy tactics.

And to play the enemy, you have to look like the enemy.  Or what you think the enemy looks like.

The current VFC-12 paint scheme on the Super Hornets is based on the Su-35 Flanker Prototype 2 Arctic Splinter Camouflage.

One of the nice things about the ToM show is that on Friday the photographers can move around the ramp without many people around and the stanchion posts and ropes.  Less distractions to remove from the photographs.

F18 Adversary Reflection on the Ramp

NIKON D850 Ver.1.20/NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8

31 mm, 1/125 sec, f/5, ISO 560

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

F18 Adversary on the Ramp

NIKON D850 Ver.1.20/NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8

24 mm, 1/125 sec, f/5, ISO 640

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

I get the static showing only for these aircraft.  No sense showing what they know.  But thanks for showing up.  Awesome static photos.

Curtiss Wright P-40M

This was my second year at the Thunder over Michigan airshow, but third year of trying.  It was that damn Covid thingie.  I made it last year, and this year.  From what I can tell, they try to have some sort of theme every year.  Last year, it was the gathering of B-25s.  This year, it was WWII fighters.  The American fighters, British fighters and German fighters were represented.  Better yet, they were flying.  And making noise.

This particular aircraft is owned by the Tri-State Warbird Museum in Ohio.  It was built in 1943.

The P-40 Warhawk was exported to a number of Allied countries.  The P-40M signified an Allison engine instead of a Packard Merlin engine.  This particular aircraft paint scheme looks to be a Royal New Zeeland Air Force.  (Just a guess)  And as such, would not be a Warhawk, but a Kittyhawk III.  And that is how it was advertised on the show aircraft list.  It all comes together.

This was one of the aircraft in the Night Shoot.

I really did like the paint on this aircraft.  Very different from what I've seen before.  There is a P-40 that races in Reno that is a traditional olive green.  The extent of my exposure to P-40s.

So for the show, this was a fun aircraft to watch fly.  And to listen to.

P-40 Kittyhawk III Close Taxi

NIKON D850 Ver.1.20/NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8

135 mm, 1/60th sec, f/9, ISO 64

EV 0, Shutter Priority, Size FX

I like this take off shot a lot for a few reasons. First, the prop tip contrails are just plain cool.   I've seen these before in other photos, now I have mine.  The other thing was, I made a mistake.  I usually shoot military props at 1/200 second.  For some reason, I was shooting at 1/1000 second.  In this case, it worked.  Aircraft relatively sharp.  And the props are not frozen, just a degree away.  For the take off, that seems to be OK - but for the prop tip contrails - it is a must.

P-40 Kittyhawk III Take Off

NIKON D500 Ver.1.31 /NIKKOR 80.0-400.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

600 mm, 1/1000th sec, f/5.6, ISO 640

EV +1, Shutter Priority, Size DX

This inflight shot really illustrates the aircraft markings.  It also looks like I'm beginning to favor the bank shot where the cockpit and pilot open up more.  Also, the sky was so bad in this shot just a total white.  I'm happy with cooling WB of the sky as opposed to replacing the sky.  Turned out OK, and yes that is something else learned.

P-40 Kittyhawk III Show Pass

NIKON D500 Ver.1.31 /NIKKOR 80.0-400.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

315 mm, 1/200th sec, f/7.1, ISO 100

EV +1, Shutter Priority, Size DX

Again, in this shot the sky is so bad, but there is a smidgen of definition.  And a cool pilot silhouette.

P-40 Kittyhawk III Decent

NIKON D500 Ver.1.31 /NIKKOR 80.0-400.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

420 mm, 1/200th sec, f/9, ISO 100

EV +1, Shutter Priority, Size DX

Whenever I see these old warbirds in the air, I can picture and hear hundreds in the sky.  Aside from that pesky war thing, what a time in aviation.

ToM 22 - The Night Shoot

If there was a silver lining to the very overcast weather for the airshow, it is that all my body energy was not sucked out of me by the sun.  For the ToM 21 show, that Saturday was very hot.  As such, I didn't make it to the night shoot.  This year I was more prepared, drank a lot more water and was more mentally prepared for a long day.

Yep, kicking myself for not going last year.  Self backslap for making the effort this year.

The night shoot is just that, photographing aircraft at night.  With a little help from some strategically placed lights.  And where appropriate, the props turning.  Recipe for an awesome photograph.

For most of Saturday afternoon, I was pestering other photographers about what settings to use.  I am the consummate fair weather photographer, the previous Wet Wednesday show not withstanding.  But the nighttime environment is new to me.  What to use?  What to set?  Will I embarrass myself?

The equipment question was easy.  I made sure the tripod was packed for the show.  As for the camera, the D850 with a full frame was the easy choice - as opposed to the D500 and the crop frame.  Full frame in less light.  The mechanical performance advantage of the D500 was not necessary.  As for the lens, either of the f/2.8 lenses would be used.  I guessed, and it was a guess, that I would need 50 mm for the event.  I chose the 24-70.  I was using it for the walk around earlier in the day and I had the distance calculated in my head.  I was fairly confident.  Ha.

Now, what settings?  I asked around a lot - shutter speeds of anywhere from 3 to 15 seconds.  Yikes.  OK, I didn't ask about equipment used, but I can account for most of the discrepancies.  What about releasing the shutter?  I was going to use a wireless - but I saw may others doing the same.  What about a cross frequency un-commanded release?

But where to start?

I started when the sun started to set.

We arrived to the location when the sun was just behind the trees.  Time to practice.

First, I set a shutter delay of 1 second.  With an expected shutter speed of over 3 seconds, would a delay of any time really matter?

By pure accident, I found a solution to all my settings questions.  First, the ISO was 64 - the D850 base.  No question there.  Then, because I was using a tripod and getting the to eye viewer wasn't that easy, I activated the camera's Live View on the rear screen.  What luck!  I had it set up to show the shutter speed and aperture settings.  Just in time to be of use.  Using this, I could dial in just a bit of underexposure to get the look I was going for.  For me, this was the eureka moment.  It helps to know your camera - or at least fake it.

The three aircraft, F-16, Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Curtiss P-40.  Yep, no prop on the F-16 but it did turn out better than I thought.  Rumor had it that this was the first current military aircraft ever done with a night shoot.  I'm trying to confirm.

All shots are with the D850 and 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8 lens.  All are EV 0, MANUAL Mode and size FX.

The F-16 was first.

The first test shot.  Great sky colors.  The spot lights are just starting to come in.

F-16 Night Shoot - Test

50 mm, 0.6 sec, f/4.5, ISO 64

Shortly after this, the firetruck showed up to put down the reflective layer of water.  Picky photographers, eh?  The spraying of the water with the longer exposure time had an interesting effect.  

F-16 Night Shoot with Firetruck

50 mm, 1.6 sec, f/4.5, ISO 64

For the final F-16 shot, it wasn't completely dark.  Michigan in July.  Days are long.  The crowd was getting restless.  Still, it worked.

F-16 Night Shoot ToM '22

50 mm, 4.0 sec, f/4.0, ISO 64

Very cool.

Next aircraft in was a Messerschmitt Bf 109.  My only criticism of the event was the selection of this aircraft.  No paint on the props.  I'm sure it isn't easy to get 'volunteers' to stay late for a bunch of photos.  That being said, the shots were still OK.

Messerschmitt Bf 109 Night Shoot ToM '22

44 mm, 4.0 sec, f/5.6, ISO 64

Tough to see the props.

The last aircraft was a Curtiss P-40.  This was a show personal favorite.  The paint scheme was from the RNZAF.  Very cool.  And the prop was just right.

Curtiss P-40 Night Shoot ToM '22

40 mm, 3.5 sec, f/4.0, ISO 64

Because I was a rookie at this, I took a position and held.  There was time to move around to get a different angle.  That being said, there were about 70 photographers there and moving wasn't that easy.  But time to think about that for next year.

Corsair Aircraft - and what I learned

For someone with a declared hobby of WWII aircraft, I don't know a lot.  And for someone who proclaimed that their favorite aircraft included anything with F-4 in the name, I have lots of room to learn.

Not sure why I gravitated to the F-4 Corsair for a personal interest.  Was it the unique gull wing?  Was it a 70's TV show?  Who knows, but the attraction is there.

I am fortunate to see them fly before the last one is grounded.  And the noise, don't get me started.

And as I found out this past weekend, I might have a high school degree in the subject of the Corsair - but far from a BS.  (Ha...)  

When I see an interesting (to me) aircraft at an air show, I like to do a bit of research on the actual aircraft.  If it is on the web, the information must be correct, eh?  But you can believe at least 80% of the internet search.  And that is what happened in my last search of aircraft N43FG.

Aircraft N43FG looks like a F4 Corsair.  And I would have lost the identity bet.  Aircraft N43FG is a FG-1D Corsair.  WTH?

A quick search of Wikipedia helped clear the confusion.  I listened to the Book Arsenal of Democracy a few months ago.  Although there are many subject lines discussed, the aircraft subject got me the most.  Many aircraft were built by many manufacturers under licensing agreements.  And in the case of aircraft N43FG, FG-1D is the designation of a Corsair licensed built by the Goodyear Company between 1943 and 1945 (EOW).  There were just over 4,000 built by Goodyear company.  In very round numbers, this was about 1/3 of the total built for the war effort.

There is the rest of the story.

But the eye test tells me this is a Corsair, and it could have been on the TV show.  Only the data plate will tell.

At Thunder over Michigan this year, the Corsair put on a very nice show.

It is nice to be able to get on the ramp when the people traffic is slow.

FG-1D Corsair on the Ramp

NIKON D850 Ver.1.20/NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8

38 mm, 1/320 sec, f/6.3, ISO 64

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

As the show went along, I dropped my shutter speed for taxi shots from 1/200 to 1/60.

FG-1D Corsair Close Taxi

NIKON D850 Ver.1.20/NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8

170 mm, 1/160 sec, f/11, ISO 64

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

This shot was taken early Friday afternoon, when the sky was somewhat passable.  Not sure how this happened, but it turned out pretty good.

FG-1D Corsair Left Bank

NIKON D500 Ver.1.31/NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6

292 mm, 1/200 sec, f/11, ISO 100

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Every day is good when you learn something new.

Thunder over Michigan - 2022

The show is over.  I know the word 'luck' is often overused to describe how events turn out.  Although I had fun for the days I went, the photo ops were very limited.  The skies were just horrid for a lot of the aerial shots.  Friday for the first few hours were OK, but after that it was a real hit (20%) or miss (80%) for any kind of sky definition.  For the show, 2,526 files.  1,895 shots were from the D500 and 80-400.  There was about 30 minutes where I had the 200-500 in use, but quickly ditched it in favor of the 80-400.  The rest were with the D850 and the f/2.8 family.

My number of aerial shots is really down because of the sky conditions.  Most of the remaining shots are taxi, ramp and lucky breaks in the sky.

Things I learned:

1.  I had been shooting on shutter priority mode for the last few shows.  At Selfridge last week, I had a few missed shots due to the metering being off.  So I started this show off back in Manual mode.  That didn't last long.  The light conditions were constantly changing with the heavy clouds.  Back to Shutter Priority.  Everything worked out fine.

2.  My go-to shutter speed for military props is officially 1/200.  C-130 props will show fully in at 1/100.  Best speed for helicopter is 1/60.

3.  For the night shoot I got some things right, and room to improve in other areas.  Things I got right, I brought a tripod.  After that, lots of room to improve.  I was going to use a wireless remote to release the shutter, but I noticed there many others doing the same.  All I could see was cross channel releases.  So I went with a manual delayed release. I also had to quick learn the Live View function and how it could help me in a new environment.

4.  The Spitfire demo was one of the best I've ever seen by a WWII era aircraft, and the Hurricane wasn't far behind.

In the end, the night shoot was a total learning experience.

Sometimes it is fun to watch the watcher.

UH-1H with Photographer

NIKON D850 Ver.1.20/NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8

165 mm, 1/60 sec, f/18, ISO 64

EV 0, Shutter Priority, Size FX

Weather also caused quite a few aircraft cancellations.  I think the show coordinators did a pretty good job of filling in the gaps.  I'm sure it wasn't easy.  Despite the last minute weather related changes, I'll be going back next year.  As to the photos for this year, I'm sure I'll find something to talk about and post.

The A-1D Skyraider

I am not as familiar with a lot of the aircraft used in the Korean conflict era as I am with WWII aircraft.  And outside of a few aircraft in the Viet Nam era, I am lacking in knowledge there as well.  I first learned of the Skyraider in the film BAT-21 where the aircraft was used to aid in the recovery of a downed crewmember on the run after being shot down.  

The aircraft had a long service parody of over 35 years in a time where jet powered aircraft were replacing piston powered aircraft at a high rate.  This is truly one aircraft in the category of what you want to take in an alley for the dirty fight.

This is another aircraft I can check off the list of seeing in flight.  And somewhat more importantly, hearing.  Straight pipes off the Wright R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone radial engine.  Worth the price of admission alone.

This first shot is very interesting to me.  This is coming out of a bank and you can see the pattern of the pilot's helmet.

A-1D Skyraider Head On Bank

NIKON D500 Ver.1.31 /80.0-400.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

600 mm, 1/200 sec, f/13, ISO 100

EV 0, Shutter Priority, Size DX

A-1D Skyraider

NIKON D500 Ver.1.31 /80.0-400.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

465 mm, 1/200 sec, f/16, ISO 100

EV 0, Shutter Priority, Size DX

Again, so much fun to see these old warbirds fly.

The KC-135 Story

The KC-135 and I go back a long way.  Or at least the engines of the KC-135.  And lets then say a much older generation of engines.

I think there are 3 aircraft in the US military inventory that are older than me.  The C-130, the B-52 and the KC-135.

I started my Air Force career in 1980 with my first duty station being the SAC detachment at Okinawa.  The SAC detachment was the KC-135s.  I was assigned to the in-shop engine unit.  We would get engines that had to be dis-assembled and re-assembled for any number of reasons.  Usually there were engine time overhauls that were scheduled.  And on occasion, the unscheduled bird strike damage compressor re-build.

The engines at the time were the J-57W manufactured by Pratt and Whitney.  The J-57 was a workhorse of the USAF at the time.  The engine was also used in the B-52 and the F-100 Super Sabre.  (The F-100 was also performing at Selfridge.)

I did get to ride in a KC-135 for a flight from Okinawa to the Philippines.  A few shots are posted here.  

So going to the Selfridge Open House was another trip to memory lane for me.  Yea, it didn't have the rumble of a water assisted take off, but the lines of the aircraft were still in tact.

I was very happy to see one fly again, not that it will be the last time as the aircraft is still in active service.

KC-135

NIKON D500 Ver.1.31/80.0-400.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

277 mm, 1/200 sec, f/5.3, ISO 100

EV 0, Shutter Priority, Size DX

The primary role of the KC-135 is aerial re-fueling.  Back in the 1980s, during my time as a flight engineer on a C-5 A/B I was aerial refueling qualified.  We did a number of missions where this was necessary.  Always a wild ride.  Two big aircraft 30 feet apart.  Another memory lane.  So this is re-fueling with the A-10s.  Formation flying.

KC-135 with A-10s

NIKON D500 Ver.1.31/80.0-400.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

180 mm, 1/200 sec, f/6.3, ISO 100

EV 0, Shutter Priority, Size DX

It was fun to see the aircraft flying.  Old is gold.

Swamp Fox from Selfridge Open House - 2022

I went to the Selfridge ANGB Open House on what was by Michigan standards was an excellent day for flying.  The show line-up was really interesting.  The show headline was the F-22 Raptor demo team, supported by the CRAF CF-18 demo team.  The C is for Canadian.  

Other supporting performers were the Misty Blues All Female Parachute Team, a Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny" bi-plane, a F100F Super Sabre, a A-1D Skyraider and many others.  There were a lot of first time aircraft for me - always a bonus!  And did I mention, a really nice Mid-west blue sky.  All that was left was for me not to screw up the shots.

I hit the business button over 1900 times and came away with 130 decent shots.  (Lots of slow shutter speeds for effect.)  Culling shots is often like choosing sides for an All-Star team.  Every category has at least one entry.  A lot of deletions, to which my alter ego will say is BAD, BAD, BAD.

Recently, I had changed from shooting in MANUAL mode to Speed Priority for air events.  I also upped default frame rate from 3 FPS to 7 FPS.  (That might have something to do with the increase in number of shots taken.)  I may have to change back.  There were a number of shots where the metering made 'creative' color changes.  Can't have that - I don't like competing creativity - especially from a computer chip.

This was a really good show, despite over 100k people and their cars and all the issues that brings on.  Everyone had a good time.  Nice skies, and upper 70s with a cool lake breeze going.

A lot of the performers were prop driven.  There was one P-51 flying, the local favorite Swamp Fox.  

Every now and then, you just catch one right.  I've been lucky with catching focus before, but the positioning and the sky will often deter from a really good shot.  Not this time.

Swamp Fox Left Bank

NIKON D500 Ver.1.31/80.0-400.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

435 mm, 1/200 sec, f/16, ISO 100

EV 0, Shutter Priority, Size DX

Most of my P-51 shots come from Reno where I never get this angle.  In Reno, I'm sitting on the outside of the turns, I get a lot of underbelly.  This is on the inside of the bank.  Maybe that is why I like this one so much.