Palm Springs Gathering of Mentors, Day 3

Sunday morning brought fair winds and partly cloudy skies. We weren't sure what to expect for the morning flights, but were optimistic. As I walked through the hangar seeing all the T-34s in there, I thought it was quite a site. As the T-34s came out of the hangars and onto the ramp, the ramp got pretty crowded.

A ramp full of T-34s

I had spoken the night before with Fred "Mad Dog" Zoltz and Tyler about going up in the morning with the guys from the March flying club. They had three planes at the event. I have seen these guys many times over the years at airshows, and they were most likely my first T-34s I saw fly.

The March flying club T-34s

I got on the back of George Watson's Mentor. George was flying lead for this flight to practice formation breaks and re-joins and of course, get some photos. The air was much smoother this morning, making things easier for everyone flying, and easier to hold the camera steady!

Jerry Rohles on the wing in a Vic formation


Tyler on the left wing of the Vic formation with Fred in the back seat


Tyler and Jerry in the echelon formation

While we were out, other two and three ship formations were up as well, and we saw at least 2 of these pass below us.

After lunch, the group gathered for a group photo. The air crews were assembled for the first shot.

The air crews for the gathering


Air crews and some of the ground crew that helped us out

We briefed for a big formation flight to close the event. I was in the back of Brett Austin's plane as "Photo One" while the rest of the aircraft formed up in three diamonds with a stinger and a T-28 in the tail of the formation as the last stinger, flown by Mark Bauer. Our timing was a little off getting out to shoot the formation. We were taxiing out as the first pass came.

Formation pass over Palm Springs from the cockpit of Photo One

As we got up into position to shoot the second pass, things started to happen. I heard someone call in to leave the formation because of an overheat issue that was causing some prop control issues. Obviously, safety is paramount over everything else. He climbed out of the formation and up to cooler air to try and cool things off. We did hear him later on the radio say that he got things under control.

The winds and the heat had returned and keeping that many airplanes in position, especially with 30 knot gusts was challenging. Someone else called in with an unspecified problem and landed safely at Palm Springs. Brett and I followed in the last of the T-34s coming in to Palm Springs.

On final approach to Palm Springs

We said our final goodbyes to the folks at the Palm Springs Air Museum and each other before heading for home. We flew for a bit next to Ron Alldedge as an element of 2 ships before splitting into 2 single ship flights for home.

Ron and Paula on the wing, homeward bound


Marc set the auto-pilot and took a little break to enjoy some smooth air on the way home


Home at last. On final approach to Camarillo Airport

It was a great weekend of fun and flying. I want to thank all of the pilots for some great formation work and for the great opportunities to get some photos. I also want to thank the army of volunteers at the Palm Springs Air Museum for the hard work, support and hospitality. Thanks to Cannon Aviation Insurance for the sponsorship. I will be editing my photos from the event this week and should have them posted soon. I will add the link here when the photos get posted to my website. Shooter out...

Palm Springs Gathering of Mentors- Day 2

Last nights winds howled through the night, but morning dawned with the air a bit more still. Unfortunately, the winds picked up again as we prepared for the first flight of the morning. I got into Marc Russell's back seat to shoot Ron Alldredge and George Wilen. Ron wanted to make sure that I got some good shots of him and George. It was George that helped Ron figure out how he could own his T-34.

We took off from Palm Springs and headed south to Thermal for a gas run. The winds were heavy and the turbulence created some real challenges to formation flying. We were getting bounced around quite a bit, but these guys were real pros.

Ron on the left wing in a Vic formation


George and Ron in the echelon formation off our lead.

We got to Thermal, gassed up and headed back to Palm Springs. The flight back was equally bumpy. Once back on the ground, I went over to shake the hands of both George and Ron. They were working their butts off to stay in formation.

The pilots had a conference call with the T-34 Association at 12. After the meeting, we all sat down for lunch, provided by the Palm Springs Air Museum. I found John Flippen out on the ramp after lunch doing a pre-flight. John was getting ready to fly with Kevin Carson and George Wilen. I had noticed the paint scheme on Kevin's airplane when we arrived yesterday and knew the contrasts that paint job had would be fantastic for photos.

I asked John if his back seat was open and was hopeful when he said it was. I asked if I could tag along for some photos. His response was something along the lines of "Sure, hop in". As we took off, we were treated to the sight of 2 F-18s landing on the left runway right next to us.


We headed straight down to Thermal Airport for fuel. I quite captured a few shots of George and Kevin on the way down, which was considerably smoother than the morning flights.

Kevin and George on our left wing in an echelon formation.


On final approach to Thermal Airport.

Once we landed at Thermal and gassed up, we briefed for the return flight, adding some formation work so that George and Kevin could get some practice with formation breaks and re-joins. This gave me a great opportunity to catch interesting angles. The contrasts on both George and Kevin's airplanes coupled with the interesting angles made getting good shots easier.

George over the Coachella Valley


Kevin over the Coachella Valley

Kevin moving over on a formation change

George and Kevin following John through an echelon turn.

Close up of Kevin

After some formation work, we returned to Palm Springs, performing a banana pass for Palm Springs and then flew an echelon pass with a break to land. Because of the winds and weather for the day, we only got a couple of flights in. But other pilots got an opportunity to get training and clinic work in as well on other flights.

All in all, a great day despite tough conditions. Tomorrow morning we will be briefing early for some morning flying. Until tomorrow, Shooter out...

Palm Springs Gathering of Mentors- Day 1

Greetings from Palm Springs! Marc Russell and I took off from Camarillo Airport today at about 11:30 AM to head over to Fox Field to meet up with Ron and Paula Alldredge for lunch before heading to Palm Springs.

On final approach to Fox Field for a lunch stop


The weather was nice up at Fox with a bit of wind and some nice puffy clouds above. We did a formation takeoff from Fox Field to head to Palm Springs.

Ron and Paula Alldredge at take off from Fox Field


We headed along the desert, climbing toward the Banning Pass ahead. I took the time to capture some shots of Ron and Paula in their airplane. I have a few shots of Ron in his airplane in the sky. It was time to catch Ron AND Paula together in their airplane.






As we headed toward the Banning Pass, the weather started to look a little bleak, with some rain and gray skies. Nothing that would stop us from getting through and certainly not a show stopper. I closed the canopy and took a self portrait. Ron was quick to see that and let Marc know what I was up to back there.




Ron and Paula in the weather

Weather near Big Bear


We came down the Banning Pass and did a nice formation flyover for Palm Springs at 500 feet before breaking to land. As we broke, I was able to look right down on the Palm Springs Air Museum, our hosts for the gathering.

The Palm Springs Air Museum


We had a nice gathering at the hotel for us all to meet and enjoy some refreshments and snacks before going off to dinner.

Tomorrow will be a big day. Fifteen T-34 Mentors have shown up for the event and everyone is looking forward to a nice couple of days of flying. More to come tomorrow.

One last note, Viper and Mule, we miss seeing you guys down here this year and look forward to seeing you here next year.


I am off to get some sleep for the night. Shooter out...