Quiet Birdmen Staging

For 38 years, Jack Broome hosted a private airshow at his ranch in Camarillo for an aviation society called the 'Quiet Birdmen'. He passed away in April of 2009 at the age of 91. I had assumed that there would be no more of these shows after his passing, but it appears that this was the last hurrah.

The cool thing about the QB shows is that they were staged out of the Camarillo Airport. The Commemorative Air Force, SoCal Wing would play host to the aircraft coming and going. This provided a more intimate setting to take photos of the airplanes. I took photos of the first QB staging event in 2004 and continued every year.

As a tribute to Jack and all that he did for aviation, and for Ventura County, I would like to post my favorite highlights from 6 years of the Quiet Birdmen staging events.

During the 2004 and 2005 staging events, I was using a simple 5 megapixel point and shoot camera. This worked well at an event like this because most of the shots are from the ground, on the ground. This first grouping came from those years with the point and shoot Canon Powershot.


A Yak-3, A-1 Skyraider and P-51 Mustang warming up together for a trip to the ranch



The C-46 Commando from the Commemorative Air Force, Southern California Wing.



The familiar gull wings of the F4U Corsair.



The P-51 Mustang "Red Dog XII"



Jack Northrop's aircraft that was one of the early test platforms for the flying wings. This is the N9M.



The Hawker Seafury. It's big and powerful, yet amazingly quiet for a warbird because of the sleeve-valve engine.



The A-1H Skyraider, later called the AD-4. With one engine, it could carry the weight of a standard WWII B-17 bomb load!



One of the "modern" Yak-3s that found their way to the US. Yakovlev made a short run of these WWII fighters in aluminum to raise some funds.


From 2006 onward, I was able to use my Nikon DSLRs for better flexibility and reach. Each year brought something unique and it was through these events that I would see one of a kind aircraft, or sole survivors of a bygone era.

The A-26 Invader below is a beauty. It is based at Van Nuys and if you have seen One Six Right, then you have seen this airplane in it.



In 2006, the only flying SB2C Helldiver came out from Texas and flew for the QB show. It was a real treat to see this airplane as there are so few of these left.



2007 brought out the B-17 "Fuddy Duddy", freshly repaired after a bird strike during the Chino show. You couldn't tell that it had been damaged, or repaired. It looked fantastic.



The AN-2 Colt is the worlds largest single-engine biplane. It can hold 16 fully outfitted paratroopers.



The F7F Tigercat showed up in 2008, flown by Clay Lacy. It's a real beauty.



Bill Cornick was a regular at the QB show. He gives great aerobatic performances. If you didn't know his age, you would never guess it.



When I saw this airplane inbound, I had no idea what it was. Then I found out it is a replica of an NA-50, which I hadn't heard of until then.



Bruce Dickenson brought out his Mr Mulligan replica in 2009 for some flyovers. I love this airplane.



I was there for 6 of the 38 years of QB staging events. I can only imagine what airplanes have come and gone in that time. But I thank Jack for allowing some of us to get a glimpse of some aircraft that I had never seen before.

Blue skies and tail winds, Jack. You will be missed by all those whose lives you touched, and there were probably more than you knew.

Jack Broome at Camarillo Airport in 2007

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...

Gathering of Mentors- Palm Springs Airport

I will be leaving Friday for the "Gathering of Mentors" event at Palm Springs Airport, hosted by the Palm Springs Air Museum. Last year, I drove down on Friday, shot some arrivals and stayed the night to fly in the formations on Saturday before driving home. Photos from that appeared in the Mentor Monitor, the official publication of the T-34 Association, including the cover shot.
 

This was my first time covering an event like this. On Friday, after everyone had arrived, the pilots met in a hospitality room at the hotel to meet and socialize. Some of these guys were old friends, some were new to the T-34 and were meeting the rest for the first time. They talked about their airplanes, flying, what things they have done to their airplanes, modifications, FAA directives and other personalities in the T-34 world.

They come from different walks of life and different backgrounds. Some were military pilots, some were not. They all shared a common bond, the T-34.

Ron Alldredge and Marc Russell discuss engine mounts.

I sat and listened to the discussions mostly. I brought along some samples of my photographic work to give them an idea of what I have shot in the past. I was hoping this would get them thinking about angles or shots they would like to see. I was welcomed in to the group. Even though I am not a pilot, I share the passion for aviation with these guys. After the meet and greet, most of us walked down the street to have dinner and chat some more.

I had known Marc Russell for quite some time through our affiliation with the CAF. Through him I met Ron Alldredge at one of the airshows. I had been photographing both of the airplanes from the ground for quite some time. I also flew with the CAF in December of 2006 and photographed Marc's airplane.

Marc Russell's T-34 over Camarillo in December of 2006.

We had discussed an air-to-air shoot with Marc, Ron and possibly Michael Maloco. Then Marc suggested that we wait until the gathering to be able to get more shots with more T-34s. The opportunities for photos were plentiful. Not only did I get a chance to photograph some great formations and beautiful airplanes, I also got a chance to meet some of the people that fly these neat airplanes. I was "in my office" in the sky, and let me tell you, the view was breathtaking.

In the back of Ron Alldredge's T-34, the stinger in a diamond formation


Alpha flight below us, lining up for a fly by for the Palm Springs Air Museum

This year, I will be flying down in Marc Russell's T-34 for the entire event. We will depart Camarillo to join Ron Alldredge and his wife for lunch before heading out to Palm Springs together. I plan on using this space for daily updates with a few photo samples at the end of each day during the event. Stay tuned! Until Friday, here is a thumbs up from Brett Austin and George Watson.