Gallery Update: Different Perspectives/Something is unlike the others...

Slow day during what's suppose to be the peak season for the Legacy Flight Museum... Actually, it wasn't considered "slow;" it was more like "dead" because no one came in during my shift in the afternoon. We had a pretty gnarly thunderstorm pass through so I'm guessing that scared everybody off. That's okay because that afforded me the opportunity to snap a few photographs of cockpit interiors of some of the museum aircraft to offer a unique, not to mention, different perspective. Plus one of these photos is not like the other! Can you figure out what's odd and doesn't belong in the museum? Here are the links:

Legacy Flight Museum Revisits (Updated)

Rexburg (RXE) 18

Preview:

Stearman's open-cockpit.

Howard DGA 15 interior.

Cessna 425 (N425TW).

Beechcraft Staggerwing interior. Note the single control column that can be switched over between pilot and co-pilot.

I think it's quite obvious what's unlike everything else here; it's the Cessna 425 sitting in the museum! Why it's sitting in the main museum hangar, I don't know. All I know is I had to get a picture of it because it's something I haven't seen before.

Gallery Update: Featuring 'Section Eight'

This is my first update to the Legacy Flight Museum revisit album in a while. The third P-51 Mustang known as 'Section Eight' was present. Even though I snapped photos of her at last week's air show, I figured I needed to get some shots of her inside the museum while she was there so I jumped at this opportunity just before closing time. See the following link and scroll to the bottom of the gallery to see the latest photos:

Legacy Flight Museum Revisits (Updated)

Preview:

North American P-51D Mustang known as 'Section Eight' (N2869D).

Cessna 305C (O-1E) Bird Dog (N305SU) in Army colors.

This was a pretty cool shot, having 'Section Eight' and 'Ole Yeller' in the same frame.

Spotters Location Critique Extras: The Critique Scale

After looking over some of my reviews of spotting locations, I realized I should probably create a "critique scale" as a guideline for my personal reviews of "spotter friendliness" of the airports I've spotted at. The scores I give as well as these general guidelines are subject to change and I'll make exceptions where noted, but here are my spotters scoring guidelines and possible reasons why I would give that score on a scale of 0 to 5:


0/5 - Don't even bother.

• You'll most likely get kicked out (possibly arrested) for "security reasons" or for something else. 
• Unless you're inside the terminal waiting for your flight (if at an airport with commercial service), you're better off being safe than sorry. 
• There are no spotter friendly locations to photograph from at all.

1/5 - The worst. 

• Not really spotter friendly at all. 
• Photos probably could be taken but most likely not a lot to make it worth while. 
• Take extra care in not attracting unwanted attention to self.
• Traffic is just next to nothing and there's nothing significant to even photograph.

2/5 - Alright. 

• Spotting can be done, but most likely not a place with active movements at all.
• Probably not recommendable since the location would most likely be difficult to stay at.
• Again if spotting, take extra care in not attracting unwanted attention to self.

3/5 - Moderate. 

• Decently spotter friendly. 
• Aircraft movements might still be limited though.
• Timing is key if you're to photograph anything decent at these kinds of airports.

4/5 - Pretty good. 

• Spotting for sure can be done. Probably has an observation deck or other great vantage points where photography is possible
• Other nearby attractions such as a museum might make the place worth going to as well.
• Spotting most likely gets bland in terms of what airliners fly at that particular location after a few visits though.

5/5 - For sure the best. You can pretty much come back here many times as your heat's content and get good results every time.

• Spotting is doable on a public observation deck/area and offers a really great, unobstructed view.
• The airport also offers a variety to see as well.
• Other attractions are nearby making the place worth a visit.

Gallery Update: 2014 Legacy Air Show Recap

This year, I started out my air show season (and got the "air show buzz!") a little earlier than usual with the Legacy Air Show hosted by the Legacy Flight Museum! For a small town with a small airport, it was a really great event full of great line-ups and non-stop action. I don't think I need to say much more other than provide the links and some preview pictures...

Legacy Air Show 2014 - Flight Line

Legacy Air Show 2014 - Performances

Legacy Air Show 2014 - Static Display

Preview:

The museum's Grumman S2F-1 Tracker (N8115M) presented the American Flag during opening ceremonies.

Kent Pietch did his incredible routines, including landing and taking-off from a moving pick-up truck platform in the Interstate S-1A Cadet (NC37361).

Gary Rower in his Stearman PT-18 (N212PC) during a photo pass. He flies his Stearman like a Pitts!

I FINALLY got to see the Bell P-63 King Cobra (NL163FS) fly! At the controls is John Bagley during a photo pass.

Unfortunately, we had an incident with the P-63 during the routine when part of the canopy imploded, cutting this performance short:

Here's the P-63 making an emergency landing. John Bagley did a great job! Notice the hole in the rear section of the canopy.

Here's a double-Beechcraft routine:

The museum's Beechcraft D17S Staggerwing (N217SD) during a pass.

Twin-Beechcraft D18S (N90552) during a pass.

World War II Trainers:

The museum's North American SNJ-3 (T-6) Texan (N676JD) during a photo pass.

The museum's Boeing B75N1 Stearman (N49259) landing after the routine.

North American SNJ-5 (T-6) Texan nicknamed Lil' Ashlee (N6900C) taking-off.

Aerobatics:

MX Aircraft MXS (N545EA) belonging to Brad Wursten of Power Addiction Airshows.

A Czechoslovakian-manufactured Moravan Zlín Z-50LS (N250LS) belonging to Dave Erickson of Erickson Air Shows.

Aviat Pitts S-2B Special (N14LP).

Interavia E-3 (N4413N).

Buck Roetman's brand-new Pitts S-2S Special (N99MF), of Wild Horse Aviation.

Danny Sorensen's custom-built Sorensen BF9-2 'Unfinished Business' (N81973), of Golden Age Airshows.

The three P-51D Mustangs:

It was great to see this P-51 again! 'Section Eight' is a D-model (N2869D) belonging to Driscoll Aviation.

Because the air show ran ahead of schedule due to the incident with the P-63 King Cobra, John Bagley took the 'Mormon Mustang' (N551BJ) up for an unscheduled performance; here he his doing a photo pass.

Lee Lauderback of Stallion 51 once again flies 'Ole Yeller' (N51RH).

One of my favorite photos I snapped out of this air show has to be this one. From left to right: Section Eight, Mormon Mustang, and Ole Yeller in a three-ship formation. To close out the show this year, these three Mustangs did the missing-man formation fly-over in memory of the late USAF Col. Ronald "Jack" Layton, one of the first test pilots of the Lockheed A-12 and a major contributor to the Legacy Flight Museum. The museum has many of Layton's memorabilia on display in a room called the "Blackbird Room."

This has been a unique opportunity and a great privilege to have been able to work at this air show while volunteering at the Legacy Flight Museum. This event allowed me the opportunity to go behind the scenes on what it actually takes to get an air show put together and again, for a small town with a tiny airport, I'd say we put on a pretty good show!

Gallery Update: Final Preparations and V.I.P. Experience

With final preparations, today was a busy day! I took photos throughout the day, which includes some of the museum planes as well as the visiting pilots' planes who will be performing in the air show. After completing much of the preparations, we had a special V.I.P. dinner at the museum for all the volunteers, honored guests, and air show sponsors. After that, we were treated to a special exhibition air show. Truly this has been a unique experience for me, to able to attend the special pre-air show event; it really has been a privilege. Here are the links to the photos:

Rexburg (RXE) 17

Legacy Air Show 2014 - V.I.P Exhibition

Not wanting to spoil the fun saved for tomorrow, here's a preview of what went down and some of the best photos out of the day:

The museum's two "centerpiece" aircraft; on the left is Bob Hoover's old North American P-51D Mustang, 'Ole Yeller' and on the right is the ultra-rare Bell P-63 King Cobra, parked side-by-side.

Beechcraft (Twin Beech) D18S (N90552) having just arrived from Idaho Falls to be part of the event.

Gary Rower of Rower Airshows in his Stearman PT-18 (N212PC) and Buck Roetman of Wild Horse Aviation in his Pitts S-2S Special (N99MF) doing a team routine. Two years ago during the 2012 practice exhibition, Buck Roetman crashed in his Christen Eagle onto the adjacent golf course, walking away thankfully with minor injuries. Now he's back, as promised with a new aircraft!

This is a custom-built aircraft by Danny Sorensen of Golden Age Airshows, making it one of a kind. Nicknamed 'Unfinished Business', this is a Sorensen BF9-2 (N81973) built specifically for aerobatic air show routines.

By John Bagley's invitation, Lee Lauderback of Stallion 51 Flight Ops pilots Ole Yeller, pictured here doing a photo pass.

That's all for now! And I got my V.I.P. pass!

Gallery Update: Getting My "Air Show Buzz" On!

I would have gone down to Idaho Falls today to photograph Frontier's inaugural flight to Denver, that is until I looked at the flight schedule; arrives late at night and departs early the next morning! No thanks... Besides that, I think it was wiser to get some school work out of the way in time for this weekend's air show. Speaking of that, a lot of flying activity going on today from the museum planes as well as the visitors lined up to perform for the air show going on weekend. I wouldn't be writing this if I didn't have any photos to share so here's the link:

Off-Airport 1 (Updated)

Preview:

Three-ship formation of three Cessna Bird Dogs.

Gary Rower's vintage 450 horse Stearman PT-18 (N212PC).

Gallery Update: Idaho Falls-Minneapolis Inaugural Flight & More Rexburg/Museum Activities

It has become quite rare of me to post two new gallery updates under one posting, particularly ones involving more than one location; needless to say, it's been a while since I had a big update (Does Idaho Falls and Rexburg count as two different locations???). Delta Air Lines (Endeavor Air d/b/a Delta Connection) reinstated Minneapolis service out of Idaho Falls today and I went spotting again to catch the inaugural arrival and departure. This is quite significant because this route was once operated by now-defunct Northwest Airlines under the Northwest Airlink name with Pinnacle Airlines operating the route. And it was Delta that bought and consolidated NWA in the first place as part of the merger back in 2009-2010. It is technically Pinnacle Airlines (Callsign: Flagship) that's operating this route once again under the Delta Connection name but they were recently re-branded as Endeavor Air, a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines after Pinnacle Airlines Corp. emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy and reorganization.

After photographing the inaugural Idaho Falls-Minneapolis flights, it was time to get back to Rexburg and do a short shift at the Legacy Flight Museum. I got there in time to catch Ole Yeller take to the skies again; it was practice time in preparation for the upcoming air show. Here are the links:

Idaho Falls (IDA) 7

Rexburg (RXE) 16

Preview (and yes, I mostly overcame the cursed chainlink fence!): 

SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Delta Connection) Canadair CL-600-2B19 CRJ-200LR (N441SW) for Salt Lake City (SLC) beginning its take-off roll.

SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a United Express) Canadair CL-600-2B19 CRJ-200LR (N982SW) for Denver (DEN) on its take-off roll.

Endeavor Air (d/b/a Delta Connection) Canadair CL-600-2D24 CRJ-900 (N902XJ) for Minneapolis (MSP) on its take-off roll. This is a former Mesaba Airlines aircraft that flew under the Northwest Airlink name.

A Russian-exported Interavia E-3 (N4413N). From what I've heard, there are not many Interavias left in the world, making this a rare aircraft.

John Bagley piloting his P-51D Mustang (N51RH) 'Ole Yeller', doing a touch-and-go. Always a treat to see this one fly!

Gallery Update: Rexburg Airport Activity Buzz

More photos from the Rexburg Airport while at the LFM. Compared to last week, I got some decent activity this time and I'm happy about these photos. Here's the link:

Rexburg (RXE) 15

Preview:

This time, I photographed Ameriflight's scheduled cargo run on the move this time:

Ameriflight Beechcraft C99 Airliner (N106SX) slowing down after landing. This aircraft is a former Christman Air Service bird.

Couldn't resist taking a photo of the museum's planes with hangar doors open.

One of the most popular and best-known light aircraft of all time: Piper J3C-65 Cub (N42455) having just landed.

Gallery Update: CRJ-900 Sighting at Idaho Falls

My first post for the month of June this year comes from Idaho Falls. I noticed that SkyWest was bringing in one of their longer CRJ-900s in to IDA today along with the typical Thursday Allegiant service. I knew there were CRJ-900s flying occasionally into Idaho Falls in order to provide domestic First-Class service but this was the first time I've seen it in person. Guess I've started looking for out of the ordinary... I figured I ought to get a little spotting done since I had a little time, plus it's a nice change of pace from all the Rexburg updates I've been doing! On a side note, Idaho Falls is getting a new service to Minneapolis this weekend via another Delta Connection regional carrier (Pinnacle Airlines), which will use CRJ-900s and Frontier starts competing with United Express/SkyWest on the Denver route next weekend. I never photographed any inaugural flights before (and I plan to photograph them!) so I figured today was a good day to practice photographing fast aircraft movement. Here's the link from today's spotting adventures:

Idaho Falls (IDA) 6

Preview:

Pilatus PC-12 (N116SK) doing medivac.

Two good photos of a SkyWest d/b/a Delta Connection Canadair CL-600-2D24 CRJ-900 (N809SK) on departure: