Gallery Update: Warbirds Over the West 2015 Recap

This week really has been a "Warbird Week" considering that I saw the Collings Foundation's B-17 and B-24 up in Aurora earlier this week and now this: Warbirds Over the West, a fly-in and car show held right here in my current home town of Salem, Oregon. The last time there was any major event held at the Salem Airport was Hot August Flights but this particular event hasn't been held since 2012... Needless to say, Salem was in desperate need of a new aviation-related event and this one is more than sufficient!

In past years, the Warbirds over the West event was held up in Aurora, Oregon due to the proximity to Milwaukie, Oregon, home of The B-17 Alliance Group, which hosts this event. The group holds this event as a fundraiser in order to help them restore the "Lacey Lady," a B-17G Flying Fortress which for many years sat as a centerpiece for a restaurant called The Bomber up in Milwaukie. And as expected, the bomber airframe sat out in the Oregon elements, which has taken its toll. The restoration team have a lot on their plate and many years to go before this restoration is complete. This event also marked the grand opening of the B-17 Alliance Museum at Salem's McNary Field, where the "Lacey Lady" will undergo restoration indoors, safe from the elements.

This year's Warbirds Over the West was my first and I was not disappointed! The Historic Flight Foundation brought their North American B-25D Mitchell as sort of the main headliner for the event. Along with that were several interesting static displays of aircraft, cars, and of course, fuselage sections of the soon to be restored "Lacey Lady." I spent several hours at this event and I took a lot of photos, which of course took me a long time to get through. I categorized the event photos into four separate sections: Flight Demonstrations, Runway Activities, Ground Movement, and Static Displays. In addition to the event, I also did some planespotting of the general aviation traffic throughout the day because of the unprecedented access on the Salem Airport tarmac. Here are the links to the galleries:

Warbirds Over the West 2015 - Flight Demonstrations

Warbirds Over the West 2015 - Ground Movement

Warbirds Over the West 2015 - Runway Activity

Warbirds Over the West 2015 - Static Display

Salem (SLE) 5

And here's a photo preview:

Historic Flight Foundation's North American B-25D Mitchell (N88972) known as "Grumpy" doing a fly-by. This B-25 gave paying visitors rides throughout the day.

Douglas DC-3A (N18121) in retro Eastern Air Lines The Great Silver Fleet livery. Owned by Blue Skies Air LLC, this DC-3 is a legit Eastern Air Lines veteran, having flown for the actual airline as NC18121 and also being pressed into military service during World War II as a C-49G. This was the very first time I've seen a DC-3 in flight!

There were a lot of Vans RVs at the event, including the West Coast Ravens, demonstrating formation flying.

Boeing B75 Kaydet (N1734B) taxiing into the display area.

North American AT-6G Texan (N92761) taxiing out for departure.

Boeing E75 Stearman (N58986) taxiing out for departure.

Zoomed-in shot of "Grumpy" as it's taxied into parking after one of many flights.

The brand-new Van's RV-14A prototype (N214VA) taxiing to be put on display.

Locally-based North American T-6G Texan (N4269E) nicknamed "Six-shooter" taxiing for departure. This T-6 raced at the Reno Air Races in years past.

Vultee BT-13A Valiant (N53331) known as "My Mistress" taxiing out for departure on a photo mission. This is the same BT-13 that was on static display earlier this week up in Aurora when the Collings Foundation was in town. I think I got a thumbs-up from the back-seater!

Here's a unique sighting: An Italian Aermacchi AM.3C (N949CM) on display. The AM.3 the result of a joint venture between Aermacchi and Aeritalia in response to an Italian Army requirement for an aircraft to replace the Cessna L-19. The C variant of the AM.3 used a more powerful Piaggio-built Lycoming GSO-480-B1B6 in place of the original Continental GTSIO-520-C, and thus the designation.

Taylorcraft L-2M Grasshopper (N3072Z) on display. This aircraft is from the Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum in Hood River, OR.

Stinson L-5G Sentinel (N62451) nicknamed "Super Snooper" on display.

Diamond HK36TC Super Dimona (N641TT) on display in one of the open hangars. The Super Dimona is classified as a motor glider; an obvious classification given the aircraft's long wingspan.

Blue Skies Air LLC's Eastern Air Lines The Great Silver Fleet Douglas DC-3A (N18121) on display under some great lighting conditions.

Van's RV-8 (N707AA) sporting one of the most unique paint jobs on display. 

Right side of N707AA. Van's RVs are such wildcard aircraft given the wide variety of paint jobs owners put on them.

Van's RV-8 (N214KT) on display.

Van's RV-12 (N381RV) taxiing to parking. I am really digging this livery! I mean, come on! Who doesn't like some badass flames painted across the fuselage??? 

Cirrus SR20 (N66JP) taxiing to parking.

Robinson R22 Beta (N305NN) hover-taxiing to the ramp.

Diamond DA40 Diamond Star (N102UV) taxiing out for departure.

Another rare vintage: New Standard D-25 (N930V) taxiing out for departure. This aircraft, believe it or not, can seat FIVE people; four up in the front with the pilot in the back-elevated position. Built for joy-rides, barnstorming, crop-spraying, and carrying mail, only 45 New Standard D-25s were built and about 13 are currently registered with the FAA.

Someone's clearly a fan of the Oregon State University Beavers! Van's RV-9A (N984AW) taxiing for departure.

Van's RV-6A (N226YK) taxiing to parking.

Van's RV-6 (N974JS) taxiing to parking.

Piper PA-46-500TP Malibu Meridian (N713WA) taxiing to parking.

Cessna 560 Citation V (N62WD) departing Salem.

Van's RV-4 (N87WJ) taxiing for departure.

Weird and stubby microlight/ultralight: Flight Design CTSW (N248CT) initiating a missed-approach. The CTSW is a short wing version of the CT series.

Piper PA-32-300 Cherokee Six (N8984N) taxiing to parking.

Glasair GlaStar (N50RJ) taxiing to parking.

Marquart MA-5 Charger (N42879) taxiing to parking. Designed by Ed Marquart, the MA-5 is a homebuilt two place biplane designed to perform mild aerobatics. Marquart only sold plans for scratch building the aircraft, meaning no kits were manufactured. The first prototype took seven years to build.

Cessna 560 Citation V (N904LR) taxiing for departure.

Cessna 680 Citation Sovereign (N499GB) taxiing to parking.

I wish the B-17 Alliance Group the best of luck in restoring the the "Lacey Lady."