Now that I'm home in Oregon for a little while, I'm afforded the opportunity to attend a few aviation events close to home. And today, I got to attend the first day of the B-17 Alliance Foundation's 2018 Warbirds Over the West, their major fundraiser to help restore their B-17 Flying Fortress, the "Lacey Lady" to flying condition. While I did not attend this event last year due to me being in school, this year's headliner aircraft came from the same group that headlined last year, which would be the Erickson Aircraft Collection out of Madras, Oregon. Last year, they brought their P-51D Mustang and P-38 Lightning. This year, they brought out their P-40E Warhawk and SBD Dauntless dive-bomber!
In addition, the event was now spread-out between two days for the weekend, so different displays were expected on each day!
Warbirds Over the West 2018 - Static Display
Warbirds Over the West 2018 - Aircraft Arrivals
Warbirds Over the West 2018 - P-40E & SBD Dauntless
Salem (SLE) 15
Preview:
Static Display & Aircraft Arrivals
The displays for today were somewhat sparse, which was expected. I figure tomorrow is the day where a larger turn-out is expected, so I plan on coming back tomorrow! Otherwise, there were quite a few notable aircraft on display, including the two headliner aircraft, which would fly later in the day.
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| Erickson Aircraft Collection Curtiss P-40E Warhawk (NX940AK) on display. |
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| Beechcraft E18S (N118SA) on display. This twin-Beech is based locally out of Independence. |
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| Douglas A-24A Banshee (NX5254L) on display. The A-24 Banshee was the U.S. Army Air Force variant of the famous SBD Dauntless dive-bomber, the plane that changed the tide of World War II in favor of the Allies in the Pacific Theatre. This airframe is painted like the SBD-3, which the A-24A is modeled after, minus the tailhook. I am absolutely thrilled to finally see this dive-bomber in person! |
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| Naval Aircraft Factory N3N-3 (N61072) "Old Glory" on display. |
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| Globe GC-1B Swift (N619JM) on display. |
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| North American T-6G Texan (N4269E) "Sixshooter" on display. |
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| Cessna 195B Businessliner (N3070B) on display. |
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| Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser (NC98944) on display. |
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| Stinson L-5G Sentinel (N63355) "Betty Stinson" on display. |
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| Ryan PT-22 (ST-3KR) Recruit (N60805) taxiing in for display after arrival. |
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| Cessna 170B (C-FHVS) taxiing in for display after arriving from Canada. |
Erickson Aircraft Collection P-40E & SBD Dauntless
And now for a highly-anticipated part of the day with the flights of the Erickson Aircraft Collection's P-40 and SBD Dauntless, taking up two lucky passengers who won the privilege of going up through a raffle as part of the fundraiser.
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| The SBD starting up! That's a lot of smoke! |
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| The Dauntless/Banshee taxiing out. |
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| The P-40 taxiing out. |
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| The P-40 airborne off 34! |
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| The Dauntless airborne off 34! |
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| The P-40 making a high-speed pass before landing. |
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| The P-40 on landing roll-out on 34. |
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| The Dauntless buzzing in before setting up to land! So glad I got to see this famed warbird fly! |
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| The SBD Dauntless rolling out on 34. Note the perforated flap dive flaps extended. |
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| The P-40 taxis back into the display area. |
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| The SBD Dauntless taxiing back into the display area. |
Spotting
And as always, the display area gives unprecedented access to allow for spotting activity of some of the General Aviation traffic operating in and out of the Salem Airport.
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| Beechcraft C90A King Air (N773SD) airborne off 34 for The Dalles. Airframe belongs to the South Dakota Department of Transportation. |
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| United States Army Beechcraft C-12F Huron (84-0486) departing on 16 as PAT486. |
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| Beechcraft C90A King Air (N954BS) arriving on 34 from Arlington, Washington. |
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| Raytheon Hawker 800 (N41HF) arriving on 34 from Rapid City. |
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| Hillsboro Aero Academy Diamond DA42 Twin Star (N328TS) arriving on 34 from Portland-Hillsboro. |
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