M. Wynn: "Wild Card" Aviation Photography & Images: Gallery Update: Warbirds Over the West 2019 Recap

About This Blog:

The primary purpose of this blog is to showcase the best of my aviation photography. As such, you will find links to my main aviation gallery on Facebook containing photos from aircraft spotting, some kind of aviation event such as air shows and fly-in events, as well as aviation museums. I also critique my flights on commercial airlines and the services they provide. Occassionally, you'll find personally written, independent articles based on news and current events involving aviation. And of course, I'll put up links to official and unofficial aviation-related websites when I find them. And when time permits, I'll talk and discuss about anything involving aviation. But most importantly, this is my way to document my journey into the aviation industry!

Saturday, August 10, 2019

Gallery Update: Warbirds Over the West 2019 Recap

Today was Day 1 for the 2019 Warbirds Over the West, the annual, two day-long fly-in and fundraiser hosted by the B-17 Alliance Museum as part of their restoration efforts for their B-17G Flying Fortress, the "Lacey Lady." It was another good event with some notable highlights, but compared to last year, things did feel like a slight let-down, mostly due to the weather. There were supposed to be other aircraft flying in, but they never showed up most likely because the weather caused them to be stuck either at their home airport or somewhere en route due to some nasty conditions around the region; it even rained here in Salem right around when I went up to the Flight Deck Restaurant & Lounge for some lunch.

This year's star attraction was (wait for it!) a Consolidated PBY Catalina owned and operated by the Eugene, Oregon-based "Soaring by the Sea." This warbird is still a fairly new sight here as it was brought over here from France just a month ago! So despite the so-so weather and the slight lack of displays, I was excited to see an airworthy PBY Catalina here in Salem. Other featured aircraft included the Grumman FM-2 Wildcat from the Madras, Oregon-based Erickson Aircraft Collection, the Ragwood Refactory N3N "Old Glory" and Harper Farm's North American T-6 Texan, all of which flew throughout the day.

Warbirds Over the West 2019 - Static Display

Warbirds Over the West 2019 - T-6 Texan & FM-2 Wildcat

Warbirds Over the West 2019 - Stearman

Warbirds Over the West 2019 - N3N & T-6 Texan

Warbirds Over the West 2019 - T-6 Texan & FM-2 Wildcat (Round 2)

Warbirds Over the West 2019 - PBY Catalina

Salem (SLE) 26

Preview:

Static Display
As usual for an event like this, it was neat to see some static display aircraft which included some warbirds and military helicopters from the local Army National Guard unit stationed in Salem. The headliner aircraft that would fly later were also on display.

North American T-6G Texan (N4269E) on display.

Naval Aircraft Factory N3N-3 (N61072) "Old Glory" on display. One of the four headliners for this year, owned by Kyle Bushman of Ragwood Refactory out of Creswell, Oregon.

Grumman (General Motors) FM-2 Wildcat (N58918) on display. One of the four headliners for this year, from the Madras, Oregon-based Erickson Aircraft Collection. For three years in a row now, the Erickson Collection has sent at least one of their warbirds for this annual event!

North American AT-6D Texan (N7517) on display. One of the four headliners for this year, owned by Bryan K. Harper, President of the Lane County Farm Bureau and Vice President of Harper Farms out of Junction City, Oregon.

Consolidated PBY-5A Canso-A (N9767) "Princesse des étoiles" (French for Princess of the Stars) on display. One of the four headliners for this year and the star attraction by far! Part of Soaring by the Sea, LLC out of Eugene, Oregon. This beauty of a Catalina is one of the newest warbird sightings here in the U.S. as it was brought over from France, where it's been based at for the past several years up until about a month ago!

Piper L-4J Grasshopper (NC68925) on display.

Pietenpol Air Camper on display. The Air Camper was designed to be built of spruce and plywood as a home-build. It's a late-1920s design, but plans to build one are still available as of 2015! The local guy building this is retired and therefore asking for donations to help fund the build.

Smith Miniplane CEG (N6891C) on display.

Globe GC-1B Swift on display.

Globe GC-1B Swift (N619JM) on display. This beautiful, complex tail-dragger was on display last year as well.

Boeing E75 Stearman (N58986) on display in-between giving rides.

Oregon Army National Guard Sikorsky HH-60M (S-70A) Black Hawk (10-20132) on display.

Oregon Army National Guard Eurocopter UH-72A Lakota (12-72235) on display.

Cockpit panel of the PBY Catalina!

Van's RV-9A (N421HJ) on display.

Warbird Flights
Of course, what's a fly-in event for warbirds without warbirds taking to the skies, right? Warbird flights today included the headliners, Harper Family Farms' North American AT-6D Texan, Kyle Bushman's Naval Aircraft Factory N3N-3 "Old Glory," and the Erickson Aircraft Collections Grumman FM-2 Wildcat, which all flew several times throughout the day. The Boeing E75 Stearman from Ageless Aviation Dreams Foundation also flew several times during the day. And of course, the main attraction and headliner, Soaring by the Seas, LLC's PBY-5A Catalina "Princesse des étoiles" (Princess of the Stars) flew at the end of the day's events!

Bryan K. Harper getting airborne off 34 in his T-6 Texan up for a flight with a passenger in the backseat.

The Wildcat following the Texan in-sequence off Runway 34.

Photo pass by the T-6 Texan!

Photo pass of the FM-2 Wildcat!

Harper on landing roll-out on 34.

The Wildcat on landing roll-out on 34.

Ageless Aviation Dreams Foundation's Boeing E75 Stearman airborne off 34 during one of several rides given throughout the day.

Kyle Bushman taxiing out in "Old Glory" and puffing out some air show smoke.

"Old Glory" airborne off 13 as winds shifted.

Two different military trainers, same era! Bryan Harper lowered his landing gear so he could slow down enough to fly in formation with the N3N!

Bushman taxiing "Old Glory" back in.

Bryan Harper in his T-6 on another photo pass. He did three passenger flights today!

Photo pass by the Wildcat during its second flight of the day!

"Princesse des étoiles" getting towed from the display area to the active ramp.

Both engines started up and turning!

The PBY Catalina taxiing out for departure.

"Princesse des étoiles" airborne off 16 with passengers on board. Seeing this beauty fly was the highlight of the day!

Soaring by the Sea, LLC's "Princesse des étoiles" arriving back on 16 after the flight.

Landing roll-out.

"Princesse des étoiles" taxiing back to the ramp at the close of Day 1 of Warbirds Over the West 2019.

Plane-spotting
And as usual, I got some plane-spotting in during the event. There were actually a few notable highlights throughout the day!

Taylorcraft BC12-D-MS1 (N46LB) taxiing after arriving from nearby Independence. A true Classic from the Taylorcraft B family!

Fairchild M-62A-3 PT-26 (NC58894) parked on the ramp.

Oregon Department of Forestry Partenavia P.68 Observer (N9000V) airborne off 13 for a survey flight. Only my second time seeing one of these and my first time seeing one in flight!

Ameriflight Beechcraft C99 Airliner (N7200Z) executing a missed approach over Runway 31 as AMF8018. Ameriflight usually doesn't operate into Salem on weekends, but the flight number suggests it's most likely an Instrument training flight.