| Riverside
Airshow 2005 Highlights |
| For
hardcore aviation enthusiasts, one of the highlights of the 2005 Riverside
airshow was a series of flypasts by a C-141 Starlifter from the nearby
March Field air reserve base. This was a particularly special
occasion because it was one of the last displays of this aircraft type
before it is finally retired. In 2005 only March Field and
Wright-Patterson Field in Ohio had Starlifters still in service, and March's
C-141s were all being retired later in the year in favor of C-17 Globemaster
III transport planes. |
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| A
KC-135 Stratotanker from March Field also did some nice flypasts, and there's
little doubt that we'll continue seeing them for many years to come.
There are over 600 Stratotankers in service and they constitute the mainstay
of the US military aerial refuelling fleet. The one you see
here is a KC-135R, fitted with modern engines which dramatically improve
its efficiency while making it much quieter than previous versions.
In contrast, you can see that the C-141 above has older style engines,
which are also much smokier! |
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| Unlike
many airshows, Riverside provides some very scenic backdrops, just one
thing which makes this show something of a photographers' delight.
In this case, it's a view of Mt San Jacinto, which always has a good covering
of snow at this time of year. |
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| The
Riverside police put on a very good display, including a simulated helicopter
and ground unit chase of a fugitive in a car, which did several high
speed circuits around the airfield! |
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| If
you think your cubicle at work is small, then just see what Rob Harrison
"The Tumbling Bear" has to put up with as he does his display in a Zlin
50 aerobatic plane. Several of America's top aerobatic pilots
performed at the show, including Ed Hamill in the Air Force Reserve Pitts
Special biplane, Julie Clark doing lots of low-level passes in her bright
yellow T-28 Trojan called "Top Banana", John Culver his T-6 Texan "War
Dog", as well as veteran performer Eric Beard in his Yak 54 "Russian Thunder". |
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| These
propeller-driven displays were augmented with a three-ship demonstration
by the Thunder Delfins in their Czechoslovakian built L29 Delfins, which
for many years were the standard Soviet military jet training aircraft. |
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| The
classic warbird community was also quite well represented for such a small
show. The Palm Springs Air Museum B-17 Flying Fortress stayed
on static display, but there was a strong naval fighter contingent, including
this F4U Corsair, one of several aircraft belong to the southern California
wing of the Commemorative Air Force, based at Camarillo. |
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| This
F6F Hellcat is another world war two naval fighter from Camarillo.
Doing the show the pilot was so intent on making a wide turn for each pass
that he rather naughtily flew right over the top of us, making it impossible
to get any good shots of him, so I had to wait for his departure after
the show to take this photo. |
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| This
Mitsubishi Zero is also based at Camarillo. Unlike most Zeroes
on the airshow circuit it's a genuine Zero airframe rather than a replica,
however the engine is an American Pratt and Whitney radial.
The Planes of Fame Museum at Chino in California has the
only Zero flying with its original engine, but because of its rarity
it isn't flown as much as this one. |
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The final member of the Camarillo contingent to fly at the show was this
F8F Bearcat.
Originally developed by Grumman as an aircraft able to climb fast in order
to shoot down incoming kamikaze fighters, the Bearcat arrived just too
late to participate in world war two. However it was used extensively
during the French war in Indo-China which America largely funded, supplying
the French with huge numbers of aircraft and massive amounts of other equipment
in their fight against the communists. |
The snowy mountains and baked grass are very remiscent of the
Warbirds over Wanaka airshow in New Zealand, however this F-18D Hornet
is not a sight you're likely to see anywhere in New Zealand anytime soon.
The Royal New Zealand Air Force is a pitiful shadow of its former self,
especially since the last of its offensive aircraft were retired a few
years ago. The A-4 Skyhawks were the pride of the air force,
but now all that's left are a handful of C-130 Hercules and P-3 Orions,
and a couple of VIP transports.
On the
plus side, however, Wanaka does have an excellent collection of warbirds
and none of the smog which besets Riverside and the other airshows held
in the Los Angeles basin. |
| The Hornet wasn't
the only American strike aircraft at the show; the Air Force were good
enough to provide an F-117 Nighthawk "stealth fighter" to do a few passes.
However the Nighthawk pilots are only allowed to do dull flat passes with
any banking or other vaguely interesting maneuvers performed well away
from the show area, whereas the navy allows its Hornet demo pilots to do
a full-bore rip-snorting display including fast banking passes, high
angle of attack slow passes, minimum radius turns and other exciting maneuvers.
Since it's designed with enough power and maneuverability to get on and
off aircraft carriers, the F-18 also has the muscle to take off from Riverside's
short runway, as well as to land without parachute assistance.
Two separate demos were done, one by each pilot, and that meant two takeoffs
and two standard navy landings, which means putting it down hard and making
sure it sticks! |
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| This
nice "Tailhook Legacy Flight" was also done with the Camarillo aircraft,
but as you can see they were too widely spaced to make a perfect photograph.
The Hornet had a bit of trouble flying slowly enough to stay with the warbirds,
so it had to maintain a slightly nose high attitude to get enough lift. |
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Check
out the Highlights
of the 2007 Riverside Air Show.
|
