Image Gallery Index

Brown Field, San Diego, CA Jan. 08 - Enter

Sometimes a person just gets lucky and Saturday the 18th I did. MIG-21, Skyraiders, T-28 and a T-6A Texan II all stop by to strut their stuff.

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Gyrocopter Flyin El Mirage Dry Lake Bed, CA Sept. 07 - Enter

This is a small and unique gathering of gyrocopter enthusiasts that travel from mostly Southern California. There are, however, the occasional distant traveler, and I met a gentleman and his wife from Maine. He is working from plans to built a tractor style gyro called a Little Wing using a radial engine from Rotec. While Jack does not have a lot of hours in the air he has great plans for a 84 year young gyro pilot. The Flyin is held in this dry lake bed with plenty of space to take off and land. More on the sponsoring organization here.

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Australian Gyrocopter Flight - Aug. 2007 - Enter

Eight months after our first visit to Home Hill, Queensland Australia my wife and I returned. This time I was lucky enough to catch Michael Howard, owner/operator of a Magni 2-place gyrocopter. He was gracious enough to give both my wife and I a very exciting ride and here are some of the images to prove it. We took off into the wind, which just happened to be 90 degrees to the runway, and returned to the 2nd fairway, which was closest to home. Makes sense to me!

UPDATE: February 20, 2009 Michael Howard was killed after his gyrocopter crashed shortly after take off from his home base in Home Hill.  My deepest sympathies to his wife and family.

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Flying Leather Neck Museum - Dec. 2006 - Enter

This static outdoor museum is on the grounds of Marine Corp. Air Station Miramar (official Web site). The base was Miramar Naval Air Station but BRAC turned it around. Many things are changing there, 2007 the Air Force Thunderbirds will be flying, ending a very long, 60 year, Blue Angle tradition. More on the museum here.

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Australia's Smallest Aerodrome - Nov. 2006 - Enter

Well, it may not be the smallest but it is sure the smallest I have ever seen. Three planes and one gyrocopter is the entire compliment of aircraft present. On a recent vacation to my wife's home town, Home Hill, Queensland, Australia, I spotted the street sign. 10 minutes later and one more street sign we found the place. You can barely see the wind sock in the distance in the runway pictures. From the pictures you can see everyone wanted to fly, including my wife and her niece. We were there mid-afternoon, had we been there earlier I would have captures some shots of the gyrocopter. And what other kit plane manufacturer would you find in a place like this, other than an RV.

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Australian Naval Air Museum, Nowra, NSW - Nov. 2006 - Enter

This is a nice Museum with a great book store. There are some very interesting and unusual, for the American visitor, aircraft. Think English aircraft and you are correct. They are renovating and have changed their name, more info here.

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Warner Springs Gliderport - Oct. 2006 - Enter

This is a privately owned airport which specializes in sailplanes. I have flown 4 times, twice from Warner Springs. First time the tow rope broke at 400 feet AGL. There was more wind today then previously with a crosswind, probably due to the Santa Ana winds from the desert. In a few shots look closely at the angle of the wing relative to the ground. Soaring is exciting and something everyone should experience. Warner Springs information is here.

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Flabob Short Wing Pipers Club and Car Show - Aug. 2006 - Enter

Great classic cars, planes and an airport with history. More Piper Cubs showed up than anything else and it is great to see so much yellow. The little gyrocopter flew over the Antarctic and is awaiting the Flabob museum. Tom Wathen spoke about the new development taking place at Flabob and EAA Chapter One supplied lunch, awards and door prizes. There were a number of Cubs from San Diego, GO San Diego.
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Ramona Air Show - June 2006 - Enter

Plenty of great airplanes on a 100F degree day. It was hot at 8AM and by 3PM there were only a few brave soles remaining. I appreciate the time the private pilots take to talk about their aircraft.
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B-17 Ride - May 2006 - Enter

Ever wonder what it would be like to fly in a B-17? Well, it is a fantastic experience.  I drove to Long Beach so I could fly over the harbor. Traffic caused me to nearly miss the plane. It was worth the drive and as we fly over the harbor you realize this aircraft, in the hands of well trained crews, almost single handedly turn the tide in WWII.
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ISAP April - 2006

International Symposium of Aviation Photographers. A great group of professionals with a Saturday at Gillespie Field for an air show.
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