My lone encounter with a large "wildfire" occurred  five years ago while I was visiting Southern California.  Watching a steady stream of tanker aircraft shuttle to and from a huge unnatural-looking cloud on the horizon, their bellies red-stained and streaked with fire retardant, fueled my interest in aerial firefighting.  The 2012 Aerial Firefighting International Airshow and Conference, held at Sacramento's McClellan Airport on January 25th and 26th, offered me ... Read More

On January 14, 2012 just before noon the only flight-worthy EC-121 Warning Star throttled up its four 18-cylinder R3350’s and sent this Connie barreling down Camarillo’s runway; destination:  Yanks Air Museum, Chino airport.  Sliding the four throttles forward symbolized the completion of a seven year project to get this super constellation back into the air.  Completing the flight from Camarillo to Chino in about an hour, the Connie made ... Read More

Aviation Nation 2011 turned out to be the best show I have attend in many years. Being held the second week of November usually is hit or miss with the weather normally cold and wet. Having it on Veteran’s Day weekend is risky as Vegas turns cold the week following Halloween but this year proved to be different. We attended the practice show on Friday and the day started ... Read More

The Jolly Christmas icon arrived at this city’s Museum of Flight aboard a restored single-prop aircraft dubbed “Santa One,” greeting eager children and their parents with Mrs. Claus on a visit from the North Pole. Santa decided to travel by plane instead of his traditional sleigh because his reindeer are unavailable during daylight hours, he said, and also because they need to rest for next week’s midnight marathon around the world.

If you are headed to the Florida panhandle the Naval Aviation Museum is a great stop.  Located in Pensacola, it’s the nicest military museums in the country.  I haven’t seen all of them, but this one is superb.  There are over 150 aircraft on site as well as an IMAX theatre. The Museum was recently expanded and in November 2010 opened “Hangar Bay One” (which filled up quickly) behind the ... Read More

On November 17th 2011 Photorecon was an invited guest of APSOCAL http://www.apsocal.com/ to attend the  NAF El Centro Photocall.  The chance to attend this event is one we look forward to, as this has to be the closest access to live military flight operations anywhere in the world. The event was able to take place due to a wonderful working relationship between  APSOCAL http://www.apsocal.com/ , AZAP http://azaerophoto.com/ and  PAO Michelle Dee. This relationship has ... Read More

The 2011 Blue Angels Homecoming Airshow was held under bright skies and cool conditions on the Friday and Saturday of Veteran's Day weekend.  The marquee flying act, as always, was the Blue Angels.  Their homecoming late in the year signals the traditional end to the North American air show season, and the finale to their grueling schedule containing close to 70 aerial performances.  Beyond the Blue Angels there was ... Read More

The Scottsdale Air Fair returned Nov. 5th and 6th after an almost 11 year hiatus, due to the events of September 11 2001. I remember this Air Fair as one of the best in the valley, fast jets and good people. The 2011 Scottsdale Air Fair lived up to this. On hand were many local aircraft including the Deer Valley Warbirds, flying the Nanchang CJ-6 aircraft. They performed a flawless ... Read More

PhotoRecon.Net recently attended the 2011 Alliance Air Show located down in Ft. Worth Texas. The event is held at the Alliance Ft. Worth airport about 15 miles West of Dallas. The show, which was estimated as bringing in a crowd of around 100,000 people over the two-day event, was cut in half after a thunderstorm came through Saturday night and dumped about a inch of rain that turned the grass ... Read More

  On October 8, 2011, Photorecon had the opportunity to attend the 2011 Holloman AFB open house, the Legacy of Liberty air show.  Any air show at Holloman AFB holds a special place in my heart.  As a young man growing up in central New Mexico, Holloman AFB was the first air show I attended; the early trips out to the Base fostered a lifelong interest in aviation that developed ... Read More

The F-15E Strike Eagle Demo Team was performing at the Alliance Air Show in Fort Worth,  Texas over the weekend and our own Brandon Farris was there to record the event. We had worked in the past with the flight crew after the Chino Air Show back in May. The Demo Team had put on quite a show in the semi-humid coastal region of Southern California and the jet was ... Read More

  Weather Grounds Much of NAS Oceana's 2011 Air Show   The 2011 NAS Oceana air show was a roller coaster full of ups and downs... though no fault of the organizers and participants.  Tropical moisture invaded the Virginia Beach area, and remained a major impediment to flying for the entire weekend.  During Friday afternoon's practice show, dark and foreboding thunderstorms raced just north of Apollo Soucek Field.  The storms crept closer, ... Read More

When I was informed by the Blue Angels PAO that I was selected to fly on Fat Albert during their show at Miramar, I was more than overjoyed.  I was bouncing off the walls.  To be honest, the few people I did tell about being selected seemed unimpressed but I knew the truth.  I knew the wild ride that was ahead of me, because I trained for it, practiced ... Read More

Steve Kates aka Dr. Sky showed up at the Reno Races for the first few days. As aircraft were arriving early so that NAHI had time to position them we spotted this Polished to the Hilt Spartan Executive come up and shut down it's engine. What a wonderfully restored private aircraft this was!! He contacted the owner/pilot Steve and set up an interview with him and the aircraft for ... Read More