The smell of jet fuel still lingers in the air at NAS El Centro following the conclusion of the first major air show of 2012. The first show brought delight to many after what had been a difficult off season that focused more on teams cutting back rather than building up budgets. The air show austerity forced the shutdown of most of the Air Force singe ship demo teams ... Read More

NAF El Centro is just about in the middle of nowhere, it is always hot, and there are no permanently stationed squadrons.  Having said all that, the El Centro drew a huge crowd and had top notch performances; not to mention the El Centro plays host to the Blue Angels’ season opener. The aircraft on static display were interesting and varied; this is one of the few places I can ... Read More

After World War II ended, an abundance of surplus military aircraft found their way into the fledgling aerial firefighting industry.  The combination of a large payload and the high performance of many bombers, attack aircraft, and transports allowed enterprising companies to modify airframes with large tanks for carrying borate and water for dousing wildfires.  Some of these modifications were straightforward; large tanks were inserted into existing bomb bays and ... Read More

Every year 11,000,000 people look into the skies at airshows and see six blue and gold F-18s performing precision aerobatics representing the best the United States as well as the Navy and Marines have to offer.  The Blue Angels have been doing this since  June 15, 1946 and have been doing it well. The Team consists of 16 Officers and 110 Enlisted men and women from the Navy and the ... Read More

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

  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

Hawthorne, Nevada is home to the Hawthorne Army Depot, an ammunition staging area during World War II and the largest ammunition storage site in the world. On September 15, 1930, the Secretary of the Navy commissioned the U.S. Navy Ammunition Depot at Hawthorne, Nevada. This did not happen by accident, but an accident caused it to happen. Four years earlier, July 1926, during the same week that a fire destroyed ... Read More

Members of Photorecon who were in Northern Nevada to attend the 2011 Reno Air Races took a day off and went to NAS Fallon on Monday, Sept 12th for a planned Photo call. In attendance were Phil Myers, Mark Hrutkay, Tood Allen and Dave Budd. I can't think of a better way to spend the weekend of the September 11th anniversary then to spend it with our U.S. Military ... Read More

During the two weeks that preceded the 2011 NAS Patuxent River Air Expo, southern Maryland endured the rattle of an earthquake and the rain and winds of Hurricane Irene.  Definitely not good air show weather!  The two-day (Saturday and Sunday) Labor Day weekend air show went on as planned though, with only a few downed trees and departing convoys of electric service trucks serving as reminders of the power ... Read More

When one thinks of the great aviation photographers of our generation, names like Bowen, Carlson, Dibbs and Hildebrandt come to mind. For years photographers of this caliber have brought the world some of the most riveting aviation photos to ever grace the pages of books and magazines. Once again world-class aviation author and photographer Erik Hildebrandt,the author of 7 wonderful Coffee table books and numerous published works, has struck gold again. ... Read More

Genesseo bills it’s self as the “Greatest Show on Turf” and is located in upstate New  York just south of Rochester.  I’ve made enough trips to the show to say it’s a good one.  When you talk to the locals, they simply don’t understand that their airshow is one of the biggest and oldest warbird shows in the country.  This show is the annual fundraiser for the 1941 Historical ... Read More