T-6’s ONLY

I promised you a few more images of the Texan T-6’s that practiced at the Dubuque Regional Airport for the airshows at the Oshkosh AirVenture last weekend. The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is a single-engined trainer aircraft that was used to train pilots during World War II and into the 1970’s. A total of 15,495 of different variants have been built and it remains a popular airplane used for airshows and static display (source: Wikipedia).

The engines are running and the pilots wait for their take-off

It took me awhile to go through all the photos and select some that I thought stood out and tell the story about their training runs and my efforts to get some sharp images with slow shutter speeds. I’m not unhappy with the keeper rate but there is room for improvement with my panning technique. As mentioned some time before, I use this kind of practice with the long lens for hopefully improving my photography of birds in flight. However, it’s also a pleasure to see how well most of these historical airplanes are preserved and kept airworthy.

All photos: Nikon Z6 III, Nikon NIKKOR Z 600 f/6.3 VR S, Nikon Z Teleconverter TC-1.4x,   @840mm, 1/80s - 1/125s, some photos slightly cropped

A formation of four coming in to the airport and ready to land

THE FAST ONES

Vought F4U Corsair

There was enough talk about the technical aspects of aviation photography from the ground by me before and today I just like to show a few images, made during the last couple of days at the Dubuque Regional Airport. The majority of historical aircraft doing practice for the Oshkosh AirVenture are the great Texan T6’s. I saved them for another blog post and just hope you get a kick out of the esthetics of the beautiful four P51’s Mustangs and the Corsair that I like to share with you. It’s just a great sound when they scream down the runway or take their turns before returning to the airfield. I hope you enjoy.

P-51 Mustang “Gunfighter”

P-51D-Mustang “Charlotte’s Chariot II”

A RARE AIRCRAFT - B-29 SUPERFORTRESS

B-29 Superfortress , part of the ”AirPower History Tour” by the Commemorative Air Force, Dubuque Regional Airport, 7/28/2024

The biggest attraction for most people that came to the Dubuque Airport last weekend was the B-29 Superfortress ”FIFI”. It is one of only two aircrafts that are still airworthy. The B-29 played an essential role in WWII in the Pacific to end the war with Japan.

”FIFI” underwent a restoration between 2006 and 2010 and has now four custom built hybrid engines.

Weather conditions prevented the morning flight on Sunday but finally mid afternoon I was able to watch a takeoff and later the safe landing of the aircraft. I shot from the same location as already a week ago, just outside the fence that surrounds the airfield and next to the terminal building. The biggest challenge was to keep the fence out of the frame whenever possible. I brought a little foldable stepping stool and used it for most of the pictures.

While taxiing between the ramp and the runway only the two inner engines are used and the outer props are at a standstill.

Having a once in a lifetime experience and flying with the B-29 is not a small expense. The “bombardier seat”, the one the gentleman in the white shirt is in, can be booked for $1,995. The CAF is a non-profit organization and the money is used to keep these historical airplanes flying. https://www.airpowersquadron.org/b-29-superfortress

STORY OF TRANSITION

There are not very many farms left here in the Midwest where the old buildings and farm structures are preserved. Unfortunately beautifully crafted wooden barns, stables, and farm houses have been or will be replaced by simple metal structures, concrete, and plastic siding. This is somehow understandable because the economy of farming dictates many of these changes, but the historic charm will be gone forever.

The farm in this picture has a mixture of old and new buildings and the photographer can still tell the story of transition with his image. Including the bright clouds gives the photo some visual depth. The eye will most likely go to the brightest part of the picture first, but from there it will move through the frame.

Photo: Nikon D750, Nikkor 24-120mm / f4, @46 mm, 1/640 s, f/8, ISO100

 

NEW ALBIN TOWN HALL

I wanted to photograph this old town hall in Iowa’s farthest northeastern town New Albin since I saw this building for the first time about a year ago. The absence of some good clouds made me always hesitate during several previous visits. Well, today I finally was happy with the clouds.

What bothers me is that big advertising sign on the side of the building. Whoever made the decision to hang this monster there had little sense for the heritage of such an old building…

All images: Nikon D750, Nikkor 16-35mm / f4