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

A GORGEOUS AIRCRAFT, PT-13 STEARMAN

PT-13 Stearman taxiing to the runway at Dubuque Regional Airport during CAF AirPower History Tour

This weekend the Commemorative Air Force, a non-profit educational organization, brought the ”AirPower History Tour” to the Dubuque Regional Airport. People were able to to view three different historical WWII aircrafts up close and book rides. I’m still working through my images from the last two days at the airport but I will show some photos of one of the rarest and most remarkable airplanes in a later post next week.

Today I start with a picture of a Boeing PT-13, known as the Stearman. This plane is recognized as the quintessential primary trainer for American aviators in World War II.

The Stearman was on static display only (no rides), but when this gorgeous looking plane finally took off from the airport this afternoon, I was able to make this shot while it taxied to the runway.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm, f/4,  @ 200mm, 1/60s, f/25, ISO 100, image cropped

HISTORY IMAGINED

Missouri River between Nebraska and South Dakota

It’s hard to believe that when someone travels across the fields, grasslands, and prairie here in the Midwest that there was only one valuable photo opportunity during the whole week. Sometimes things just don’t line up the way we photographers like…

Coming from Nebraska I crossed the Missouri River into South Dakota yesterday afternoon. Well, I guess it was photographers ”luck”, with not a single cloud in the sky (sigh!!!).

While standing there I imagined the time before the mass slaughtering of bison during the 1870s, long before this modern bridge was built, and bison crossed the shallow river at this place. Maybe the people that owned the land, the Native Americans who depended on hunting bison and lived along the Missouri River, may have enjoyed the same view from this hill above the river banks. Who knows?

Another historical moment happened already in late summer of 1804, when the famous Lewis and Clarke Expedition came up the river by boats during their journey to the Pacific Northwest. Their over 8000-mile expedition trip for the US government took two years, four month and ten days. When this expedition moved upstream, most of the difficulties were still laying ahead of them.

FOLLOWING ROOSEVELT’S TRACKS

Near the Elkhorn Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota

I have always said I never would have been President if it had not been for my experiences in North Dakota. - Theodore Roosevelt, 1918

This photo was created not far from the Elkhorn Ranch, President Theodore Roosevelt’s ranch in North Dakota. Today this historic ground is a small part of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, called the Elkhorn Unit. 1884 Roosevelt moved to North Dakota and became a cattle rancher after he was devastated by personal tragedy and owned land on both sides of the Little Missouri River. He credited his Dakota experience as the basis for his ground-breaking preservation efforts and the shaping of his own character. Under his presidency (1901-09) 18 national monuments were proclaimed and he worked with congress to create 5 national parks, 150 national forests, and dozens of federal reserves - over 230 million acres of protected land. (source: National Park Service brochure)

It was a gorgeous but windy day when we visited this part of the Little Missouri Valley. Some things had probably not changed much since Roosevelt rode his horse along the river. The beauty of the surrounding North Dakota badlands and the great skies we were able to see are certainly among them.

The clouds over the valley moved fast and the questions was how to incorporate them into the story about this valley? Going wide, or going tall? Well, I wasn’t sure, as so often, and tried both. I finally decided for the tall orientation. It shows less of the valley and less of the clouds, but gives a better idea about the vastness of the landscape with the wind-beaten grass and sage in the foreground.

Nikon D750, Nikkor 16-35mm / f4, B+W F-PRO Kaesemann High Transmission Circular Polarizer MRC filter,   @ 16 mm, 1/320s, f/11, ISO200,

NUCLEAR MISSILE SILO

Today’s post is not so much about the endeavor to make a high quality photo but about our history and the desire to learn about it. Just outside of Badlands National Park is the Minuteman Missile National Historical Site. Part of it, and just a few miles down the Interstate to the west, is the former launching site and silo, Delta-09, for a Minuteman II nuclear missile.

Minuteman Missile National Historic Site was established in 1999 to preserve two Minuteman II Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) sites: Launch Control Facility Delta-01 and a corresponding underground Launch Control Center and Launch Facility (Missile Silo) Delta-09. Minuteman Missile is the first national park unit specifically designated to commemorate the Cold War. From 1963 until the early 1990s, Missile Silo Delta-09 contained a fully operational Minuteman Missile, bearing a 1.2 megaton nuclear warhead. The Delta-09 missile silo was one of 150 spread across western South Dakota. In total there were 1,000 Minuteman's deployed from the 1960's into the early 1990’s. In 1991 as the Cold War was coming to an end, the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) was signed by US President George H.W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Both sides agreed to dramatically reduce their nuclear arms. The missile in the silo is unarmed today but it was armed with a W-56 warhead of 1.2 megatons of explosive force. That destructive power is equivalent to one-third of all the bombs used during World War II, including both atomic bombs. (source: National Park Service brochure and website)

Joan and I use every opportunity to go into visitor centers or museums beside the nature adventures during our trips. This one left quite an impression on us and delivered lots of information to talk about and to digest. From a human standpoint, what a waste of resources on both sides of the political landscape and understandable only in the context of history. After I was discharged from the military more than 36 years ago in East Germany, I would never have dreamed about that I ever would look into the silo of an American nuclear missile…

Everybody can probably make these two shots with their smartphones. The glass that covers the silo these days returns some reflections but we get the idea. The second photo shows the glass covered silo and in the foreground we can see the steel and concrete cover of the Ultra High Frequency antenna that allowed to launch the missile from an airborne command in case the control centers were destroyed already by a Soviet nuclear attack...

During our ongoing travels we discovered two more former missile silos. We would not have recognized it as such in the middle of grassland and prairie without the visit at the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site…