P-51 Val-Halla

Shot at the Mt. Home AFB Air Show. This specific P-51 named Val-Halla, was built in 1945 and served in the Texas Air Guard. It was Restored in 1995 and raced for three years at the Reno Air Races from 97-99. It now resides at the Heritage Flight Museum.

The Blackbird

This SR-71 Blackbird, housed at the Boeing Museum of Flight, is a member of the fastest piloted jets in the world. Capable of sustained flight at over Mach 3, these aircraft could simply fly faster than anything intending to shoot it down. This aircraft still holds the record for the fastest coast to coast (2404 miles) flight time of 64 minutes 20 seconds. This specific model, the M-21 was built for the CIA and carried a drone that could be launched and piloted remotely into extremely dangerous airspace.

Stearman Radial Engine

Started talking to the pilots at the Warhawk Air Show in Nampa Idaho and they were nice enough to let me onto the tarmac and show me their planes!

Hang Loose!

Thunderbird ready to rock the show at MT. Home AFB Air Show

Slope Soaring!

A glider rides the winds that rise off the cliffs of the coast

Zeros!

Thunderbird Spooling Up

P-51 Rollin' by

Because the nose is so long and high when taxiing down the runway, pilots have to follow an "S" patter to snake down the taxiway in order to see where they are going. This looks extremely cool when there are a bunch in a row

Stearman Cockpit

High Alpha Thunderbird

Thunderbird in high angle of attack take off with afterburner on!

P-51 S Turn in front of the crowd

Many WWII era fighter planes, like these P-51s with their long V16 engines, had a blind spot while taxiing due to the high position of the nose. Due to this, pilots would make long S turns back and forth in order to see down the taxiway

P-47 Take off

Thunderbird Formation Take Off

A classic delta formation take off by the USAF Thunderbirds Demo Team. Still a little dirty as the gear is not yet fully retracted