Warbird Information Exchange

Temperatures were fine.

Friday was best day for photos and the afternoon show gave us the BEST light of the entire weekend - because it started in the mid-afternoon. We had killer light for the vintage aircraft parade and then watched it fade during the 6 o'clock break. By the time flying resumed the light was fading and the TFL portion was tricky to shoot.

Saturday AM had overcast skies. That made getting nice even diffused light on the planes easy, but gave us solid cloud backgrounds. Tricky. Saturday afternoon was better as the clouds broke up a bit.

Sunday AM was much clearer and gave us the challenges of dealing with that harsh, contrasty morning light that one always gets at Chino. As photographers, we might wish that the show started later in the day to get better light, but photogs aren't the ONLY people that go to the shows! Sunday afternoon was easier to shoot as the sun moved but Chino is not an easy shoot. If you position yourself for the banking turns, you deal with the tricky light. IF you follow the light, it can be harder to get the photo passes.

It WAS harder to find good shooting positions this year. The VIP tent took up a lot more space than 2015 and the usual favored spot of photogs was 6 deep by showtime.

Getting clean taxi, take-off and landing shots are near impossible these days what with all the planes parked on the tarmac in front of the viewing areas. The amazing TFL Spitfire low passes were impossible to shoot as the parked planes were in the way. I have photos of almost every airplane with some part occluded by a parked vertical stabilizer, cowl, propeller, canopy, or speaker.

I remember 2006 when the hot ramp was over to the right of the show and the entire tarmac area was clear. One could see taxiing aircraft all along the show line. It's my understanding that the show can't be staged like that anymore due to changes to the airport.

Yet, even with the challenges and obstacles, I LOVE this airshow. Nowhere else do you get the kind of relentless energy that you get at Chino. Best display passes in the world! It can be difficult to put the camera down and just watch the planes zipping by. It is an AWESOME airshow!

Cheers,
VB

Just out of curiosity does anybody know why the new Commanche Fighters P-40M did not join the others during the mass Warhawk portion of the show? At one point during the mass P-40 flybys on Saturday the P-40M was taxied out to the far west end of the runway and then shut down. It sat out there for the duration of the P-40 display and then started up and taxied back to the museum hangars. It wasn't even put out on static display with the other five which seemed a bit odd to me since the gathering of P-40s was one of the highlights of the show. Four was impressive, don't get me wrong. But with the Legends P-40K and Commanche's P-40M it could have been six!

Thanks Vagabond. Chino is always tough to shoot. I haven't gone to one since 1990 or so, but I'm always curious about the photography situation because I always did find it so challenging. I miss the early days when it wasn't such a big deal -- of course there was not such a variety of great warbirds on display and in the air, either!

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Neal Nurmi

---Wingman Photo---

I miss those day too Neal, very much. Despite there being less variety in the "good old days" there was still a pretty fantastic collection of airplanes that participated in each show. But the whole atmosphere before, during, and after the event was just so much better. We absolutely loved being able to stroll around the wide open airport on the Friday previous when every other hangar door seemed to be open and filled with some sort of vintage or exotic flying machine. Then hanging out on the corner of Merrill and Grove watching the arrivals come right over the top of your head. I am so very glad I have those memories because it was a truly unique experience which will never happen again. Not in the America of today, no way.

Agreed on all counts, Chad. I'll always treasure my memories and my photos of those great air shows of the 70s and 80s. Things were just different then.

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Neal Nurmi

---Wingman Photo---

Nice shooting Paul



Steven L

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Chad, the Friedkin P-40 was being worked on at the Museum after the show on Saturday. Looked like brake toubles.

I think the Chino Airshow is better now than it has ever been. I do miss the P-12 and the O-47 flying, but we have Zeros and Spitfires and Yaks, and I counted 13 Mustangs and probably missed one or two. The volume and variety is better than ever, and adding the Texas group, it was really outstanding. The surprise appearance of the silver P-40 a couple of years ago was hard to beat. I just wish it wasn't the only show of its kind. Shafter and Madera were great shows, now long gone.

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Rob C

Historically, the claim of consensus has been the first refuge of scoundrels; it is a way to avoid debate by claiming that the matter is already settled. “

– Michael Crichton

Many Thanks, Steven!!

We had the good fortune, early on the Friday morning, to see the Friedkin P-40 taxi out and take off. Later in the day we realized that while we KNEW we'd seen 6 P-40's at the show, we seemed to be missing one as we could find only 5. Anyway, we DID get one quick chance to grab the images below.

Hi All,

Did anyone take any pictures of the Guys and Girls working out on the Ramp over the weekend of the Airshow?

We worked hard over the weekend to make sure everything went smoothly and so seeing a few shots of us would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance

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John

In terms of quantity, quality, and variety I cannot disagree with you Rob. Certainly Chino has to be in the top two or three airshows in the world on those terms. But I would probably be willing to give some of that up to get back a little bit of the atmosphere that was Chino back in the mid to late eighties when I first started going to the show. Having said that I will add that I have never been more excited at an air show then when the polished P-40C showed up on the ramp except for a couple years later when the polished P-36 showed up! Seeing those two birds in the air was absolutely stunning. Never did get to see the P-12 flying and the only time I saw the O-47 was at Deer Valley, Arizona in the early eighties. Really looking forward to seeing the "new" O-47 when it is completed. Never made Shafter but I did get to Madera once in 1985 which also provided some very fond memories for me. Good times!

Wasn't the Yanks P-40 also supposed to be airworthy for the show? What happened?

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Keep Em' Flying,
Christopher Soltis
Dedicated to the preservation and education of The Sikorsky Memorial Airport

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No, the statement regarding the Yanks P-40 has always stated September 17th, 2016 for first public flight.