2015 Denton, Texas, Air Show

[K5DH]

I attended the 2015 Denton (Texas) Air Show on Saturday, June 20. Nice little show, only 15 minutes from home. It was nice spending the day with the VFM and CAF Invader Sqn crews. Here is a selection of photos for your viewing pleasure. Sorry that the quality isn't so great. The sky was overcast and I was shooting with my pocket camera. But, poor photos are better than no photos!

Raytheon-Beech T-6 from Vance AFB, OK:



Raytheon T-1A Jayhawk from Vance AFB, OK:



Eastern TBM-3E "Tennessee Ridge Runner II":



Cessna T-37 Tweet in VNAF A-37 markings:



Beech T-34A Mentor:



Douglas A-26B Invader from CAF Invader Sqn:



NAA Harvard IV (AT-6D) from VFM:





De Havilland Beaver: (transient, did not park in show area)



NAA P-51D Mustang "February":









Vultee BT-15 Valiant from CAF DFW Wing:



Globe Swift 145: (a real beauty!)



Stearman N2S-4 from CAF:



Cessna 195: (Locally owned. Stunning!)



Cessna TL-19D:



NAA SNJ-5 from CAF:



Yak 52:


RV's, anyone?



Lockheed F-16C from Shaw AFB, SC: (Viper East demo team)







USAF Heritage Flight:







Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet from NAS Lemoore, CA:

Last edited by K5DH on Mon Jun 22, 2015 8:08 am, edited 1 time in total.

[Zac Yates]

Some great photos of very nice machines, thanks for sharing! That second-to-last Hornet shot is a real winner!

Out of interest, I'm guessing the extra lines on the N in the Harvard's RNZAF serial are to avoid the number being confused for its civil registration? I'd not seen that before. It certainly looks to be in fantastic condition!

[K5DH]

Some great photos of very nice machines, thanks for sharing! That second-to-last Hornet shot is a real winner!

Thanks! He was really movin', so I was lucky to get the shot. That was a downwind takeoff, by the way, with about a 15 knot tailwind, and the takeoff run was amazingly short. Of course he had no ordinance aboard and probably just enough fuel to do his show and make it to the nearest Navy gas station, but Super Hornets are certainly not lacking in go-power.

Out of interest, I'm guessing the extra lines on the N in the Harvard's RNZAF serial are to avoid the number being confused for its civil registration? I'd not seen that before. It certainly looks to be in fantastic condition!

Correct. The extra lines are actually just pieces of electrician's tape! We do try to keep her nice. Her annual was just completed about 3 weeks ago, in fact.

This is an actual RNZAF ship which spent its entire military career with RNZAF. She was imported to the States, I believe, in 1979, and has been owned by the same owner ever since, and always based in the Fort Worth area to the best of my knowledge. She was built in the old NAA factory in Grand Prairie, Texas, about halfway between Dallas and Fort Worth, where they also built P-51C's and B-25s in addition to lots of Texans/Harvards. If I'm mistaken about any of this, corrections will be welcomed.

[DH82EH]

Thanks for the pics Dean.

Nice

Andy

[CAPFlyer]

I think the pictures are just fine Dean. Thanks for sharing them. I sadly had to work both Saturday and today so wasn't able to make it, but I hope some of our CAP squadron's Cadets made it because it looks like it was a great show.

BTW, who was flying February?

[Zac Yates]

We do try to keep her nice. Her annual was just completed about 3 weeks ago, in fact.

This is an actual RNZAF ship which spent its entire military career with RNZAF. She was imported to the States, I believe, in 1979, and has been owned by the same owner ever since

You do a fantastic job! Some ex-RNZAF Harvards have very....interesting interpretations of the paint scheme, where as 79 looks just like it would've in service. The owner (as well as everyone involved with the upkeep) should be proud.

[67Cougar]

A few more shots from Denton. Nice little show. Two jet demo teams and a Heritage Flight ought to get folks to notice this one a bit more, hopefully we'll have more warbirds and static next year.

February in all her glory ...







Heritage Flight. Sorry, the weather was crap ....



Tommy 'Limiter' Williams flew February. Tommy is a two star General in the AFRC, and a former combat experienced F-16 pilot.
Craig "Rocket" Baker flew the Viper. Craig is this year's F-16 demo pilot, a Captain from the 20th FW at Shaw AFB.

[K5DH]

Nice shots, Coug! You obviously brought your "real camera"!

I met Rocket and the rest of the F-16 guys, as well as the Hornet pilots and their ground crew. First class folks all the way. Hopefully next year's show will be even bigger. This one certainly has potential. Y'all remember the big warbird shows they used to hold at Denton back in the '80s and '90s? There was some great entertainment! I think that was the last time I saw the Blue Angels flying the Scooters, and the only time I've ever seen an A-20 flying. Fun times!

[Randy Wilson]

Dean - I well remember the 1985 Denton CAF show. I had joined the CAF the previous May and ended up being asked to fill in as the Dallas/Ft. Worth Wing XO in early 1985. Little did I know that the job included being the main coordinator/contact for the Blue Angels for the 1985 CAF D/FW show at Denton. I will not go into details here but man was that a learning curve! It was the last year they flew the A-4/"Scooters" and there was enough drama to fill a TV sitcom today. I also have about six hours of VHS video shot at the 1984 show. Need to digitize that in my "spare time". All the best.

Randy

P.S. Our CAF High Sky Wing and members had agreed to take some planes to support the Hobbs, NM fly-in that weekend (we ended up with six), so didn't have anyone at Denton this year, sorry, it is a lot longer way. I took our SNJ.