THUNDER OVER MICHIGAN 2018

[Steve Nelson]

Well, today was...better I guess. Fog and low ceiling kept everything grounded until 1:00 pm. Doc was first up, but a landing gear issue prevented any flybys. After circling in the distance for awhile, she came back and fortunately landed safely. The rest of the warbird program was extremely abbreviated due to the late start. A couple of passes by the Helldiver and Corsair, but the Corsair solo routine had to be cut short due to a mechanical issue..again, the pilot made a safe landing and the fire trucks met him on the runway as a precaution. Super Rabbit, the P-47, and P-63 all took off...and left. I was really bummed about the P-63..I'd never seen one fly. The FM-2 and a TBM also departed, but were nice enough to give us a photo pass before heading out of town. The two P-51s and Yankee Lady gave us some nice photo passes..not that you could see or hear much due to the smoke and racket from the "ground battle" (don't get me started.) Texas Raiders stayed on the ground..glad I got to see her fly in Kalamazoo last week. And that was it for the warbirds..then it was time for Sean Tucker followed by the T-birds.

None of the issues can of course be blamed on the organisers. Bad weather and cantankerous airplanes are just the nature of the beast, and the Thunder folks did the best they could to roll with the punches. I loved the setup of the showline this year. There was lots of open space for general admission ticket holders, and the sun angle was great for photography. I do have one complaint..is it too much to ask to mow grass in front of the crowd line? It was extremely annoying trying to see the runway through a forest of four-to-six-foot-tall weeds. I can only surmise they weren't cut so the "ground battle" would look more convincing.

SN

[Xray]

Ironic, they spent 2 days straight mowing down the weeds on Ecorse service drive across from the airport.
Was very annoying, almost as bad as looking through a fence. Fog was crazy, took its time burning off too. Saw a couple civilian jets land and you could barely see them until they touched down, very hazardous flying weather.

Was hoping the mid show departing 15's could breathe a little life into the show, but 1 lame pass then bye bye.

Stayed to watch takeoffs after the show right at the end of the runway, saw Doc depart then return again. Texas Raiders also departed and returned. A few various planes departed including Mustangs, B-25, Helldiver [I think, never been good at id'ing the hellbirds], Tbird 8, Chinook [who did a great flyby] then after much ado the P-3 and E-2 departed [Heard the E-2 took a tight turn on a taxiway and ended up with a wheel stuck in the mud which delayed his departure].
Was hoping to see the rest of the birds and the F-35's grab some sky, unless they left after 7:30pm, looks like a morning departure for them and a few other craft [A-10, KC-135 also still there].

[hurricane_yank]

I know the date shifts back to early August next week (the week after Oshkosh) - hopefully the plan is to get back to the Thunder shows of old in terms of Warbird participation.

[tjc333]

Correction - The old tent line is swinging 45 degrees to the west from its previous location. The new tent line will face northwest paralleling Runway 23 Left 5 Right. Just over 20 acres of additional green space will be opened to the public. Sorry for any confusion. Much improved over the previous set-up.

Cheers,

Tom Walsh.

It's about time they made this change. Fixes one of the many problems with this show. Long overdue.

[Steve Nelson]

Some of my pics from Thunder. First, a few on the ramp. I didn't take a lot, mostly due to the rather dreary conditions. This is what greeted us as we walked in from the parking area around 10:00 a.m..visibility was less than a mile with a low, solid overcast.



Still, it was a huge thrill getting to see Doc in person for the first time.







Texas Raiders always draws a crowd.





Super Rabbit and Georie's Gal looking fine. I've always liked the dual nose art on Georgie's Gal.







<more to come>

[Steve Nelson]

Part II...

A couple of "artsy" shots.





The YAM C-47 in her new livery. She looks good, but I'm still getting used to it. The old "Yankee Doodle Dandy" scheme just looked so sharp.

[Steve Nelson]

Now for some action..such as it was. Doc was the first aircraft up..and for those who thought I might have been exaggerating about the tall weeds..





She was able to pull the gear up briefly, but apparently there was some sort of issue that forced the crew to drop the wheels again. They circled off to the northwest while sorting things out.





Since they were sure the gear was down and locked, they decided to go ahead and land. I was disappointed not to get a flyby, but I certainly wouldn't want the crew to compromise safety just to appease some lookie-loos. Just getting to see her fly at all was awesome!

[Steve Nelson]

The Helldiver and Corsair did a couple of flat passes.







Then the Corsair went on to do a solo aerobatic routine, which was cut short by some sort of mechanical squawk. Again out of caution, he landed and shut down on the runway and they rolled the trucks. Whatever it was didn't require any emergency intervention, and the aircraft was towed back the ramp.

[kalamazookid]

I didn't take many pics this year, but here are a few so you get the idea.

IMG_6333 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_6366 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_6385 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_6421 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

I couldn't possibly be less interested in the battle, but it at least provided a couple cool photo opps incorporating the aircraft.

IMG_6470 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_6476 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

[Steve Nelson]

Yankee Lady gave us several nice photo passes. That was neat..usually during Thunder the Yankee aircraft are hopping rides and don't take part in the actual show. Unfortunately Texas Raiders didn't fly. I'm not sure why..possibly due to time. The warbird action had to be cut to the bone so the T-birds could fly (the T-birds pushed their start time to 3:15, but the announcer said that was the best they could do.)

[kalamazookid]

As an aside, I'm really glad to see that the show is going to back to its traditional time next year during the first weekend of August (Aug. 3-4 next year). Perhaps they'll be able to snag a few warbirds traveling back from Oshkosh.

[Steve Nelson]

And the warbird action was rounded out by some P-51s providing air support for the "ground battle," and the departure of the Wildcat and Avenger, each of which gave us a nice photo pass before heading home.

















And that's pretty much it for warbirds. The P-47 and P-63 took off while I was taking pics of Yankee Lady. I had assumed they'd take part in the "strafing runs" along with the P-51s, but they apparently headed straight home. Super Rapbbit also took off during the show and disappeared. I assume the somewhat hasty departures may have been due a desire to get ahead of weather en route to their home bases, or they may have simply been cut from the actual show for time. As I said above, the Thunder folks did the best they could given the situation..Mother Nature can be a fickle..um..lady, and any weather-dependent event is a roll of the dice. Great job, folks..see you next year!

SN

[BigGrey]

The Corsair pilot reported fuel in the cockpit before landing and stopping on the runway.

[kennsmithf2g]

More from the Photo Pit on Friday

[k5083]

Great pics, guys, thanks for sharing. Steve - looks like it's time for a sensor cleaning!

August