Cripes A'Mighty

This P-51 Mustang is called "Cripes A'Mighty" sits under an old WWI biplane in the Commemorative Air Force Museum. This image was taken at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 1/50 seconds at f/4, ISO 400.

Naked SNJ "Texan"

This SNJ "Texan" is in the middle of being refurbished and has all of its inards exposed during the work. This image was taken at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 1/50 seconds at f/4, ISO 400.

MAID in the SHADE, starboard side

Interestingly, the nose art on the starboard side of MAID in the SHADE has a brunett rather than the blonde on the other side. This image was taken at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 1/100 seconds at f/4, ISO 400.

MAID in the SHADE nose art - port side

Gotta love the nose art on these old planes. This image was taken at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 1/125 seconds at f/4, ISO 400.

MAID in the SHADE

This B-25J Mitchell bomber, "MAID in the SHADE" is in the restoration hanger at the Commemorative Air Force museum in Mesa. Looks to me like the restoration is nearly done - at least on the outside. This bomber was stationed in Corsica with the 319th bomb group, 437th bombing squadron and flew bombing missions to Italy in WWII. This image was taken at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 1/125 seconds at f/8, ISO 400.

Medical helicopter

This medical helicopter came in for a landing at Falcon Field while we waited for the B-17 Sentimental Journey to return to the airport. This image was taken at 214mm focal length with an exposure of 1/400 seconds at f/8, ISO 100.

MiG head on

Just to be fair, here's a similar shot of the MiG from head on. This image was taken at 41mm focal length with an exposure of 1/40 seconds at f/5, ISO 400.

Phantom head on

Here's another view of the F-4 Phantom. Notice that the wingtips are folded up - a space saver on a aircraft carrier with limited storage space. This image was taken at 28mm focal length with an exposure of 1/25 seconds at f/4.5, ISO 400.

Phantom of the skies

This F4 Phantom flew off the USS Ranger and might have engaged a MiG like the one that sits right next to it. One of its engines sites outside the jet. This image was taken at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 1/60 seconds at f/4.5, ISO 400.

MiG power

You wouldn't want to stand here when this engine came to life. This is the view into the jet engine of the MiG. This image was taken at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 1/13 seconds at f/4.5, ISO 400 with fill flash.

MiG

This MiG from the Museum of the Commemorative Air Force in Mesa is from Hungary. This image was taken at 21mm focal length with an exposure of 1/50 seconds at f/4.5, ISO 400.

Back at the museum

The ground crew guides the behemouth as it taxies back to its parking location next to the museum to prepare for the next flight. This image was taken at 37mm focal length with an exposure of 1/160 seconds at f/16, ISO 100.

Flaps down, wheels down

The Sentimental Journey nears the end of the runway as it approaches Falcon Field in Mesa after its tour around the area for some lucky passengers. This image was taken at 214mm focal length with an exposure of 1/800 seconds at f/8, ISO 100. If I'd had a little more time and the plane weren't coming in so close, I probably would have upped the f-ratio to lengthen the exposure a little and blur the props a little more.

That dot up there...

Most of the time the Sentimental Journey flew around the area, it was not much more than just a dot up in the sky, even with my long lens. But as it entered the pattern, it got close enough to recognize it as a B-17. This image was taken at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/800 seconds at f/8, ISO 100.

Climbing out

The Sentimental Journey climbes out after taking off from Falcon Field. It spent more than 20 minutes taking its passengers on a ride around the area before returning. This image was taken at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/800 seconds at f/8, ISO 100.

Approaching the runway

The Sentimental Journey moves onto the taxiway leading to the runway and waits for one more plane to come in. Falcon Field in Mesa is apparently one of the busiest airports in the Phoenix area, probably because it serves mostly private planes. This image was taken at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/500 seconds at f/8, ISO 100.

The big and the small of it

As the Sentimental Journey prepares to take off, a smaller private plane takes off from Falcon Field ahead of it. This image was taken at 168mm focal length with an exposure of 1/640 seconds at f/8, ISO 100.

Starting its first engine

Sentimental Journey starts up its first engine as it gets ready to take a group on a 20 minute flight around the area. You can see the smoke belching as the engine starts turning. Once all 4 engines were running, there was quite a breeze for those standing behind the plane and a distinctive smell of the exhaust. This image was taken at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 1/160 seconds at f/16, ISO 100.