Off-Road Racer Christopher Polvoorde
Off-Road Racer Christopher Polvoorde Helicopter landing in Palm Springs.
CHP Helicopter
A California Highway Patrol helicopter departing the airport in Palm Springs last Thursday.
VFA-154 Black Knights
Out of town visitors to Palm Springs last Friday. F/A-18F Super Hornets from VFA-154, the Black Knights from Naval Air Station Lemoore. Attached to Carrier Air Wing Eleven and deployed aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt.
USAF A-10 “Warthog”
Very exciting this last Saturday to have a United States Air Force A-10II Thunderbolt “Warthog” visit us at the Palm Springs Air Museum. Air Force Association, Palm Springs Chapter, member Col. (ret) Bob Lilac earns a big shout out for making this happen!
T-28b In The Air
From one of our flyovers, the Palm Springs Air Museum T-28B Trojan in the air over the Coachella Valley. I was flying in the Air Museum C-47 “What’s Up Doc”.
F-35’s At Reno
USAF F-35’s on the ramp at the Reno Air Races 2021. Reminds me how lucky I am to go on the ramps, behind the scenes. I was out there to load a Reno Air Races raffle prize winner into our T-6 from the Palm Springs Air Museum, and marshall it out and back. They were right next to us.
U2 by Jim
Ryan Goss was again on our support team at the Reno Air Races 2021 for the Palm Springs Air Museum. This time he brought both his sons. Jim, 19 tomorrow, had an interest in my camera so I let him shoot with it. Big upgrade from a cellphone to a Canon 1DXMkII, gave him a few lessons over the week. Actually I think he used it more than I did. He shot some outstanding photographs. Here is his photo of a U-2 going by.
My Ride Spam Can
My ride up and back to the Reno Air Races this year 2021 was the P-51 Mustang “Spam Can” from Planes Of Fame.Although I am on the team for the Palm Springs Air Museum, we are one big family. Pilot was my buddy Mark Moodie who also flew “Spam Can” in the race. That makes the third Mustang I have flown in to travel to the Reno Air Races.
USAF Thunderbirds
When I was a kid, it was the United States Air Force Thunderbirds that captured my imagination. Guess they still do! Photographed by me at the Reno Air Races 2019.
My Bunny Mask
I like my mask better than your mask! Just had a couple made for myself. From one of my photographs of “Bunny”, the Palm Springs Air Museum P-51 Mustang dedicated to Tuskegee Airman Lt. Col. Bob Friend.
Open! Palm Springs Air Museum
OPEN! Yes the Palm Springs Air Museum is back open as of today June 1st. Truly one of the best air museums in the world.
If you follow me, you know I am closely associated with the PS Air Museum in multiple roles from photographer to the actual flying side of things.
So come visit and check it out. After all this Shelter In Place you will find it a great place to be. And you can still fly with us through June. Check it all out on the website at https://palmspringsairmuseum.org
And yes I shot this photo. Camera was a Fujifilm X-Series. Thanks!
Memorial Day Flyover
Many of you saw it on the news across the country. And many of you saw it in person. Sixteen World War II aircraft traversed Southern California over Memorial locations, hospitals and landmarks honoring Memorial Day and those people on the front-line of the pandemic.
I was honored to be on the crew with the Palm Springs Air Museum flying in the World War II C-47 “What’s Up Doc?”. Starting out the day we flew over the Coachella Valley with the C-47, the P-51 Mustang Red Tail “Bunny”, the P-63 Kingcobra “Pretty Polly”, a Vietnam War era T-28 Trojan, and a T-33 Shooting Star.
Along with the C-47 we broke off with the P-51 Mustang to join the other aircraft flyover twenty locations in the Inland Empire, out to Pacific View Memorial Park in Corona Del Mar, up the coast past the USS Iowa to National Cemetery in Westwood, east over USC Medical Center, finally landing at Chino Airport.
A huge Thank You to Threshold Aviation for hosting us and providing lunch and relaxation. Your hospitality was very appreciated by all.
Departing Chino, it was back to Palm Springs going up with the three other Air Museum aircraft for a flyover again of more locations in the Coachella Valley, out to the Patton Museum, back up through Twentynine Palms, over High Desert Medical Center, Yucca Valley, Desert Hot Springs and finally back to land at Palm Springs and back to the Air Museum.
Thank You to everyone for being so very supportive, those who cheered us on the ground, and to those to whom we owe so very much. Here are a few photographs of the journey.
Photographed on Fujifilm cameras, X-T3, X-H1, 50-140 and 16-55 f2.8 lenses. Thanks!
Memorial Day Fly-Over
Join the Palm Springs Air Museum to salute all those who serve and have served our country in a momentous air display throughout the Coachella Valley and Southern California.
On Memorial Day, Monday, May 25, 2020, starting at 10:45am, the Palm Springs Air Museum’s webcam will stream live the staging of pilots and vintage warbirds as they prepare for a Memorial Day ceremony with Pipe Band, burial flag presentations to pilots and take off of five vintage warbirds into the sky.
Uniformed members of Civil Air Patrol Squadron 11 will present one burial flag to each of the five pilots while the Palm Springs Pipe Band plays. The aircraft and honorees:
– P-63 Kingcobra: Cpl. Joseph LaSalle, WWI USMC
– P-51 Mustang: Lt. Col. Robert Friend, WWII USAAF (Tuskegee Airman)
– T-33 Shooting Star: Col. Robert Gilliland, USAF Korean War
– C-47 Skytrain: Maj Gen. Kenneth Miles, USAF Vietnam War
– T-28 Trojan: Col. Ross Miles, USAF Lost Current Service Members
The five aircraft will start-up and depart to fly over the Coachella Valley in honor of those who serve and served our country. The aircraft will then meet up with other warbirds over San Bernardino and fly over parts of Los Angeles and Orange Counties.
The Coachella Valley route goes from Palm Springs International Airport to Desert Hot Springs City Hall, SunLine Transit Center, Sun City / Shadow Hills, Indio City Hall, John F. Kennedy Medical Center, Coachella City Hall, Coachella Valley Water District, Cochran Regional Airport, La Quinta City Hall, Indian Wells City Hall, Palm Desert City Hall, Eisenhower Medical Center, Rancho Mirage City Hall, Cathedral City’s City Hall, Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians’ Tribal Offices, Palm Springs City Hall, Desert Regional Hospital, Desert Memorial Park, and the General Patton Museum.
The aircraft will then join other aircraft from the Inland Empire Wing of the CAF, Flabob Aviation Associates, and the Condor Squadron Threshold Technologies, Inc, over San Bernardino.
All aircraft will then fly over the following locations in Southern California: Loma Linda VA Medical Center, Riverside National Cemetery, CHOC Children’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at St. Joseph’s Hospital (Orange), John Wayne Airport, Pacific View Memorial Park (Tuskegee Airman Lt. Col. Bob Friend’s grave), Newport Beach, Long Beach VA Hospital, The Queen Mary, USS Iowa, Green Hills Memorial Park, Torrance Airport, LAX, Santa Monica Airport, LA National Cemetery, UCLA Medical Center, USC Medical Center, City of Hope, and finally Chino Airport.
Please join us along the way for this historic flyover. Thank You!
Map of the additional Southern California route below.
Frontline Fly-Over
Honoring the people on the front lines of the pandemic, the Palm Springs Air Museum is doing “Frontline Friday Flyovers”.
On Friday May 22nd we will be over Robert E. Bush Naval Hospital, Twentynine Palms City Hall, Hi-Desert Medical Center, Yucca Valley Town Hall and Desert Hot Springs City Hall. Departure time from the Palm Springs Air Museum will be approximately 12:45pm.
The aircraft flying will be the World War II C-47 “What’s Up Doc”, the iconic “Red Tail” P-51 Mustang “Bunny”, and one of only of the very few flying in the entire world, the P-63 Kingcobra “Pretty Polly”.
A map of the route is in the discussion here so many of you can watch from your own backyard. Wave to us, I will be in the C-47. Thanks!
APA Sourcebook 2020
Very pleased to again be in the APA Sourcebook 2020. Published annually by the American Photographic Artists, the print edition is distributed to advertising agencies, editorial publications, design firms and select companies around the USA. Model Randalene Sargent.
Frontline Flyovers & Fujifilm GFX100
Honoring the people on the front lines of the pandemic, the Palm Springs Air Museum is doing flyovers over different facilities on Fridays through May. This is the three aircraft returning from the flight the other day. The World War II C-47 “What’s Up Doc”, the iconic “Red Tail” P-51 Mustang “Bunny”, and one of only of the very few flying in the entire world, the P-63 Kingcobra “Pretty Polly”.
Photographed with the new Fujifilm GFX100 medium format camera and the GF110mm lens. I am just now shooting with it for the first time. Faster operating than I had expected, it was able to capture aircraft in flight from the ground. This is a 100 megapixel camera still capable of shooting five frames per second with continuous auto-focusing. I will be shooting with it some more, so keep coming back to see what else I do with it. Thanks!
What’s Up Doc?
The World War II C-47 “What’s Up Doc?” from the Palm Springs Air Museum. Likely I have flown in this aircraft somewhere around a couple of hundred times or more. This when we were doing ride flights with Hangar 24 Brewery & Taproom at the Redlands Airport. Great fun! Thanks!
At 38,000 ft
Airliner overhead at 38,000 ft. Fujifilm X-H1 camera and XF100-400mm lens. Sheltering in place.
Take A Break And Fly
Let’s take a break for some flying. The Palm Springs Air Museum P-51 Mustang “Bunny” from start up to shut down around the pylons at the Reno Air Races 2019. I mounted a GoPro inside and there was some really great light making it seem like you are right in the cockpit.
That is me in the black t-shirt doing the start-up and sending it out. I was doing more than just photography at the Air Races and at Air Shows. Although you can see my camera hanging on my back. It is a Fujifilm X-T3 and 100-400mm lens. One of the reasons I avoid carrying a lot of gear, too much going on.
NAF El Centro Not This Year
Last year headed to the airshow at NAF El Centro with the Palm Springs Air Museum. I was flying alongside in either a T-28 Trojan or P-51 Mustang, I don’t recall which. I have flown in this C-47 hundreds of times. Anyway the airshow this year of course was cancelled. Sheltering at home.
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