Summer Summary Pt. 4: Thunder Over Michigan 2016

     Last year I got the ride in the B-25 Yankee Warrior.  This year my mission was a ride in the B-17 Yankee Lady.  The date of the sortie was set for Sunday August 21, 2016.  There were early concerns about the weather, but the storms moved through the day before, leaving us with a favorable forecast.  We arrived just as the gates opened at 9:00 a.m. and I checked in at the flight booth right away.  Before long, we were transported to the aircraft, briefed and seated.  I took my position in the left side of the radio room as the crew went through their checklists.  Yankee Lady is a workhorse; she's used to the routine and fired right up, ready to go.
     The flight... was great.  This was my third B-17 flight, and they were all wonderful.  On this day, the sun, clouds and wind created conditions that made the aircraft dance a bit in the air... but the Yankee Lady is a graceful dancer, and it made the experience even better.  I made the most of my time in the air, explored as much of the aircraft as possible, and got a fair amout of video.  I tried to keep the video clips short; I wanted samples of all aspects of the flight, but I also wanted to put the camera down and enjoy the moment, too.  I think I succeeded in both.   I put together a movie of the experience for my YouTube channel; it can be found here: Yankee Lady Flight
     I didn't take that many still photos of the flight experience, but here are a few of my favorites:

     We flew to the west over the farmland and also orbited Ann Arbor and the U of M campus.  By the time we approached Willow Run to land, other warbirds had taken to the skies, and we were greeted by P-51s buzzing the field as we taxiied in, and the B-25 Yankee Warrior took the runway for takeoff as we cleared the active.  After we shut down and exited the aircraft, we were gathered together to help perform a ceremony of gratitude for a WWII Navy veteran who had shared the flight with us.  I didn't get his name... but it was an honor to be a part of the ceremony and capture it on video.  Mission Accomplished.

     After that experience, I thought the airshow would seem tame... possibly even boring after my extensive AirVenture exposure.  I couldn't have been more wrong.  It was a completely different show from any other I'd ever seen, and the weather conditions made for some spectacular photo opportunities.  I ended up shooting more than 850 photos... about ten times more than I thought I would.  When I uploaded them to my computer, I found myself laughing in astonishment at how the clouds, the lighting and the aircraft came together to help me capture some truly excellent photos.  It inspired me to create a slideshow for my YouTube channel.  It may seem like overkill to make two movies of the same event, but for me it was two events: the flight and the airshow.  The flight was captured by mostly video and the airshow was all photos.  The photos might be my best ever, and I didn't want to leave any out, so I had to make the slideshow.  Here's the link: Thunder Over Michigan 2016 Slideshow

     It's difficult to select just a few to share here, but I'll give you a baker's dozen for a teaser:

     The Yankee Air Museum staff in charge of organizing the Thunder Over Michigan Airshow make some great improvements over last year.  Handicapped parking was now on pavement instead of the grass field; things seemed much more organized; all the volunteers had smiles and great attitudes; the flightline layout was much-improved, allowing the general airshow attendees equal viewing access as the suite patrons... and the airshow itself was masterfully conceived and executed.  We watched the last flights from the vantage point of our excellent parking spot, and as a result getting out after the show ahead of the crowd was easy.

     I want to thank Andy McKee and Razor & Tie Music Publishing for allowing me to use Andy's music on the slide show.  I didn't want to publish this post until the slideshow was published, and I didn't want to publish the slideshow without Andy's music, and I didn't want to use his music without permission... so all's well that ends well.

     Speaking of which, well... I should end this post.  The next installment will be after the Sherwin-Williams Training Program and other ventures and adventures.  Stay tuned...