Wings Over Houston Airshow, 2014
Took the grandkids to the annual Wings Over Houston Airshow today. Weather was absolutely spectacular, severe clear with temps in the middle 60's (F). There was a huge crowd, which presented problems for the purist photogs, as there was no way to get an airplane shot without half a dozen people in it. The Blue Angels were the headliner and put on an amazing show as always.
My only regret was not being able to get to the warbird line, which was shut down most of the day because aircraft were operating constantly from there. One of the show highlights was the Vietnam recreation, which featured an F-100, A-4 Skyhawk, three MiGs (-15, -17 and a -21), A-1 Skyraider, two UH-1 Hueys and an AH-1 Cobra gunship. No inflight shots, sorry, my little camera just doesn't do those well.
More pics to follow. It was a great show!
A real shame not being able to get anywhere near those WWII era warbirds and the Vietnam-era display. That would've been the only reason to attend were it me...although you got some nice shots - notably the Ventura and RB-57 (?). What's the story behind Doolittle's name on the BUFF?
Craig, the B-52 is from the 2nd Bomb Wing at Barksdale AFB in Louisiana. It's the oldest bomb group in the Air Force (dating back to WWI), and is assigned to the 8th Air Force, which was at one time commanded by Jimmy Doolittle. I suspect that is the reason. I was surprised to find out that quite a few of the Wing's B-52's have nose art!
Nice show pictures Jaime, thank you for sharing.
Great pics Jaime. Was the Zero a replica or an original?
Gregor, the Zero is an original airframe recovered from Ballalle Island. It's powered by a Pratt and Whitney R-1830 out of a C-47. The Sakae engines might be just a little hard to come by these days! The color scheme is the ame-iro that everyone wonders about and knowing these guys is as close to accurate as it can get. This Zero belongs to the Texas Flying Legends Museum here in Houston, so she's a regular on our show circuit.
http://www.texasflyinglegends.org/last-samurai-zero
Looks like a good day out, Jaime, thanks for sharing it with us! Your little camera doesn't do a bad job either.
Nice photos, Jaime. Some sharp looking aircraft on display, and the weather looks superb. Thanks for posting.
I'm guessing you had a full day & fun day.
Thanks for posting these shots.