Going through the photo files, thought you guys might enjoy seeing some of these old air-to-air photos taken over the years.

The first is a Kreider-Resiner KR-34 which was (when I took the picture in 1981) the oldest continuously-licensed airplane in the USA, having been first purchased in 1932 by the then-owner's grandfather and flown ever since. This is over the Central Valley west of Merced taken during that year's Merced Antique Fly-In.

The second is the airplane Richard Bach was thinking of when he described "The Reluctant Messiah's Travelaire" in "Illusions."

The third is a Travelaire-12W taken at the 1979 Watsonville Antique Airplane Fly-In, during one of the "dawn patrols."

The last is a sky full of Ryan PT-22s at the 1981 Merced Fly-In. It was a very casual affair in those days - you'd hear the announcement "All the Ryan pilots who want to participate in the fly-by man your planes" and then there was a sky full of guys who didn't normally fly formation all trying to look good (and not collide!) as they did their fly-by.

4 attached images. Click to enlarge.