AirVenture 2017 - Warbirds

 
At the top of the AirVenture 2017 stars short list were not one, but two, B-29 SuperFortresses:  Fifi and Doc.
   
Believe it or not, Doc is not painted, but bare, polished aluminum.  Do you have any idea how much surface area is on a B-29?
   
Fifi taxiis out.
   
Both Fifi and Doc prepare for takeoff.
   
Two B-29s in flight; not something you see every day.
   
 
   
 
   
Doc comes in for landing.
   
 
   
Cool shot.
   
World War II fighter planes lined up:  from right to left:  F4U Corsair, F8F Bearcat, P-40 Warhawk, P-63 KingCobra, P-39 AiraCobra, P-51 Mustang.
   
The Bearcat is one awesome looking fighter.
   
Panchito, the B-25 based at Georgetown, Delaware all shined up and looking good for AirVenture.
   
Another Bearcat in Blue Angel markings.  The Bearcat was, in fact, the first plane the Blue Angels flew.
   
A rare Douglas A-20 Havoc light bomber of World War II.
   
More than 2/3 of the 2,908 A-20s manufactured were given to the Soviet Union via Lend Lease.
   
This C-47 was the lead aircraft in the airborne invasion of Normandy.  The Commemorative Air Force rescued the aircraft from a boneyard and is restoring it.
   
The P-51 Mustang Quicksilver.  I based the paint scheme of my RV-7 on this very airplane.
   
Looking good!
   
More warbirds overhead.
   
Nice formation by the Red Star Yaks and Nanchings.
   
P-40 Warhawk and F8F Bearcat.
   
 
The Bearcat just looks bad ass.
   
The Corsair and Bearcat taxi for takeoff.
   
The P-63 KIngCobra.  I've only seen these in museums, never flying.
 
The announcer kept saying this plane would have been great if it had had the Merlin engine like the Mustang.  Sorry, I just don't buy it.
   
The big TBM Avenger torpedo bomber and little F4F Wildcat.
   
Another look at That's All Brother.
   
A common sight at AirVenture:  the B-17 flying overhead.
   
Prior to the night airshow, 13 or so B-25s taxiied out for a re-enactment of the Doolittle Tokyo raid of 1942.  Panchito was in the lead!
   
They are ready to go.  Hard to believe 16 of them took off from a WWII aircraft carrier.
   
They put on quite a show in the darkening skies.
   
 
   
I got a sense of what it might have been like for a swarm of medium bombers to attack an airfield during World War II.
   
 
   
Everywhere you looked there was a B-25.
   
 
A great shot of Panchito posted by the EAA.
   
 
   
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