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Knoxville, TN
MCAS Cherry Point, NC
Saint Louis, MO
CFB Trenton, ONT
Thunder Over Michigan, Bellevue, MI
Marion, IN
Waukegan, IL
NAS Patuxent River, MD
Wings over Waukegan Warbird
Photo Review
Warbirds at Waukegan National
Airport, IL - September 10, 2016
The best warbird airshow in the Great Lakes Area!
Wings over Waukegan may not be the largest or most hyped warbird show in the
Great
Lakes area, but for the serious warbird enthusiast, it is one not to miss.
With an excellent cross section of propeller and jet warbirds, the show
gave the spectator three and a half hours of uninterrupted flying.
Air Boss Scott Duck did not allow any noticeable dead time, and had the
next act ready for take-off as soon as the preceding act turned off the
runway. Narrator Phil Dacy was at his normal 110% enthusiasm level
to keep the crowd in the show. His style is unique, and along with
Scott Duck kept the show from lagging.
The show is a combination of Dave Dacy
Airshows, providing turnkey airshows for small towns and airshows in the
Midwest, and the Warbird Heritage Foundation located at the Waukegan
Airport. The Warbird Heritage Foundation provides some core
warbirds, including A-1, A-4, P-51, and F-86. Complement those
with a few other warbirds like T-33s, T-28 and TBM, and the show has an
excellent mix of jet and piston powered warbirds.
Admission to the one day event is a
reasonable $15, including airshow program. Parking is free, and
just a couple minute walk from the flightline. Over all Wings over
Waukegan gives the best dollar value of warbird flying in the Midwest.
Wow! The Wings over Waukegan "Heritage Flight-Legacy Flight Combo Pack,"
as defined by airshow narrator Phil Dacy. This was a first for me,
and one of many highlights of the show. It was the next to the
last act of the day, and the sky was perfect for photographs.
The weather was not perfect when I arrived
at the show! This photo was taken at11:20 AM, forty minutes before show time.
For a half hour prior to this photo, my son and I were subject to light
drizzle coming in sideways driven by wind gusts up to 21 miles per hour.
He wondered whether the 260 mile journey to the show was going to be
worth it.
12:01 PM. Show time! Skyraider "Naked Fanny" starts up to
begin the show. This was a good sign, starting the event with the
venerable Skyraider. My son is a big Skyraider fan. He was
starting to see why we drove such a long distance for the show.
A note on my location during the show:
One of the advantages of Wings over Waukegan is that spectators can
watch the show from the hot ramp at airshow center. I chose this
location as it put us right in the middle of engine startups and
taxiing. From a pure photographer's standpoint, where the intent
is to get unobstructed photos of the warbirds, it obviously is not
ideal. As can be seen in the photo above, Jr. ROTC candidates line
the ramp as security between the crowd and the aircraft. Like
others, I strive for the best photos. But this website is also
about capturing the essence of the warbirds at the airshow.
Sitting where I did for allowed that. I was able to watch, hear,
and smell the aircraft during startup and taxi. I was also able to
feel the heat off the jet engines' exhaust after they passed by.
In other words, I had fun! Only Wings over Waukegan allows
spectators to have this intimacy with the warbirds.
For those how want unobstructed photos, there
is a crowd area to the east of the ramp that allows these.
Below is a sampling of highlights from the
show.
12:14. "Naked Fanny" takes off into
the gray sky. Later in the day she would take off again into blue
skies.
The show began with multiple fly-bys by the
Skyraider and T-28.
"Dragoon's Fyre" was new to me. It is
a 1940 Ford pickup with a GE J-85 jet engine.
After the jets would pass by us we could
feel the heat off the engines. Part of the experience at Wings
over Waukegan.
The TBM arrived during the show, and was
taxiing and parking during the jet fly-bys.
This T-33 had some difficulty starting and
was only able to get in one pass during the show. Here it moves
back into location right in front of me.
The Aerostars area staple of Wings over
Waukegan and their routine stays right in front of the crowd. It
is one of the reason's for the success of the event.
Susan Dacy alternates every other year at
the show with Dave Dacy in his Stearman. Susan, like the Aerostars,
keeps her flying in front of the crowd and is always fun to watch.
1:58. The gray clouds and overcast had
moved out.
2:02 PM. This time "Naked Fanny" took
off in the sunshine.
Pyro was unexpected but welcome addition to
the show, as the Skyraider made several strafing passes.
"Naked Fanny" folded its wings for the
crowd, and then opened them back up at its parking location.
Brad Deckert gave us several nice passes in
the TBM.
Vlado Lenoch is always a favorite at
Waukegan with his aerobatic routine and signature high speed passes down
the runway.
The second flight of the F-86 was a superb
aerobatic routine.
Paul Wood taxies by in the A-4 Skywawk.
Feel the heat!
The "Heritage Flight-Legacy Flight" inbound.
Just as I was thinking, "What could be
better than the Heritage-Legacy Flight?" Paul Wood started into a one of
kind aerobatic demonstration with the Skyhawk. Paul Wood's is the
best I have seen, as he really makes the Skyhawk "talk" and demonstrates
its capabilities. What a way to end the show! He was fast;
and he was precise.
Two of Ed Heinemann's classic warbirds!
During Paul's high speed passes, I had a
hard time tracking him. While not centered, at least I was able to
capture the entire A-4 in this photo.
Paul waves at the crowd as he comes back
into the ramp, as the finale to the best warbird show in the Midwest!
My son and I went home with smiles on our
faces, and talked for a long time about how great this show was.
We are already planning on returning next year. Hopefully the
crowd realized how good this show was and will return also.
Knoxville, TN
MCAS Cherry Point, NC
Saint Louis, MO
CFB Trenton, ONT
Thunder Over Michigan, Bellevue, MI
Marion, IN
Waukegan, IL
NAS Patuxent River, MD |