Airshow question

[steve1840]

I think this is the appropriate section of the forum to ask this question. If not I appologize.

I plan on heading to the RI Air National Guard Open House at Quonsett Point this summer. It will be my first time since I was a kid, so definitely my first time with a good camera. Manny's question in a different thread about the C-5 Galaxy got the wheels in my head turning and got me thinking about wanting to get a couple good photos of that massive beast. When I was a kid and would go to the RI airshow they would always have one on static display which is not the type of photo I want to get.

My question is directed at those of you on here that regularly attend and photograph the airshows. On the final day of the show when do the static displays tend to head out? Do they wait for everyone to leave? And do photographers with credentials get to stay after the show is over to watch the planes head out?

[gonzalu]

Mondays for the military.... although some F-15s / F-16s do depart that afternoon ;-)

Thursday and Friday for arrivals. And yes, the C-5 is a staple there. Or you can go to Dover or Newburg and catch them any time

For credentialed media (kind of a joke as almost anyone with a camera is allowed to be credentialed) you can get in to the field early and leave late... as for Monday and Thursday, it is a toss up. Depends on who is at the gate(s) but you can get reasonable shots from the perimeter fence at RI just no touchdowns without a chain link fence in the way.

Be aware of the sun at Quonset as it is not greatly positioned throughout most of the morning (in your face) but it does get better in the afternoon when it is mostly behind you in relation to the runway right up until sunset.

[steve1840]

Thanks for the info Manny. I will have to plan accordingly for that weekend so that I can get a good shot of that monster taking off. Maybe even see if I can get some good info on when it will be arriving.

What is usually their frequency at Newburg? Is there a decent amount of C-5 movement there?

[gonzalu]

Steve,

I am not from around Newburg and Gordon will be the one that can tell you every detail :-) but I can say it is hit or miss. I have to visit Newburg at least once a month and each time I have gone, there is always at least one in the air through the day.. I have been lucky. I go visit friends who live about 4 miles away and I have never spotted one. They see them all the time.

Depends also I guess on deployments in the middle east and abroad.

[jerslice]

You can also get them up in Chicopee MA at Westover ARB

[gonzalu]

Darn I forgot Westover... and they are having an Airshow this year I will be there!!

[steve1840]

I believe that the Westover show is every other year. I think their next show is in 2012.

[Steven Holzinger]

Time to chime in...

Most static displays arrive on Thursdays at most shows. Some arrive on Fridays - again, show dependent.

Some static displays will depart after the show on Sunday. Usually you're not allowed to stay on the show site more than an hour after the show "ends". At some show sites on civilian airports you could get chased after staying two hours or more after the show ends. You just never know.

Most of the statics depart on Monday at most show sites.

Normally once the show ends photographers - credentialed or not - are supposed to leave when the public leaves.

And for the record, getting credentialed for the RI show might be great, but one person ruined it for everyone in 2009 and now you basically can't go ANYWHERE on the flight line, no exceptions. IT SUCKS.

[steve1840]

THats good info Steve, thanks. And as for the RI airshow, are you basically saying that since that person ruinedthings, somebody holding credentials has pretty much no more access than a regular spectator? If so, that really would make it pointless to go through all the trouble of getting credentials.

[gonzalu]

Well, you do get access to rides and also the media box and its Scissor Lift which is nice!

[steve1840]

Well that makes it worthwhile then!

[Steven Holzinger]

The whole restriction thing I mentioned applies for Friday (media day) only. Basically what happened was in 2008 someone wandered onto the hot ramp to get some up close photographs of the Red Arrows' jets - probably because they knew people did it the week prior at Langley AFB (we were ESCORTED) - and that set off the restrictions to where we could go in 2009. Now, I spoke up because we were supposed to stay in the media area and not go anywhere else along the crowd line. I spoke up because I said that it would be impossible for me to film from there (announcer trailer blocked the entire view of show left, and that's BAD for video) and they let us go no further than 250 feet from the media area towards show right.

NOW, here's where the problem lies. We were practically under guard by security forces and by some RING media volunteers and one person (someone who is about as bright as a broken piece of glass and who doesn't listen to ANYONE and yet, gets credentialed media for all the wrong reasons) wandered off to the back part of the ramp by the old control tower where a few of MY (not his) friends were hanging out at a BBQ sponsored by the crash rescue guys.

I didn't get credentialed for 2010 because I could only do that show on Sunday but I have heard they have clamped down on access for Friday that year. Gotta be escorted everywhere, can't go where you'd want to go to get the shot(s) you want to get, etc. I'm hoping that this year it returns to the way it WAS and that same idiot does not get credentialed. If he does, I will personally write to them and explain the whole situation...

Oh, and the C-5 arrived for static display on Friday in 2009.

[steve1840]

I love how idiots always ruin great things for everyone else. What do you have to do to get credentialed at the RI airshow? I would assume you have to prove that you have a ties to a media source and an actual purpose for getting the credentials? As I had said above I haven't been to the RI show in years (since I was a kid), are the views from the front of the spectator area good photographing the aerial performances? And if so would I have to get there fairly early to get myself a spot. I ask this, because I am pretty sure my chances of getting credentialed are slim to none, as I have no media affiliation.

And thanks for the info on the C-5 arrival. Do you happen to know if it arrivedfrom the north or south? If coming in from the south it would be a great shot getting it coming in low over the Jamestown Bridge with the Newport Bridge in the background.

[Steven Holzinger]

You do have to have a purpose to get credentialed for that show (and for other airshows...some are more strict than others). This idiot basically has no purpose for what he "does" and yet somehow gets credentialed at some shows. Makes no sense to me.

You are VERY close to the runway (center line of the runway to the crowd line is 425 feet, according to the Thunderbirds) and unlike most shows, you're pretty close to the action. You ABSOLUTELY MUST get there as early as possible. I mean it. SERIOUSLY. Gates open at 9 am - get there by 8 am at the earliest. The crowd line fills FAST - it's usually completely occupied by 9:25 am.

I forget what runway he used... it's usually dependent on the winds. I wanna say it was a 16 arrival... could have been a 34 arrival...

[Chris S]

FYI - in 2010 the C-5 arrived on Friday at noon from the south and they used Rwy 34.
When they taxied the C-5 into position on the static display ramp we got hit with it's jetwash,
and you can checkout this video link to see what actually happened to us !! Ha!!
http://www.youtube.com/user/magnumaov#p/u/8/Lg1_WVlpQps