High Country Warbirds Fly-in - Valle June 25th

[Jay Beckman]

Just back to civilization.

Winds were beyond ridiculous.  Large clouds of dust blowing all over the place.  Really, really hard to shoot with long lenses.  Eventually impossible to hold the 500 in the prevailing gusts which probably hit 40kts or better.

P-38 (23 Skidoo) had an ammo door pop open and strike a prop during its first run up so they tugged it over by the Tri-Motor hangar.  Eventually determined it was ok to fly.  Loaded up first pax but pulled off before reaching the active.  Eventually resumed taxiing and took off.  Appeared to fly normally from then on.

B-25 Photo Fanny flew one hop and made one pass in formation with Wee Willy.  Two two-ship Mustang passes while we were there.  P-38 did not form up with either Spam Can or Wee Willie before we left.  No guest airplanes and no Tri-Motor.

Pics to come from me, Matt, Rob, Ned, Scott, Kaspar and Walt and Video from Bill.  Good to see you guys up there. Wish the conditions had been more benign.

Awesome Shakes and Malts at Twisters Ice Cream Parlor in Williams.

[Matt Ottosen]

Don't forget having the table taken away from us, what a day adventure!!

Yes, Twisters was very good, best shake I have had in a long time.

It was good to see those who attended up there, and, Jay, thanks again for the ride.

[Jay Beckman]

Enjoyed having the company... 

[Matt Ottosen]

Lockheed P-38J Lightning
23 Skidoo

[scottcolbath]

Winds were beyond ridiculous.

Let me tell you about those winds. My nice tail wind up to Valle, ended up being my biggest foe from my departure from the East entrance to the Canyon on 64, all the way past Cameron and down 89 into Flag. I had three honest-to-god adrenaline dumps while tooling down 64 and 89 where I thought I was going to lose the bike from beneath me. All of them were on fresh oil while I was leaning hard to the right, fighting the crosswind (sorry Jay), when I got hit by a gust, I honestly felt my front wheel push to the left on me and I changed from one side of the lane to the other. At one point on the ride, out when the wind was in my favor, I was cruising along at an easy 80 MPH and I had absolutely no wind noise at all. All I could hear was my engine. The wind was blowing that fast. This also explains why my run from Wickenburg up to Valle only took me 2 1/2 hours to cover 170 miles. Hauling ass is easy when you have a wicked tail wind.

S.C.

[Jay Beckman]

Scott .. UGH!    Glad you kept it upright.  That's a gorgeous ride you've got there!  We need to out some evening and do some shots of you riding!

A few from my corner of the shade under the wing...

Der Spam Can


Wee Willy II


23 Skidoo




Did we mention it was windy?

[Bubak]

[Matt Ottosen]

North American P-51D Mustang

Wee Willy II


Spam Can

[scottcolbath]

Scott .. UGH!    Glad you kept it upright.  That's a gorgeous ride you've got there!  We need to out some evening and do some shots of you riding!

Sure, we can do that some time. I also need to get up to the Canyon when the sun is lower on the horizon for better light.

Nice shots Jay. I was a complete dumbass an forgot to turn my IS back on after my last shoot on a tripod. I failed to complete my mental pre-flight on the camera. 

I managed a couple of OK shots.



I was trying something a little different here. Not sure if I like it or not.



You guys think we can build a pod racer from the spare parts? 



S.C.

[Bubak]

[azbill]

Great shots as always!
How bout those winds??
Bubak, nice Spam Can shot!

A few of my grabs.

[scottcolbath]

I really like that last one Bill.

S.C.

[azbill]

Thanks Scott.
Would've liked a few more opportunites to capture the B-25, but that was the only pass it made while I was there.

Bill

[Jay Beckman]

Looks like everyone made out ok despite the conditions!  Good Job!

Betting The Ponies

[Jay Beckman]

Hello Nurse!