NASCAR in The Poconos

We'll take a break from the air show for a little "roundy-round" action. This past weekend, NASCAR made the first of its two annual visits to Pocono Raceway. I've been going to Pocono for more than twenty years, in hot weather, cold weather, rain, fog, even a few snow flurries! We had typical Pocono June "race weekend weather" - overnight rain, low clouds and fog in the morning...Saturday's ARCA race was stopped twice, and ultimately ended early, because heavy fog made it impossible to see the track.

Kurt Busch led the field to the green flag, driving a backup car after wrecking his primary ride in Friday practice.



Dale Earnhardt, Jr. comes to the attention of his pit crew. Although he remains winless thus far in 2011, he has seen a resurgence in performance, and Pocono resulted in another top 10 finish.



The only on-track incident of the day, Greg Biffle spins coming off Turn 3 into the entrance of Pit Road. He didn't hit anything, and the spin didn't result in a caution.



Stock car racing is sometimes referred to as "Taxi Cab Racing" and at Pocono, we had a car that actually looked like a taxi cab. It's AJ Allmendinger's ride - Andrew Murstein, one of the owners of Richard Petty Motorsports, is president of Medallion Financial. The company is an investment company which specializes in loans to taxi owners. The car was painted to resemble the markings on current New York City taxis.



Pit stops are always crucial in a NASCAR race, but take on extra importance at Pocono. With its 2.5 mile length, and three different corners, Pocono sees teams employ a variety of different pit strategies to gain an advantage.





Time to make the donuts...Jeff Gordon celebrates after taking the checkered flag.



Sunday marked Gordon's 84th career win in NASCAR's premier division, tying him with Darrell Waltrip in career wins. Despite what NASCAR says, he still needs one more win to equal Bobby Allison's career total.

Naval Aviation at the Air Show

2011 marks the Centennial of Naval Aviation, with a variety of activities scheduled to celebrate the anniversary. As part of the festivities, the US Navy sent a gaggle of aircraft, including two in special anniversary markings.

Here is an F/A-18C that spent the weekend.



And a pair of E/A-18G Growlers were in attendance, including one in special colors.





And for the Grumman fans, this old Prowler was in the house.



And finally, the Super Hornet demo team performed. These Bugs are loud when the depart!

Jones Beach Air Show

Another year of the Jones Beach Air Show is in the books. While the show missed the USAF Thunderbirds (heading to their European tour) and the F-22 Raptor (grounded for safety-related issues) it turned out to be another outstanding performance.

The star of the show was Fifi, the only B-29 Super Fortress flying in the world. Fifi beat the setting sun to Republic Airport on the Wednesday prior to the show.





The American Airpower Museum once again hosted the air show participants, which included the B-17 Yankee Lady, the A-10 East Demo team, the F/A-18F Super Hornet Demo team, as well as several civilian performers and War Birds.



Here, the A-10 returns to Republic...in more ways than one. The airport had been home to the Fairchild Republic Corporation, which had a long, rich history of building aircraft for the US Air Force, and the Army Air Corps before that. The A-10 was the last aircraft produced by FRC at Republic.



Stay tuned - there's lots more air show to come in the days ahead!

Air Show is Upon Us!

Along with the unofficial start of summer, Memorial Day weekend also brings the annual Jones Beach Air Show. Once again, the roar of jets and the rumble of piston engines will fill the skies over the Island. The first participants will be arriving at Republic Airport in the next few days, preparing to thrill the crowds at the beach. The show seems a bit light this year, without the USAF Thunderbirds, who are off to Europe, or the F-22 Raptor, on a safety-related stand-down from performances. Instead, we'll just have to make due with more warbirds. The flock from the American Airpower Museum will be joined by "Yankee Lady", a B-17 that is a frequent show participant. This year we will also be treated to "Fifi", the only B-29 flying in the world. "Fifi" returned to the skies last summer, and this is her first visit to Long Island in seven years.

Coinciding with the air show is the US Navy's Fleet Week in New York City. A fleet of naval vessels will be joined by fighter aircraft, helicopters, and thousands of sailors. An early arrival for Fleet Week is the only flying replica of Eugene Ely’s 1911 Curtiss Pusher. The aircraft is touring the country to celebrate the Centennial of Naval Aviation, and is spending some time at Floyd Bennett Field.

In Light of Recent Events

On Location - Republic Airport

Republic Airport was the setting last month when a television film crew shot scenes for a new show. "Pan Am", a pilot episode for a series about the life and times of the flight crews of that storied airline, filmed at the airport in early March. To set the scene, a restored DC-7 airliner was flown up from Florida, spending nearly two weeks on Long Island.



No, you aren't seeing things - that airplane says "Eastern Air Lines" on it. Those are the original markings of the DC-7, in which it was restored. As part of the Hollywood "magic", temporary Pan Am markings were applied to the port side of the aircraft...





For filming, the ramp at Republic acted as a stand-in for Cuba, circa 1960, with the Pan Am aircraft and crew flying refugees out as Castro came into power.



The Airpower Museum's C-47 even got a "walk on" role...







After two all-night filming sessions, the DC-7 headed home.

April Fool!

Yes, it's been more than a month since I've posted here. No reasons why - well, no good reasons why...

I have been staying busy, between job search and photography, and waiting for Spring to arrive. We did get some great news recently. The American Airpower Museum is safe! Its location near one of the runways at Republic Airport placed it in updated FAA Runway Safety Zones, and it was under the threat of being torn down. The FAA originally said funding was available to rebuild the hangar, but three years ago reversed that decision. Thanks to the tireless efforts of Senator Charles Schumer, Congressman Steve Israel, other officials, and museum staff, the FAA agreed to not require the demolition of the museum's historic hangar, and has changed its course on the question of funding, now saying that airport funds will be available to the museum. The details still need to be worked out, but the museum is safe. It would have been an unspeakable tragedy to lose this magnificent piece of American history.



Josephine Raichele, who helped build P-47 fighters during World War II in what is now the museum hangar, with Senator Schumer and Congressman Israel following the March 21 announcement.