2013 Airshows
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Hamilton Canadian Warplane Heritage Airshow Warbird Photo Review
Warbirds at Hamilton Airport, Hamilton, ON- June15-16, 2013 (Photos taken Friday June 14 and Saturday June 15.)  

  This is the third year for the return of the Hamilton Canadian Warplane Heritage Airshow and also my third time there.  The main reason I went this year was the fact that the world's only flying De Havilland Mosquito was going to be present.  It is always an excellent location to see many of the Commonwealth warbirds not normally seen for those of us that live in the U.S. and the show does work to bring in a different aircraft from the States each year.  This year it was the Mosquito, FW-190, ME-262 and Skyraider from the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia.

Also there are some restrictions and issues that still plague the show after three years, some self inflicted and some structural with the location.  The show still is rather stingy with its warbird fly-bys, something that has been an issue for three years now.  The promoter seems to forget that they are putting on an airshow and the spectators they depend on come to see them fly.  Two other issues that are inherent at the Hamilton airport is that there are commercial airliners operating during the show and the fact that there is no dedicated parallel taxiway for runway 6-24, which means all of the show aircraft and airliners have to back taxi on the main runway which eats up time and slows the show down.  So what should be a 3 hours flying show turns into five hours. 

Airfield orientation for photographers:  Facing north with 6-24 as the normal airshow runway. 

The Show before the Show:  Sometimes things just work our like they did for me Friday night before the show.  I had originally planned to arrive at my hotel a mile south of the airport around 7-8 PM but due to a fortuitous change in plans got there around 5 in the evening.  After checking at the hotel I drove over to and parked alongside the south fence which is next to the CWH ramp.  I had no expectation of anything exciting or unusual happening and all I really wanted to do was look at the Mosquito through the chain link fence.  All of this turned out to be the classic right place at the right time!

No sooner had I walked over to the fence to look at the Mossie than the Lancaster next to it fired up its engines. Then the Mosquito fired up.  When the two Spitfires and two Hurricanes started up I realized that the six aircraft were going to go out and practice formation work to be ready for Saturday's event.  Seeing how I was not far from the CWH museum hangar which had all sorts of people around it, I figured the aircraft would fly virtually right over my head.  Due to my position and the weather I consider the following air shots superior to what I was able to get on Saturday.

The first three photos were taken through the chain link fence on Friday night.

The Lancaster taxies out.

This is the first time I have ever seen a Mosquito taxi.

The CWH B-25 was the photo ship for the mission and beat up the ramp while the other aircraft were taxiing out.

Note the open port for the photographer(s).

Lancaster, Mosquito and one of the Hurricanes forming up south of the field.

All the aircraft disappeared and those of us there were looking all around to see where they would be coming from when someone started pointing south.

Perfect!!  Six Merlin powered aircraft.

Just as expected.  Right over head.

This was also a bonus but some distance from my location.  The Hurricane from The Vintage Wings for Canada did an aerobatic routine over runway 6-24.  He was practicing but never performed in the show.

As the fighters were landing we then had a couple of three ship formations of B-25, Lancaster and Mosquito.

Then the B-25 and Mosquito.

 Fighter Break!

Another of the aircraft I had journeyed to Hamilton to see.  Seeing this FW-190, the ME-262, and the Mosquito here in Hamilton was again timely and fortuitous for many of us.  Several days after the show we found out the three of them along with all the other 70 aircraft in the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia were up for sale.  This aircraft was one of the first purchased and is now owned by the Tillamook Air Museum in Oregon.  The sale of these aircraft presents a problem for the Hamilton Airshow in that many of the non Commonwealth warbirds at the show were being provided by the Military Aviation Museum.

There was no way to get a clean shot of the ME-262 from the fence line.

The Saturday Show:  The day started with lots of sunshine which made for great portraits of the aircraft on the flight line.  The weather would degenerate into overcast later in the day.

Focke-Wulf 190.

The Me-262.

This Douglas Skyraider is now for sale as part of Military Aviation Museum collection that is being liquidated.

This is a really, really clean engine cowling and forward fuselage for a Skyraider.  

This is something I don't remember seeing before.

One of two Fairey Fireflies in North America.  The Firefly is a WWII two seat fighter that typifies some of design philosophy of the British during the war to have a second crewman in the aicraft.

The most photographed aircraft at the show, no doubt.  The question now is who will the new owner be?

This is the third year this CS2F-2 has been on display as part of its return to flight restoration.  The paint was stripped right after the 2012 airshow and now both engines have been rebuilt and re-hung.

The four aircraft pictured here took off and flew before the official opening of the show with the flag jumps.  We could have used another show pass or two with these.

Flag jump for the show opening. 

The C-47 jump plane landing at Hamilton.

Listening on the aviation scanner, air boss called for the Lysander to take off and land, so this photo is the take off and not a fly-by.

The Canadian Harvard Formation Team is a staple at many airshows in Canada and always puts on a great show.

Back again for 2013 was the Canadian Forces CP-140 Demo.

The FW-190 takes off for the first time at Hamilton.

Followed by the Messerschmitt 262.

Returning to Hamilton again this year was the CF-18 for it's superb demo.

The Canadian Snowbirds put on an excellent 45 minute demonstration of precision formation aerobatics with nine aircraft.  During the Snowbird presentation the blue skies disappeared and it became overcast.

Back again for his second visit to Canada was Matt Younkin in his 1943 C-45. Matt spends most of his time down low for the crowd unless he is out turning around.

 Here he is setting up for the photo pass.

Matt runs both smoke generators the entire time he is flying, and between the overcast and the residual smoke not being blown away as there was not much wind at the time, his smoke actually reduced the visibility for a while.

The centerpiece of the CWH's collection is its Lancaster bomber, taking off here for the mass Merlin Flight.

The first official airshow take-off of the Mosquito at Hamilton.

Out to the east there was still some blue sky as the Lancaster and Mosquito give the airshow crowd a formation pass.

But it is airshow gray at show center.

As the aircraft were still on the ramp taxiing out one of the Spitfires discovered it had a flat tail wheel and had to abort for Saturday.  So the six ship quickly turned into a five ship formation. This is why for me and others that were at the airport on Friday night became more important as we got to see the six ship formation.  With the sale of the Mosquito pending, we may never see this combination of aircraft again.

The Lancaster landing on runway 24.

A solo pass by the Mosquito.

Hopefully the Mossie will stay in eastern North America so many of us can see it again.  Or see it for the first time if not at Hamilton 2013.

According to Mickey of Ice Pilots who spent a few minutes talking on the sound system, one of the episodes from Season 6 will include footage from the 2013 Hamilton Airshow. 

Titusville (Tico), FL   NAS Key West, FL   Chino, CA   Indy 500 Fly-Over   Reading, PA WWII Weekend   CWH Show, Hamilton, ONT   Dayton, OH   Muncie, IN   Topeka, KS   Purdue University, IN   Thunder over Michigan, Belleville, MI   Hillsdale, MI   Marion, IN   Waukegan, IL   Glendale Airport, Kokomo, IN   Rome, GA   Peachtree City, GA   Houston, TX   Urbana, OH B-25 Gathering   B-25 Doolittle Memorial Fly-over at Dayton, OH