2012 Oshkosh Air Show- US

[johnorun]

I love World War II airplanes and I went to the world famous Oshkosh Air Show yesterday and saw lots of old an new Aircraft technology on display. In addition to the exhibits of hundreds of planes on the ground, there were spectacular shows in the air, including a re-enactment of Tora!Tora! Tora!, the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (with real explosions) and a giant flying 1939 German JU-52 tri-motor.
I took these pictures before my camera battery died and I'll add more that I took from my cell phone camera once I get them uploaded.

Under the wings of a vintage B-25 Mitchell bomber are two surviving crew members (in the white shirts) of the 1942 "Doolittle Raid" that attacked Japan after Pearl Harbor. they are 91 and 97 years old.



P-51 Mustang, Japanese Zero and the nose of a beautifully restored B-17 Superfortress.


This P-38 Lightening fighter ("Glacier Girl") was part of the "Lost Squadron" that was forced down onto the Greenland icecap, while on its way to England in early WWII. It was discovered and recovered from under 250 feet of ice in 1992 and was perfectly restored to flying condition after ten years of volunteer work.



New Pics:

1939 German JU-52 tri-motor and a small drone



Inside the giant C5A Galaxy transport. There is a deck above this one that seats 75 people!


Air refueling tanker and its cockpit panel:


Vintage Canadian jet:


For only $5 donation I got to tour the inside of this restored B-17 Flying Fortress called "Yankee Lady".
@John, there were lots of guns on this one!:

[CPUShack]

WW2, arguably the best era in aviation.

The sound a radial is hard to beat.

[kosmokrator]

Yeeaahhhh !!!!

[Robev]

There is nothing quite like the sound of a Merlin Engine....Beautiful

[smithy]

Awesome show...wish I had been there!

We have the Temora Air Museum (http://www.aviationmuseum.com.au/), which has a big collection of flying military aircarft. They fly 3-4 different planes every 2 weeks on open days, and I recently saw a Spitfire fly for 20 minutes...supercharger screeching at it went by. One of the most awesome planes to see fly.

[Robev]

I remember when I was a kid of about 9 or 10 years of age they were having an airshow in the town where I lived.
I climbed up on our Shed Roof, it was a flat roof, and was busy watching and really enjoying it when all of a sudden a Canberra Bomber passed over the top of me from behind. I never heard it coming and I swear it was only a hundred feet or so high. I got such a fright I jumped off the Shed Roof.
My Knees have never been the same since.

My Inlaws used to live in Luggate, just outside of Wanaka Airport when they started the Airshows their about 20 odd years ago. I used to watch the Spitfires & Mustangs from the Balcony when they were flying even when the airshow was not on.......Great Stuff.

I shouted my son, who was about 10 at the time, a ride in a North American Harvard after the first airshow had finished. When he arrived back on the ground he was literally Green.

On a sadder note I saw Tim Wallace crash his Spitfire on Take Off at Wanaka Airport a few years later. He was very lucky to survive.

[johnorun]

More pics added in first post above.

[johnorun]