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This is my dedication to the science of Aviation.
Starting from when a was a small child, I loved anything that
flew. For my 8th grade graduation gift my father paid to have me pilot a sailplane with the instructor. It was an incredible
experience! Back in '98 I was taken for a 30-minute long aerobatic ride of Englishtown, NJ in a Boeing Stearman. Utterly
spectacular !!! Recently, I piloted a Piper Warrior over the Deleware River for 20 minutes. Though I am not a "pilot" per
say, I do enjoy taking the controls when a licensed instructor is near. My father has recently passed his solo exam and soon
will pass the FAA exam. My hopes are that he will take me up with him. He currently flies at Van Sant Airport in Pennsylvania.
Among the shots are also pictures of airshows. We enjoy the airshows and look forward to seeing (and hearing) the
powerful F-18's blast by on full afterburners. Some of these pictures are from when I lived in Horsham...right down the street
(literally) from the Willow Grove N.A.S. It was similar to having an airshow daily...RIGHT OVER YOUR OWN HOUSE. Needless to
say...I loved it.
Video of My Father Flying <click here>
Video of Mock Ground Attack <click here>
| Prepping the Cessna 150 |
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| My Father prepping the 150 he practices in. |
| "Buzzing the Field" |
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| My Dad showing off while buzzing the field at low altitude. |
| Cessna 140 |
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| The predecessor to the 150. |
| TigerMoth |
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| An old WWI British Fighter |
| Aerobatic ride in a Boeing Stearman |
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| Preparing for my Aerobatic ride in a Stearman. I am in the front seat. |
| A View from a P.O.W. Camp? |
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| Not really. More like a view from RT. 611 at the perimeter during an Airshow at Willow Grove NAS. |
| A-10 Formation |
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| A Squad of A-10 Warthogs passes by overhead. |
| The 2006 USAF Thunderbirds |
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| The F-16 Thunderbirds performing their Fanfare "Pyramid" formation. |
| Thunderbird Criss-Cross |
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| A great vantage point of the T-Birds Crisscrossing one another. |
| Mirror Image |
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| 2 T-birds perform the difficult "mirror image" with one plane inverted. |
| 5-Formation |
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| The T-birds go "full smoke" in a 5-man formation. |
| F-18E "Superhornet" |
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| A Superhornet goes inverted for a nice angle effect. |
| T-6 Formation |
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| A low Fly-by of Texans. |
| T-6 Criss-Cross |
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| A perfectly timed maneuver. |
| Full Squad Formation |
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| A squad of T-6s in formation. |
| MiG-15 |
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| A Rare plane! Russia's 1st Jet-fighter used during the Korean War. |
| Heinkel He-111 |
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| Another Rare plane. A Garman medium-bomber of Word War II. |
| P-51 Mustang |
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| Probably the most well-known WW2 fighter...the Mustang! |
| P-40 Warhawk |
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| This Warhawk is from the famed "Flying Tigers" Volunteer Air Group in China during WW2. |
| TBF Avenger |
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| A Single Engine American bomber during WW2. |
| A T-6 Texan |
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| A WW2 Trainer with an unusual marking scheme. |
| A-4 Skyhawk |
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| An excellent bomber that was in service for many years. |
| Grumman F9F Panther |
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| A Navy Fighter during the Korean War. |
| Sea Dart |
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| This was an experimental plane that could land directly on water. Only 3 were ever built. |
| FJ Fury |
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| The Marine version of the F-86 Sabre. This version was a carrier-based fighter. |
| T-38 Talon |
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| An Advanced Jet Trainer. |
| F14 Tomcat |
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| The Navy's Most Popular Carrier-based Fighter, now retired. |
| F-18A Hornet |
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| The Navy's replacement for the F14 Tomcat. This is one of the earliest versions. |
| F-15 Eagle |
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| The Air Force's "Air Superiority Fighter". |
| C-130 Hecules Landing |
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| One of the joys of living near the Willow Grove N.A.S. |
| P-3 Orion Landing |
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| Another awesome shot, this time a P-3 Orion landing down the street. |
| The "Huey" |
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| More versions were built of this helicopter than any other in the world. |
| The "Jolly Green" |
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| The massive workhorse chopper of the American Armed Forces. |
| The Sikorski UH-53 |
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| Another early Utility Helicopter that was built in many variations with multiple roles. |
Stearman Flight - October 2009
| The "Cannibal Queen" |
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| Th beautiful Boeing Steerman my father and I flew. |
The first weekend in October, my father and I took a flight in a stearman. Flying out of Northeast
Philadelphia Airport, we each had a 30 minute flight. We were given the chance to tour the city, or go north for a basic aerobatic
ride with some ol' fashioned "barnstorming". We both jumped at the chance for the thrill-ride just north of the city's limits.
It was a great flight for both of us. Once above 1,000 feet and about 3 miles north of the city I took the stick and flew
us due north another 10 minutes. Once there, the instructor flew a 360° wing over and when completed allowed me to do
the same (which I did quite proficiently).
Then came the barnstorming. Pushing the throttle full to gain some altitude, the instructor
nosed down in a shallow dive from 2,500 feet. Leveling off at treetop level we buzzed the target barnhouse at almost 170 mph.
What a rush!!! It was so much fun we came around to do it again.
After landing, my father and I exchanged stories. We both had similar experiences and above
all, a great time. Next time we go, my son will have a turn in the cockpit.
| Ready for Takeoff |
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| My father readying up during the pre-flight check. |
| "Thumbs up!" |
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| My father gives the Thumbs Up for takeoff. |
| My full approval |
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| Me giving the Thumbs Up - 100% Fully approved fun!!!!!! |
World War II Weekend - 2009
| Ace Flyby |
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| 4 of the best fighters ever built - The Spitfire, Corsair, Mustang and Thunderbolt. |
World War 2 Weekend
The weekend of June 5 through June 7, my father and I drove out to the
Reading Airport for their annual World War 2 Airshow.
As usual there were some incredible old and rare warplanes flying around.
A few planes that I have never had the chance to see before were the Curtis Helldiver,
the Razorback Mustang and the Spitfire Mk XVIII.
The Helldiver was beyond rare, it is unique being that it's the last operational model in
the world.
All in all it was a great weekend.
| Kevin Russo & My Dad |
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| The World Famous pilot with my Father in front of Kevin's SNJ-6 |
| SNJ-5 |
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| An SNJ-5 preps for takeoff |
| Curtis Helldiver |
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| The only Helldiver in existence preps for takeoff. |
| T-6 Squadron Flyby |
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| A squadron of 4 T-6 Advanced Trainers flying a tight formation. |
| 2 Mustangs Flyby |
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| 2 P-51 Mustangs - an old rare Razorback model and a newer Bubble Canopy Model. |
| A German "Storch" (Stork) observation / STOL plane |
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| This was an effective STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) Observation plane. |
| A German Storch |
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| A closeup of the German STOL observation type plane. |
| An Aeronca 60-TF |
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| An Americans "Grasshopper" STOL / Observation Plane |
| AT-6 flyby |
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| An AT-6 (Advanced Trainer) performs a tight bank during a flyby. |
| The SBD Dauntless |
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| An SBD prepares for takeoff |
| The Curtis Helldiver |
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| The only one of it's kind performs a close flyby. |
| Boeing Stearman |
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| A Stearman trainer displays it's grace in a close flyby. |
| Boeing Stearman Flyby |
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| A close flyby of the Stearman. |
| A Razorback mustang |
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| A very early model Mustang. This is a very rare plane. Later models had a bubble canopy. |
| P-51 Mustang (Razorback) |
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| A rare plane! A very early model of the Mustang. The cockpit blends with the airframe behind it. |
| A corsair preps for takeoff. |
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| Spitfire Mk XVIII |
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| Another rare plane - A very late model Spitfire |
World War II Weekend - 2008
| Battle Damage! |
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| A battered B-17 limps back to the airfield. |
This weekend I celebrated Father's Day alittle early with my Dad at the Reading Airshow. It was "World War 2 Weekend"
on June 6, 7 and 8 and we saw a great airshow with alot of very rare planes. There were alot of fighters and bombers as well
as a rogue A-10 that was showing off. Also present were alot of German Tanks and armored cars.
I got ALOT of great footage that still needs to be added. In the upcoming days I will have video of some pretty cool flyby's
posted.
Some pictures were taken with my camcorder at 30x zoom while the static aircraft on the ground I used my regular digital
camera.
More pictures and video will be posted later on in the week.
| T-6 Texan |
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| A T-6 Texan performs a barrel roll. |
| F4U Corsair |
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| A Corsair takes off to intercept a Jap plane. |
| TBF Avenger |
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| A single engine American bomber on takeoff. |
| A Japanese D3A1 "Val" Divebomber |
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| A Jap divebomber takes off in search of American ships. |
| "Flying Tiger" Curtis P-40 Warhawk |
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| A Warhawk of the American "Flying Tigers" Air Volunteer Group. |
| A Pair of Corsairs |
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| A pair of Corsairs hunts out the Japs. |
| "Val on the Prowl" |
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| A Japanese "Val" divebomber searches for American shipping. |
| Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress |
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| A typical B-17 performs a low level flyby. |
| B-25 Mitchell |
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| A B-25 Mitchell Medium Bomber makes a hard bank for a photo op. |
| P-51 Mustang |
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| Perhaps THE best known aircraft of World War 2. |
| P-47 Thunderbolt |
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| The mighty "Jug" roars off the runway. |
Philadelphia International Airport
| Final Approach |
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| One of many large commercial jets landing. |
| 717 overhead |
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| A perfectly timed shot of a Boeing 717 directly overhead. |
| Lining up for Touchdown... |
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| Another Beoing "heavy" comes in. |
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