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Mustang Air to Air: The Sequel

JWilsonphoto
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p.701 #1 · Mustang Air to Air: The Sequel

Interestingly, I have been approached by some people who want me to start a YouTube channel. We are just in the planning stages but the direction they would like it go is "Hangar 16" or "HQ". The subject matter would be the people, airplanes, experiences that come and go at the hangar and my relationships in the aviation and photographic communities and how those came about and how they blend. The whole thing is a bit foreign to me, but I'll have to admit that it intrigues me. I'll keep you posted.

May 14, 2022 at 04:27 PM

JWilsonphoto
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p.701 #2 · Mustang Air to Air: The Sequel

I agree Rob. A bit of bright in the gloom is, McKinney is in the early stages of planning an air show. We are right under the "veil" and there are numerous arrival routes to the north, south and east, so the logistics and approvals will be interesting. There is obviously, San Antonio being a prime example, a lot of pent up demand for air show entertainment, maybe we'll see some ingenuity. There's always OSH, but it's far and very easy to drop several grand plus for a week in cheese country. They will certainly be beneficiaries of the dwindling number of local air shows.

My Buddy Larry Grace is working on a series of cool opportunities over the next year or so for ISAP members. Many of those are military in nature so the groupings will be small, maybe 20-30 people, in some instances half that number. Gone are the days we could bring 100 people to Nellis for a Red Flag, the military just doesn't have the manpower to accommodate groups like that any more.

I shoot Thunder Over Cedar Creek for Randy Ball almost every year, and it's a great cause, but photographically it's a very tough venue, and I can be pretty much anywhere that I want to be. Light is tough, perspectives are challenging, and the last couple of years weather has been a little dicey. Tyler had the potential for a great event but the powers that be threw every wrench in the works possible to mute the success of the show. I don't even know if there will be a repeat.

I'm a combination of spoiled and old so any event that doesn't have a golf cart and a fully stocked volunteer center has become a hard pass as far as I'm concerned. Schlepping gear farther than the back of my Gator causes my interest to fall off the cliff.......

May 14, 2022 at 04:46 PM

Ray Swindle
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p.701 #3 · Mustang Air to Air: The Sequel

Hard to believe air shows in Texas are dwindling. The city of Temple ran the Georgetown gang out of KTPL for the Central Texas Airshow. The city told them they wanted to take over the event, that was two years ago. I don't think they knew how much work and $$$ went into an airshow.

I know what you mean about the fun factor being behind the scenes at airshows Jim. When the 147th FIG, TxANG took over the Ellington airshow after the USAF left the base, we would work the airshow. All the volunteers were volunteer Air Guardsmen. We parked, refueled aircraft and also did crowd control. It was great. I am sure I have relived a view of my tall tales about those days. What a blast they were.

Probably the last baseball game this year...

May 14, 2022 at 06:19 PM

JWilsonphoto
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p.701 #4 · Mustang Air to Air: The Sequel

JWilsonphoto wrote:
Spent most of the day with Joe, getting him rolling with the Adobe Suite and his R5 . So fun to share knowledge with someone so passionate about our craft. When the winds dial back below 25, we are going up to get him some air to air shots of him flying his beautiful Husky. You�ll see them here first!

Mike and Douglas, and anyone else who hasn't been with us since the early days. Joe Dobransky, AKA "The Great Dobransky" is an old friend. Joe had a great little grass strip on the northern edge of Allen that was a slice of heaven. Joe is a 777 International Check Airman for American Airlines and one of the best "sticks" I have ever had the pleasure of calling my friend. I'd hear the rumble of the radial on his "Big Red" Waco over my house and I would immediately know that a meeting was being called to order at "Dobransky International" otherwise know as Kitty Hawk. I discovered Kitty Hawk way back in the late 70's as I was driving out to Aero Country to fly. Something caught my eye and it was a Braniff 727 blazing about 50' above my sunroof on a low pass for the unofficial annual Braniff company picnic. a dozen Braniff pilots got together and bought the ground for Kitty Hawk and built their dream homes on the east and west sides of the 200' wide grass runway. By the time Joe built on the last lot, most of those guys had retired and many had stopped flying so we pretty much had the grass all to ourselves. We'd get four or five of our friends and we'd just fly all day, give rides to the folks who stopped and spread blankets on the grass by the road, fire up the BBQ's and shoot landings til dark, it was heaven.

As many of you know, Joe has a brand new Husky in my hangar and he plans on flying it up to his new digs in the Tetons sometime this summer.

May 14, 2022 at 06:58 PM

Douglas L
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p.701 #5 · Mustang Air to Air: The Sequel

JWilsonphoto wrote:
Mike and Douglas, and anyone else who hasn't been with us since the early days. Joe Dobransky, AKA "The Great Dobransky" is an old friend. Joe had a great little grass strip on the northern edge of Allen that was a slice of heaven. Joe is a 777 International Check Airman for American Airlines and one of the best "sticks" I have ever had the pleasure of calling my friend. I'd hear the rumble of the radial on his "Big Red" Waco over my house and I would immediately know that a meeting was being called to order at "Dobransky...Show more →

Very interesting story, Jim. Thanks for taking the time to keep us new folks informed.

Back in the days when I was a tour guide in China I met some American WWII vets, some of them showed me the �blood chit" clothe issued to American airmen by the Chinese Nationalist government like the one in the picture. The Chinese characters read: "This foreigner has come to China to help in the war effort. Soldiers and civilians, one and all, should rescue and protect him". I distinctly remember a couple from Texas, when I was with them in Guilin, instead of going with the group to do the usual scenic sightseeing, they hired a cab to take them to where the Flying Tiger airfield once was, upon return from their excursion, they happily showed me a bottle of dirt they collected from the field. The husband was in the Flying Tiger in China. I wish I remember their names. Back then I was young and knew little about WWII. The propaganda made it sound like only the communist guerrillas were fighting the Japanese, very little, if anything at all was mentioned about brutal battles the Nationalist army, the Americans and other allies fought in Asia. The truth only started to gradually come out in China in early 90's. I didn't know North Korea started the Korea War until I came to the U.S. in 1990. We were always taught that the Americans invaded Korea. With that background, perhaps I am more wary than average Americans of state-controlled media. Communist China actually has a ministry called "Propaganda Ministry". Pretty soon we will have a "Disinformation Board" in the good old USA too to decide which version of the "truth" is true...

May 15, 2022 at 06:25 AM

nickjohnson
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p.701 #6 · Mustang Air to Air: The Sequel

JWilsonphoto wrote:
The 50/1.2 is due in soon, no news on the 600/4 RF, but that's ok, I'm not looking forward to that discussion with The Office of the Budget..................

OK so we need to �sell� the 600/4 to TOOTB�� Humm �� How about �Well, the 600/4 is an emergency interim solution pending the arrival of the 1200/8 �� well I guess if I put an x2 extender on the 600/4 that will do instead� �.. OK, hat, coat, I�ll see myself out.

May 15, 2022 at 07:16 AM

nickjohnson
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p.701 #7 · Mustang Air to Air: The Sequel

JWilsonphoto wrote:
We are completing a new FBO at McKinney and the city has asked me to meet with them to plan a gallery of my work in the main lobby. The airport manager has a six foot print of "Happy Jack's Go Buggy" that greets him every morning when he comes to work, he'd like to expand on that in the new building, should be fun!

Jim, that is wonderful news! Given the vast number of images you have, curating may be really hard. In my head I have pictures of James III seeing the gallery for the first time. Looking forward to seeing the results!

May 15, 2022 at 07:29 AM

Bill Gass
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p.701 #8 · Mustang Air to Air: The Sequel

An example of the FINE FOLKS on this thread...This is a PM I got from a member of our family here that I have only met one time over ten years ago. Very, very nice gesture. Thank you so much Ray-

May 15, 2022 at 02:40 PM

Bill Gass
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p.701 #9 · Mustang Air to Air: The Sequel

Bill Gass wrote:
An example of the FINE FOLKS on this thread...This is a PM I got from a member of our family here that I have only met one time over ten years ago. Very, very nice gesture. Thank you so much Ray-

I did order a used but in new 10 condition 90D today from B&H so if you want to borrow this Eddie, you're more than welcome to

May 15, 2022 at 02:41 PM

JWilsonphoto
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p.701 #10 · Mustang Air to Air: The Sequel

nickjohnson wrote:
OK so we need to �sell� the 600/4 to TOOTB�� Humm �� How about �Well, the 600/4 is an emergency interim solution pending the arrival of the 1200/8 �� well I guess if I put an x2 extender on the 600/4 that will do instead� �.. OK, hat, coat, I�ll see myself out.

Well Nick, that's an entirely plausible route and not a rationale that I'm unfamiliar with. Problem is TOOTB is acutely wise to me after 52 + 5 years and that tack would be immediately recognized as recycled bull feed and not effective. Ya have to know when you have worn out a line of "reasoning"................

May 15, 2022 at 03:07 PM

JWilsonphoto
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p.701 #11 · Mustang Air to Air: The Sequel

May 15, 2022 at 03:07 PM

JWilsonphoto
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p.701 #12 · Mustang Air to Air: The Sequel

Ok, I don't want a Tesla, or any other "E" powered ground bound vehicle, but I gotta say, I am all in on this beauty..........

&t=52s

May 15, 2022 at 05:18 PM

Ray Swindle
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p.701 #13 · Mustang Air to Air: The Sequel

JWilsonphoto wrote:
That Eddie Ray, he's one in million!

Guess who I learned from "Jim"? Yeah, you taught me well!

May 15, 2022 at 06:01 PM

Danpbphoto
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p.701 #14 · Mustang Air to Air: The Sequel

JWilsonphoto wrote:
I consider most of you here, really just a couple of exceptions, to be very good friends. Mike Brewington said it the other day, "I feel like we've been friends for most of our lives, and we've never laid eyes on each other". If this forum vanished, I would miss you all more than I can express. When you think of it, we've experienced a lot of highs and lows since we banded together here, we've laughed, cried, prayed, lived life together. Heck, I've been blessed to launch off in a couple of B25's with a handful of you, some...Show more →

Well stated an oh so true brother!
RD

May 16, 2022 at 10:34 AM

Danpbphoto
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p.701 #15 · Mustang Air to Air: The Sequel

Douglas L wrote:
Very interesting story, Jim. Thanks for taking the time to keep us new folks informed.

Back in the days when I was a tour guide in China I met some American WWII vets, some of them showed me the �blood chit" clothe issued to American airmen by the Chinese Nationalist government like the one in the picture. The Chinese characters read: "This foreigner has come to China to help in the war effort. Soldiers and civilians, one and all, should rescue and protect him". I distinctly remember a couple from Texas, when I was with them in Guilin, instead...Show more →

I find it very sad that some of our oldest allies have become our worst enemies and that a few of our war torn enemies are now our greatest allies!
Dan

May 16, 2022 at 10:39 AM

Zane Adams
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p.701 #16 · Mustang Air to Air: The Sequel

Jim,

Just checked in after a few days and I see your post about AFW. I have suspected just such a thing, but I tried to make myself believe that it wouldn't ever happen. There have been some great shows at Alliance, and some just so so show, airshows tend to get a bit repetitive after attending them for 50 years.

, but there has always been a show!
All we have locally now is the CAF show in Dallas, it's a Warbird event which is great, but sometimes a fella needs to have his bones rattled by the fast movers.

From what I understand about Carswell/NAS Fort Worth is that they have had a few base commanders that either don't like airshows or don't want the hassle. And it's tough at a joint reserve base, all the commands have to agree and co-operate, timing is difficult, etc. but maybe, just maybe if AFW goes away there will be enough community pressure on the base to have a show.

I hate being pessimistic but reading this put me in a pessimistic mood.

I seem to be developing the mindset that the good times have left us. Maybe it just happens to old guys, I'm now in my late 50's so I count in that demographic.

It doesn't help when violence seems to rule the nation, this inflation is down right scary, pandemics and slow business, food shortages in the greatest nation on earth, etc...

Then I get news from our neighbors in the mountains of New Mexico that the Hermit's Peak fire is a mere 5 miles away and they are on Set status ( in the Ready, Set, Go! evacuation scheme) So our happy place is under threat.

Then we come to our avocation, our FUN is seeming to evaporate underneath our feet as well! I'm missing my 10 years worth of Warbird Radio investment, Airshows being upended, camera changes that may cost more than this meager budget can justify , etc etc.

It just seems to be piling up on Monday... ugh Give me a break!

On the positive side, I have a wife and son that I adore and are on great terms with, I have a job and a nice house, people to enjoy life with, and a faith that transcends all of this human mess...

Sorry for the rant. It just gets to me sometimes.

Peace to all, pray for rain, and carry on!

May 16, 2022 at 01:58 PM

Zane Adams
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p.701 #17 · Mustang Air to Air: The Sequel

On the positive side...Time and opportunity did come together the other day and I caught this beauty departing AFW.

May 16, 2022 at 02:02 PM

JWilsonphoto
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p.701 #18 · Mustang Air to Air: The Sequel

Good afternoon Zane,

Prayers for your happy place! I so empathize with what you are feeling, I think Mark Salvetti said something similar months ago. This is a scary and depressing time to live, but live we must and rest on the Assurance that we have been gifted. There has to be a huge number of people feeling like we feel, oh except for the "81 million" that voted for the complete dismantling of the greatest country that has ever existed. Actually, many of them are dead or non-existent so they aren't subject to the affects of the wonderful world of wokeness.

I hope that you come out to AFW this year, it'd be a shame to miss the finale after all of your years of attendance. My plan is to, hopefully, take advantage of the smaller crowd and even greater access to the teams. The walls of the FBO beautifully tell the Alliance story and I'm hoping that I can cap that tale off with some unique images from 2022.

Keep your chin up, although conservatives have an incredible knack for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. I think, given what has happened since the circus came to town, there will be a substantial shift in November. Then it will be a matter of triage, and assessing just how deep the damage goes and if it's remotely fixable.

May 16, 2022 at 02:46 PM

Danpbphoto
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p.701 #19 · Mustang Air to Air: The Sequel

Zane Adams wrote:
Jim,

Just checked in after a few days and I see your post about AFW. I have suspected just such a thing, but I tried to make myself believe that it wouldn't ever happen. There have been some great shows at Alliance, and some just so so show, airshows tend to get a bit repetitive after attending them for 50 years.

, but there has always been a show!
All we have locally now is the CAF show in Dallas, it's a Warbird event which is great, but sometimes a fella needs to have his bones rattled by the...Show more →

Zane, I am 75 and the hits just keep on a comin' brother!

It's called the "Old Folks Boogie"...The mind makes promises the body can't fill....And it started,for me, way before 75!

Rant on........!
Dan

Edited on May 19, 2022 at 10:49 AM · View previous versions

May 16, 2022 at 05:57 PM

Douglas L
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p.701 #20 · Mustang Air to Air: The Sequel

Something fun to read: https://ymcinema.com/2022/05/16/meet-the-cockpit-lens-behind-top-gun-maverick/

I have owned a number of Voigtlander lenses, still have a 15mm, a 21mm and a 35mm. They are really beautifully crafted lenses.

I will watch this movie in a few weeks in IMAX format. People noticed the bomber jacket Cruise wore in the new movie no longer had the flag of the Republic of China (Taiwan), I am sure they don't want to offend the CCP because Hollywood makes big $$ in China and a lot of Chinese money has also been directly funding Hollywood movies. Money talks...

May 17, 2022 at 04:52 AM

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