# 2017 European Theatre Day at FHC



## Crimea_River (Aug 24, 2017)

I will be leaving shortly to drive out to Everett Washington for the European Theatre Day air show at the Flying Heritage and Combat Armour Museum. This year's show will feature the newly arrived Mosquito in addition to the other rare flyable warbirds in the collection. Hope to see the 88mm flak gun fire as well!

The weather forecast looks favourable and I'll post some pics perhaps as early as Saturday evening.

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## Jeff Hunt (Aug 24, 2017)

Sounds like a plan.....looking forward to your installments!

Safe travels....

Jeff


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## Robert Porter (Aug 24, 2017)

Make sure some politicians are flying by when the flak gun fires.

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## Airframes (Aug 24, 2017)

Sounds like a good show - looking forward to the pics.


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## Crimea_River (Aug 25, 2017)

Made good time today and arrived at Paine Field at about lunch time. Grabbed a gyro and headed out to see what was going on. Aircraft being towed out to the apron and a photo shoot flight with the Zero and 109. The Zero was the camera ship and had the rear canopy removed for the photographer. The 190 fired up, taxied out with the other two, then turned back for some engine tweaks without taking off. Hopefully they'll get it sorted tomorrow. Anyway, here are a few teasers:






This one was shot through a chain link fence so pardon the grey smudge in the bottom left.

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## Wurger (Aug 26, 2017)




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## Wayne Little (Aug 26, 2017)

Excellent..!


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## rochie (Aug 26, 2017)

Very nice Andy


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## Jeff Hunt (Aug 26, 2017)

Out freaking standing.....if that was the appetizer bring on the main course.

Cheers,

Jeff


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## Micdrow (Aug 26, 2017)

Great shots there Andy


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## Robert Porter (Aug 26, 2017)

Nice shots!


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## Airframes (Aug 26, 2017)

Good stuff Andy, looking forward to more.


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## Crimea_River (Aug 26, 2017)

Thanks guys. It's 6:45am on Game Day, Sun is out and skies are blue. Should be good.

The decision to make will be positioning. The pictures above were taken at just after 4pm local time on the other side of the field from the museum. The runway runs north/south and the flight line is along the runway. With the show beginning at 1pm it will be a toss-up as to where the best pics can be taken and the taxiing shots will all be better on the museum side. A coin toss could be in the offing....


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## Airframes (Aug 26, 2017)

Heads ..................


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## Old Wizard (Aug 26, 2017)




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## Crimea_River (Aug 26, 2017)

Heads wins. Stayed on the museum side and got the below taxi pics which would not have been possible from t'other side. The weather could to have been better for the show though, to be picky, a few clouds might have made for a better background for the flying shots. These will follow shortly as I sort through them plus I have lots of static shots that I may chose to bore you with at the end.

Turns out that whatever issue was plaguing the 190's BMW801 did not get resolved and she didn't fly today unfortunately. The 6 birds seen in the pics below made up the contingent for the short flying display.

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## Old Wizard (Aug 26, 2017)




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## Crimea_River (Aug 27, 2017)

Some spirited passes by the P-47:

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## Crimea_River (Aug 27, 2017)

Unlike the P-47 which reflected the sunlight, the relatively dark uppers of the Spitfire turned out quite dark as it banked away from the sun. The first pic is unmodified and the second has been shopped to lighten shadows, something I don't do as a rule but I've thrown it in for interest.

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## Wayne Little (Aug 27, 2017)

great stuff.


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## Airframes (Aug 27, 2017)

Nice shots Andy.


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## Robert Porter (Aug 27, 2017)

Really nice shots! Thanks for sharing!


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## Crimea_River (Aug 27, 2017)

Thanks guys. I'll be heading down to the Museum of Flight in Seattle before starting the trip back home after lunch. In the meantime, here are a few more select shots.

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## Gnomey (Aug 27, 2017)

Lovely shots Andy!


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## Old Wizard (Aug 28, 2017)




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## Airframes (Aug 28, 2017)

Nice !


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## Wayne Little (Aug 29, 2017)

be nice to see them in the flesh..!


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## Crimea_River (Aug 29, 2017)

Easy enough Wayne. Just get your butt over here.

The flying display was actually VERY short and I realized I have none of the Mustang on its own in flight. It only made the one pass with the T-Bolt and returned so here are just a few more shots of the display and some static shots.

















Sadly, the 190 never flew while I was there. Here she is, cowls open, waiting to be shuffled back into the hanger for work.


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## Wurger (Aug 29, 2017)




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## Crimea_River (Aug 29, 2017)

Across the field from The Flying Heritage Collection is the Historic Flight Foundation which also flies a small number of warbirds. In fact, their Spitfire IX was flown over to the UK in 2015 to participate in the 75th BoB Anniversary show. Though they did not participate in the European Theatre Day show, their P-51B "Impatient Virgin" took off, did a fly-by and landed just prior to the start of the show. The shots are all a bit far away but I did want to post what I had.


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## Robert Porter (Aug 29, 2017)

Nice!


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## Old Wizard (Aug 30, 2017)




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## Airframes (Aug 30, 2017)

Great shots Andy.


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## Gnomey (Aug 30, 2017)

Good shots Andy!


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## Wayne Little (Aug 31, 2017)

I wish Andy....great pics man.....


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## fubar57 (Aug 31, 2017)

Agree with all. Shame about the 190 but whadayagonnadoo. I do like the colors it wears


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## Wurger (Sep 1, 2017)




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## Jeff Hunt (Sep 1, 2017)

Hey Andy. Excellent set of photos especially when one considers it looks like it was some tough lighting conditions. I am no expert manipulator of images but I tried to adjust the lighting on this photo because I think it is excellent. Hope you don't mind.






Cheers,

Jeff


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## Wurger (Sep 1, 2017)




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## Old Wizard (Sep 1, 2017)




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## Crimea_River (Sep 4, 2017)

Thanks guys.



Jeff Hunt said:


> I am no expert manipulator of images but I tried to adjust the lighting on this photo because I think it is excellent. Hope you don't mind.
> 
> View attachment 381876
> 
> ...



No problem Jeff. Once they're on the web, they are fair game as far as I'm concerned. The brightness is a matter of personal taste and I didn't adjust the photo before I posted as I thought it was just right the way it was. I had the camera set at -1/3 stop to compensate for the bright background but as the aircraft flew away from the sun, this didn't matter as much. I'll post a few more static shots to close out this thread soon.


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## Crimea_River (Sep 6, 2017)

Some static shots of the Mossie:


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## Crimea_River (Sep 6, 2017)

..and some of the others. The Mitchell did not fly in the show but did a photo shoot flight earlier in the day.


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## Crimea_River (Sep 6, 2017)

Finally, the museum displayed some of its growing armour displays. The Hetzer and T-34 ran a prepared course and fired their main weapons. The 88 shot off a blank as well.















Here's a short video of the 88:


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## Micdrow (Sep 7, 2017)

Sweet shots!!


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## Wurger (Sep 7, 2017)




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## Airframes (Sep 7, 2017)

Good stuff Andy.


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## Gnomey (Sep 7, 2017)

Excellent shots Andy!


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## vikingBerserker (Sep 7, 2017)

Nice! I love the Hetzer.


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## Old Wizard (Sep 7, 2017)




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## fubar57 (Sep 8, 2017)

With David


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## Jeff Hunt (Sep 8, 2017)

Hoohaw that is sweet.


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## Crimea_River (Sep 8, 2017)

Thanks all. That'll be it for pics. Til next time....


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## Wayne Little (Sep 9, 2017)

Fantastic series of pics Andy.


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## Crimea_River (Sep 11, 2017)

Cheers Wayne.


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## parsifal (Sep 12, 2017)

Loved every shot andy. Thanks for posting them....


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## Crimea_River (Sep 12, 2017)

Thanks Michael. My pleasure.


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