Photos and video: Warbirds Over Addison

by John P. Meyer

The big Warbirds Over Addison airshow put on by the Commemorative Air Force and the Cavanaugh Flight Museum drew a big blank on Saturday (May 16): thanks to the day-long rains, all planes remained grounded.

This after the special Friday event celebrating the seasonal rollout of Ol' 927, one of only two airworthy B-24s in the world; that gala drew about 40 WWII veterans who either built, serviced or flew the big bombers during that conflict. (Take a virtual ride aboard Ol' 927 here.)

Hopes were high on Sunday (May 17), and skies turned out to be gloriously blue - perfect flying weather, with light to moderate northerly winds presenting no problem for the warbirds on the tarmac. (Do they still use tarmac? I hope so.)

Some of the photos in the gallery were actually taken on Friday; the video and remaining photos were shot on Sunday.

Two things you'll notice about the video: firstly, Ol' 927 has really squeaky brakes, which kind of adds to its charm, if you ask me; secondly, the frame rate at which I'm shooting makes it look as though the plane's propellers are barely turning even though they're rotating fiercely - as you'll be able to tell by the whine of their revving. (Plus the fact that they're, like, taking off and all.)

Speaking of taking off, there was not a lot of opportunity to see the planes from our vantage point once they became airborne - the Cavanaugh is situated off to the side of the runway. But it was a thrill to see these vintage craft fire up their engines and navigate the taxiway, nonetheless.

Sadly, I had to pull out prior to the firing up of the shiny silver P-51 Mustang, which I'm sure would have been the highlight of the afternoon. Maybe somebody reading this got to see it and can tell me what a chump I was to head home so I could mow the lawn (and post this article) before bedtime.

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