Early morning shot of the USS Carl Vinson in port at San Diego Harbor. This is the third of the Nimitz Carriers to come out. She is named after congressman from Georgia in recognition for his contributions. This carrier while having a long and illustrious carrier is also the carrier the F-35c fell off into the South China Sea. 
Shot with the Sony A7RIV and the Sony 24-105 Lens.
F-35c on a knife edge pass with her payload doors open.
Caught a couple of commuter planes while I was out on a weekend watching planes come and go. A Southwest and Delta flight landing at the Ontario Airport. Liked the background of the mountain with snow on it and tried to get some blur to create some separation between the jet plane and the mountain behind. There is a nice area to shot the planes on landing outside of the airport.
The P-40 designed in 1938, actually went into production in 1940. It wasn’t the fastest nor could it fly the highest. However Curtiss was able to produce some large numbers and make it available quickly. In the United States Army Air Corps, we needed an airplane now. Curtiss was able to deliver that. This aircraft would actually serve with all of the allies in all theaters of combat of the Second World War. It was powered by an Allison engine, which is a single-stage supercharger. So one of its disadvantages was that it couldn’t fly very well above 15,000 feet because the air got too thin. But at 15,000 feet below, this aircraft was a handful for enemy aircraft and that’s what made it really successful. So it went into mass production right around the spring of 1940 and Curtiss was able to make it in very large numbers which became hugely important because at Pearl Harbor and the invasion into South Pacific, this was the aircraft that was used to defend our country. And it was effective, if you kept it just below the 15,000 feet level, it served with the first volunteer air group over in China. And that’s where it had its distinctive, shark mouth opening. So underneath that and inside there, you have two radiators for the engine coolant. And you also have a radiator for the engine oil, which is very important. Again, it would fly for all of the allies in the country. And especially in North Africa, where high altitude was not really all that big a necessity. And that’s how this aircraft is painted. Most of us are familiar with the star we’ve seen on Army Air Corps in the past. And this one has a golden ring around it. And that is symbolic of the battles that were going on in North Africa. They had 6 50 caliber machine guns which made it very deadly. It could also carry 1500 pounds of ordinance. In combat in the air, the aircraft could be very effective especially with working in pairs which became one of the ways it was able to tackle the zero. The zero could outturn this aircraft, but this aircraft here could actually outturn some of the Allied fighters. A little bit different than the Merlin, because their displacement is slightly different, and obviously the turbocharging is also slightly different in them, but it is very distinctive. Now the same engine was also in the P38. But in that format, it actually had turbocharging. So Allison got a bad rap about not being good about 15,000 feet. But it was just a choice that the United States Army Air Corps made to not turbocharge this engine. Because in the P38, it was very effective. Up to 30,000 feet and beyond. This machine is also a veteran having shutdown a Fugu Balloon after the war.
I was out at the Ontario Airport plane spotting over the weekend. I noticed two other photographers out there looking into a field. I drove over to check out what they were doing. They were shooting burrowing owls near the airport. Turns out there is a habitat for them and there are several different areas in this field that they raise their young. Burrowing owls spend most of their time on the ground hunting small animals and insects. They took over the burrows of ground squirrels and prarire dogs.
A couple of shots of the VF-125 flying their demo of the F-35c at the Pacific Airshow.
A couple of shots of the Thunderbirds from the 2022 Pacific Airshow. Diamond formation, taken with the A1 and the Sony 200-600 lens.
The Fabulous Thunderbirds in the Echelon formation with the moon in the background. This was taken during the 2022 Pacific Airshow in Huntington Beach.
It was an overcast and slightly rainy day at Bolsa Chica the last time I was out. I walked the area and caught some birds in flight and getting their morning breakfast. During the time out the sun never made an appearance, so while it was basically a white box for the whole shoot and no highlights, it didn’t make for great photography. I was out with the Sony 200-600 and the A1. Granted I didn’t really need the high frame rate of the A1, the 200-600 is always a nice lens to shoot with.
Planes of Fame has a new temporary visitor. This is a restored and registered 1962 Folland Gnat T.1 that flew with the RAF Red Arrows demonstration team from 1972 to 1979. The Gnat is a plane that could break Mach 1 when in a dive. It was built as a low cost fighter, that ended up never seeing service.
Joseph Jenkins 