Photo Project: 50 States

We Got Planes!

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EC-135A Airborne Launch Control System (ALCS) – South Dakota Air & Space Museum at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota

Years ago I hung out with a bunch of guys who were pilots.  Some of them owned their own planes – small homebuilt planes or private planes like a Piper Colt or Ercoupe.  I actually got my own private pilot license, although I haven’t actually driven a plane in about 30 years.  Photography is a very economical hobby compared to flying!  But I still like planes, especially big noisy ones. 😉

C-130E Hercules at Scott Field Heritage Air Park at Scott AFB, Illinois
C-130E Hercules at Scott Field Heritage Air Park at Scott AFB, Illinois
C-141B Starlifter at Scott Field Heritage Air Park at Scott AFB, Illinois

One day a bunch of us were talking about going to the annual EAA Fly-In in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.  For a week at the end of July, the EAA “AirVenture” as it is now called, is the World’s Greatest Aviation Celebration®.  Kathy was understandably skeptical about the idea of spending a week at an airport with a bunch of airplane geeks, so she asked, “is there anything to see there besides airplanes?”  One of the guys looked up and said to her in all seriousness, “well yeah, there’s parts!” 🙂

KC-135 Stratotanker at Scott Field Heritage Air Park at Scott AFB, Illinois

We didn’t see many airplane parts on our western road trip, but we did see lots of planes.  We visited the static displays at Scott Field in Illinois and Ellsworth AFB in South Dakota.  There are a few photos here, but for those who need to see more, I’ve posted a gallery of airplane photos on my Adobe Portfolio site.

B-52D Stratofortress at the South Dakota Air & Space Museum, Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota
B-1B Lancer – South Dakota Air & Space Museum at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota
A-7D Corsair II – South Dakota Air & Space Museum at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota

4 thoughts on “We Got Planes!”

  1. I flew on a C130 as a non-crew member when I was in the AF. I’ve also charted the course of many KC135’s, too. That was a long time ago. The planes aged well (better than me). It’s fun to look at these photos, Tom. Nice work.

    1. The C130 has been my favorite plane for a long time. The AF Reserve base here in Charlotte flew 130s until a year or so ago when they switched to C17s. We’re on the approach path to 18L and they usually fly right over the house at about 5,000 feet. Pretty awesome to watch. I don’t mind airplane noise, although a number of my neighbors do! 🙂

  2. Your images brought back some memories. My first assignment after Tech School was a SAC base, Blytheville AFB in Arkansas. It no longer exists and last I knew was not a housing development. We had B-52 and KC-135, both fully loaded at that time.

    1. I had never seen a B-52 up close – I knew they were big but that thing is enormous! I have a couple of photos with Kathy standing by the landing gear and you can hardly see her.

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