Third Annual Gathering of TBM Avengers

[RyanS]

I had a lot of fun yesterday shooting from the open door of the Beech 18! I heard 10 TBMs made it in before the weather closed in. Waking up now, the visibility is way down but I think it's supposed to improve by show time. Hope to see lots of you there!

[kalamazookid]

I was there from 9:45 until about 4:30ish. Haven't looked at photos yet, but a few highlights:

Eleven TBMs made it and all 11 flew at some point during the show. Most we had in the air at once was 10, including four in formation.

Formation passes of A-26, F-86, Wildcat and Corsair (no, that's not a typo) were awesome! Getting to see the A-26 go up multiple times was a nice bonus.

The F4U-7 Corsair that has been painted in AU-1 markings made a few passes but did not land.

This was my first time visiting this event and I will lock it in on my calendar every year for as long as they do it. There was a little frustration early on because I think the volunteers didn't know where the show line was supposed to be and a lot of people were irritated that they had to move their chairs, but once that got sorted out it was great. We ended up hanging out near the south end of the row of Avengers all afternoon. They did a great job keeping something in the air most of the afternoon and incorporating passes from the few late arrivals. Bummer that the morning weather and weather elsewhere kept a lot of the other aircraft away, but there was more than enough on the ramp and in the air to be satisfied with! I wish there was another day to go to tomorrow.

[kalamazookid]

Here are a few of my favorites. What an awesome event!

IMG_2147 by Matthew Vader, on Flickr

IMG_2215 by Matthew Vader, on Flickr

IMG_2232 by Matthew Vader, on Flickr

IMG_2247 by Matthew Vader, on Flickr

IMG_2253 by Matthew Vader, on Flickr

IMG_2281 by Matthew Vader, on Flickr

IMG_2291 by Matthew Vader, on Flickr

IMG_2326 by Matthew Vader, on Flickr

IMG_2363 by Matthew Vader, on Flickr

IMG_2396 by Matthew Vader, on Flickr

[bigt512]

Had a great time at the TBM Gathering. Weather broke right about showtime so the planes that were there were able to fly. Some of the planes did not make it in because of the weather. Had a little bit of an issue with where they were letting people sit but once everyone got on the same program it was taken care of.

[RyanS]

Had a great time at the TBM Gathering. Weather broke right about showtime so the planes that were there were able to fly. Some of the planes did not make it in because of the weather. Had a little bit of an issue with where they were letting people sit but once everyone got on the same program it was taken care of.

Did they end up letting people off the pavement? It didn't look like it. The crowd handling was pretty abysmal especially compared to the first two years. I heard multiple people say they were leaving after getting moved the second/third time. Very unfortunate.

For me, I had a great time overall and appreciate the help of so many people! Hoping to get some videos going tonight but waiting for the files to copy over.

[bigt512]

They were letting people sit in up to the edge of the tents for the airplane rides. So it was maybe 20 feet of the grass. I know that a lot of the photographers were in the grass past the hangers close to the other runway.

[kalamazookid]

They were letting people sit in up to the edge of the tents for the airplane rides. So it was maybe 20 feet of the grass. I know that a lot of the photographers were in the grass past the hangers close to the other runway.

The easy fix would have been to put up a rope with signs that said "No chairs beyond this point" or something similar. If I had brought a chair and set up in the grass, I probably would have been pretty ticked off. But it all worked out for me at least. I'm skeptical that the 500-foot line wasn't already met with the original line, but whatever. If the FAA says jump, the response from the event has to be "how high?" and that's just the way it goes sometimes. I didn't bring a chair because I didn't plan on it being that type of event, so I just stood at the south end of the row of TBMs on the ramp all day and had great views.

[RyanS]

They were letting people sit in up to the edge of the tents for the airplane rides. So it was maybe 20 feet of the grass. I know that a lot of the photographers were in the grass past the hangers close to the other runway.

The easy fix would have been to put up a rope with signs that said "No chairs beyond this point" or something similar. If I had brought a chair and set up in the grass, I probably would have been pretty ticked off. But it all worked out for me at least. I'm skeptical that the 500-foot line wasn't already met with the original line, but whatever. If the FAA says jump, the response from the event has to be "how high?" and that's just the way it goes sometimes. I didn't bring a chair because I didn't plan on it being that type of event, so I just stood at the south end of the row of TBMs on the ramp all day and had great views.

I asked around and never got a clear answer on who made the call to keep pushing people back. I can tell you that the original line was fine the last two years.

Here's a couple quick edits:

[JasonB]

Right after the national anthem, someone with an orange shirt came up to us and said we had to move our chairs 500 feet back because of the air show. We were sitting in the grass area, right on the white line. I didn't hear any announcements over the speakers about the 500 foot line, which didn't make any sense. Also, my friends were watching the veterans parade, and were surprised when I was moving the chairs back. I was told by someone that the FAA showed up and required people move.

Other than that, I had a good time at this event.

[bri_borrego21]

This event was so much fun!! Here's some of what I was able to capture throughout the day!