AirshowStuff Forums

Dan Gagnon wrote: ↑Sun May 15, 2022 11:13 pm A comment about the show. I must say, I was disappointed in the lack of B-1 stuff. The 2 ship B-1 was cool, and so was the missed approach, but for it being their home show, AND being the 35th Anniversary of the B-1 at the base, AND the 75th anniversary of the USAF, I really expected more from the hometown boys. There was not 1 high speed, wings swung back pass by any of the B-1s that flew.

Is there a reason for this? Are there restrictions on the aircraft?

When I planned this trip, I really was expecting the B-1s to be the centre piece of the show (other then the Blues). Unfortunately I was left let down.

That really sucks!! Makes no sense at all... I would be quite miffed if I had traveled all that way with no zoom and boom as well.

As for the Ellsworth B-1 flyovers, Global Strike Command (USAF) only allows and approves certain flight profiles for the B-1. While there are numerous flight profiles for the unit to choose from, it is ultimately the approval of Global Strike that sets which profile that will be allowed to be flown for a public demonstration. The flyovers at Ellsworth consisted of THREE of these approved profiles.

1) Combat Departure
2) 2-Ship Slow Speed Flyby
3) Missed Approach with Full Stop

David Schultz, President
David Schultz Airshows

I was a little bummed too about no high speed B-1 passes and I wish the B-52 would have done a few more because you can never have enough BUFF, but I had a great time and am glad I made the trip out! Would go again. I saw a lot of birds I’d never seen fly, or haven’t seen since I was a kid. Here are a few early photos.

I have to admit, I am pretty disappointed with the show specifically because of the B-1s. I spent lots of money to see B-1s do some cool shit, and got...a few takeoffs. I have literally seen airliners put on better demos - even the B-2 flew harder. I am glad I got to see the area (BEAUTIFUL!) and I guess now I can say I've been to Ellsworth, but as shows go I wish I had spent my travel budget elsewhere.

My assumption was that the limitations placed on the B-1 fleet a couple years ago were coming in to play, so I appreciate that confirmation David. I feel bad for the pilots who no doubt wanted to show off. I still can't believe I never saw the wings swept back even a degree at their home show.

My other big complaint is that the speakers were ridiculously too loud. Even sitting between speakers, I had to yell to the people next to me. The kicker is that even when they were uncomfortably loud, the dude came by - while wearing ear muffs - and turned them louder to the point they were distorting. At several points I actually could not hear the aircraft flying at all. It is completely unnecessary and just makes the whole day unenjoyable.

Not a good show for photography with the backlighting (which I knew coming in) and the distance to the runway and even the civilian acts. It looked like everyone just used the 1500 foot line. The backdrop was great and I wish I could have taken better advantage of it.

I thought the layout was good, although I never ventured all the way down to the heavies. I heard the plan for kicking people out of the Blues box was improved by Sunday. Only a few VIP tents and lots of general crowd line. I was fortunate to not have trouble getting in/out but I know many did. It was cool to finally see the cockpit of a B-1 again, something like 15 years after I got to see it the first time.

Finally I want to say a huge thanks to base Public Affairs for helping me with access! I think I managed to get a few videos from practice day so I'll look at those this week.

Drove from NY for the show and I really enjoyed it. Obviously would have been great to see even more of the B-1 in action, but I'll gladly take any opportunity to see them as it doesn't happen too often. I liked the variety of performers, and great to see a P-38 flying as it's been a few years. The bomber trio flight was a first for me, "Spirit of Mississippi" was also a first so I'm up to 11 B-2s photographed now! It's a beautiful area, and everyone I interacted with was super friendly, all round it was a nice trip for me.

Have a tonne of photos to go through, but here's a few from both days:

Those are some great photos redjay! What kind of shutter speed did you have for Bert to get the full prop blur?

ClickJ wrote: ↑Thu May 19, 2022 9:23 pm Those are some great photos redjay! What kind of shutter speed did you have for Bert to get the full prop blur?

Thank you! Shutter speed was at 1/100 for that shot.

First of several videos to be posted

RyanS wrote: ↑Mon May 23, 2022 9:26 pm First of several videos to be posted

Nice just hearing the aircraft!

redjay wrote: ↑Tue May 24, 2022 4:41 pm Nice just hearing the aircraft!

I am just glad you can hear anything at all given how windy it was that day!!