Dave O'Brien/ Top Gun Photography reports from the 2005 Westfield International Airshow held on August the 27th and 28th at Barnes Air National Guard Base in Westfield , Massachusetts USA. All photographs copyright of the author.

I’ve been going to this Bi-Annual show since 2001. Barnes is the home to the 104th FW which currently flies the A-10 Warthog. Barnes always puts on a great show and this year was no different.

On task with the Golden Knights...

On the Saturday show day morning I made my way right to the PAO office to see if I would have any luck catching another ride and I could’t believe there was room on the Golden Knights Parachute plane for the open jump! The aircraft that they jump from is a C-31A. I was brought over there with a photographer from a local paper. We watched them go through their “dirt dive” where they go through their routine on the ground and then we boarded up. The two door seats were occupied by the two public affairs photographers so I sat next to them. What they do is first climb to 2000ft and makes a pass to figure out the wind direction and speed to figure out which way they need to come in from. They do this by dropping out streamers. Once they get the information they are looking for, they climb slowly to 10,000 ft for the first jumper who is the narrator which was PFC Jared Zell on the morning jump. Once the narrator jumps the aircraft will make 2 more turns to climb to 11,000 ft for the remaining 6 members to depart.  Once they get the “GO” 3 members go out each side door in a split second. After that point the aircraft makes a steep decline and we set up to land. Just when I didn't’t think I could top Friday’s press flight, I get to go and with the Golden Knights parachute team.

The forecast for a beautiful weekend and Mother Nature didn't let me down on Friday or Saturday. I arrived at the base around 9am on Friday morning to catch some of the early morning arrivals which are usually the static aircraft. I saw Reese Dill already up in the air with his T-6. I heard on the scanner an aircraft cleared for take off with the call sign Thunderbird. I thought it was far too early for one of them to take off. I stood up on my car and saw a C-17 at the end of the runway and starting to come right at me. What a sight to see, the Blue Angels have their Fat Albert C-130, and the Air Force uses a C-17 to transport their Airshow needs.

Next inbound was an F-15A from the 102FW at Otis ANGB on Cape Cod . Like most early arrivals, they like “show off” a bit prior to being down all weekend. He did about 3 touch and goes before reluctantly landing for the weekend. I was told by base security that they didn't allow people to park at the end of the runway so I decided to get on early for any other arrivals. I met TSgt Miranda of the 104th PAO and the front gate and she brought me and a few other photographers out to the media area. Due to the rotor traffic moving in and out the static ramp was off limits for people for safety reasons. One wrong turn and one of those rotors would turn this into a bad weekend.  

We caught 2 T-38s from Laughlin AFB arrive. Next up was the Red Bull Mig-17 for his practice. This was the first time I’ve ever seen this plane and he was pretty cool. A C-17 from McGuire came in for 2 quick passes before parking on one of the back static ramps. I then went on my first media flight (see right hand sidebar).

Aerobatic Precision..

I was invited on my first media flight on the Friday, this was very exciting for me. We were in a C-47 and were cleared for take off once the C-17 pulled off the runway. We flew around the Springfield area and then were cleared in to fly by Westover ARB just on the other side of the ridge from Barnes. It was cool to see a ramp loaded with C-5B Galaxies on it. As we came off and headed back to the north our photograph targets were called in. They were 3 acrobatic aircraft, Ed Hammil in the Air Force Reserve Biplane, Michael Goulian in the Castrol Extra 300S and John Klatt in the Air National Guard SD-300. They stayed in formation for about 5 minutes on each side of the aircraft. Every once in a while Ed Hammil would put himself on his side and still stay in formation. The pilots never looked away from the camera; it was amazing to see them stay in formation like that.

Once we landed and got out some more arrivals started showing up. 2 F-16’s from the VT ANG pulled some nice left turns off our end before landing. On was here for the demo part of the show and the other was parked on the static ramp. Then 2 T-45 Goshawks flew in from NAS Meridian with the typical base break for separation. The air was cleared for the Thunderbirds to go up and practice.

I left the base ramp for another spot so I wasn’t shooting into the sun. Here we caught the West Coast F-15 from Eglin take off, he didn’t let anyone down. Even for a practice he really thrilled the crowd that was watching. Full burner pretty much the entire show. Then Ed Shipley in the F-86 Sabre took the air and they formed up for their Heritage Flight. A few C-130s flew in, one from Little Rock and one from Quonset RI. The Little Rock was parked and the Quonset J model went back out for a practice as he would be going up for the show.

By 5pm on Friday not one Navy Fighter had showed up, due to the Navy cutting their fuel budget, it’s been harder and harder to justify sending aircraft to airshows. This removed the S-3 Viking, EA-6B Prowler and 4 F-18s, (2 Marine and 2 Navy). A P-3 Orion did come in later in the day.

The weather on Saturday morning was beautiful. Some clouds were low near the runway which made it tricky for the P-51 to fly in but this all cleared before show time. I enjoyed my first flight with the Golden Knights for their jump.

On arrival back to the base after the drop the Golden Knights aircraft parked on the opposite side of the ramp so instead of going back over to the crowd I was allowed to stay on this side which kept the sun at my back. This was a big advantage to the other people shooting towards the sun, and also gave my pictures a slight different look from everyone else’s. An F-15 from Otis and the F-16 from Vermont were just entering the pattern for about 4 passes. Next were 2 local A-10s who worked the pattern for a few passes and the Jet Truck.

Then Reese Dill in his T-6 and the C-130J demo was launched next for some high speed passes in the pattern. A really nice WWII formation flight containing a P-51 Mustang, P-47 Thunderbolt and a B-25 took to the air next. Once they landed a C-5 from neighbouring base came and did 3 passes before departing. At this point I headed back over as the Golden Knights were getting ready to go back up and I wanted to catch them landing on the afternoon jump. 

Around 1pm or so a B-2 from Whiteman AFB flew over for 2 passes, it’s still amazing how quiet this airplane is. The Golden Knights were next with the airfield; I was right behind their landing point and was able to catch the narrator land a perfect landing. I worked my way back towards center point where my chair was to watch the Heritage Flight get ready to take the field. This contained a different P-51 Mustang, Ed Shipley in the F-86 Sabre and the F-15C West Coast Demo piloted by Capt. Joel "Deuce" Hemphill. “Deuce” put on the same great show I caught on Friday for the full crowd Saturday. The nice difference was being able to see the Mustang part of the flight.

After they landed, 4 A-10s from the 104th took the airfield for their “Wall of Fire” demo. This shows how the A-10s will work strafing runs on a target. They pyrotechnics are run on the ground and give a great effect. I missed the large Wall of Fire due to shooting the aircraft in the sky.

The Thunderbirds were the final act and really put on a great show as always. Such nice clean planes against the beautiful blue sky really made for a nice show to watch. This could be the final year for the A-10 Warthog and the 104th FW at Barnes ANGB if the BRAC recommendation is signed off. They requested the 102nd FW of F-15s to be moved to Barnes with Otis being scheduled to close.

Many thanks go to Philippe Colin and the whole PAO office of the 104th FW. I plan on attending this event again in 2006!

Dave O'Brien.