Baby Duck is gone.

Saw this report of a plane crash. Happened this past Sunday in Kansas.

2 dead after plane crash in Atchison County

Only two people were on board the plane when it crashed. The pilot, 64-year-old Vlado Lenoch of Buff Ridge, Illinois, and the only passenger, 34-year-old Bethany Root of Atchison, Kansas, were both killed in the crash. Root is the general manager of the Amelia Earhart Airport.

An Atchison County Sheriff's Department official said it appears the crash happened at a high rate of speed. The impact left a large debris field in its wake.

The official said he thought it was intended to be a short, local flight and the plane crashed with 10 to 15 minutes of take off.

Officials believe the plane is a P-51 Mustang. It flew in the air show for the Amelia Earhart Festival Saturday evening.

A National Transportation Safety Board official said a witness described the plane flying 25 to 30 feet above power lines shortly before the crash. The official isn't sure if the plane clipped the lines but the witness said the plane suddenly pitched up and rolled to the left before hitting the ground in a deep descent.

Not much left.

But a P-51? Damn. It was Baby Duck.

USA: Two killed in P-51 Mustang crash


I saw Baby Duck in August, 2012, at Thunder Over Michigan.

This was the year I took my father. It was one of the last things we did together before he passed.

That's him with the camera. It was a great day.


I saw Baby Duck again the next year, same place, this time there with Aaron of the Shekel.

Now it's gone. Gone for good, along with it's pilot and a passenger, neither of whom likely realized that they were taking their last flight that morning. Sadness.

Just Plane Cool

I got to KNEW this morning right when they opened. Had to get there early to get my pics before all the people who have been put n this earth specifically to get in front of whatever I want to take pictures of could show up.

Here's a nifty C-47.

And a T-6 Texan.

Bell P-63 King Cobra, one of just four left.

A P-40.

A Goodyear FG-1D. (WANT!!!)

A General Motors-built version of the Grumman F4F Wildcat known as an FM-2.

Supermarine Spitfire Mk9.

Can't have an airshow without a P-51 Mustang or three. (There were two here.)

Grumman TBM Avenger.

The B-17 that has been taunting me the last two days.

And Fifi, the B-29.

Yeah, this was gonna be a good day. No power in the 'verse could mess this day up. And these are just a prelude of pics to come.

More National Museum of World War Two pics

Their Boeing building looks like my room when I was a kid--airplanes hanging from ther ceiling everywhere. Only there aren't models.

Four levels of airplanes hung from cables, with observation decks so you can see 'em fairly close.

Above, this Douglas Dauntless looks like it's about to dive-bomb some Toyotas out in the parking lot.

And this Corsair--an F4U-4 variant--is coming in for a landing.

There's a beautiful Grumman TBM Avenger here, too.

You can look right down and into it's cockpit.

There's a gun-nose B-25 Mitchell here.

And a whole B-17.

The B-17, an E model, was one that crash-landed in Greenand during the war. It was recovered in the 90's and brought here for restoration. Story here.

And last but not least--a P-51D Mustang.

Head back into their other building--the main one--and they've got this C-47 on dispay that actually flew in here to be preserved after more than sixty years of flying military and civilian cargo.

This engine is ready to turn over again any time.

And it'g got a Spitfire Mk. V to keep it company.

And yes, all day long I was calculating the tensile strength of those cables...(My weight * xft of drop / long fall to hard floor if performed incorrectly...)

Great day...and just fifteen minutes by bike from my house now.

Warbirds over Washington

Here they are, in all of their (mostly) radial-engined glory.

Some L-4 and O-1 observation birds led the way.

Then came a flight of Stearmans.

Then a pair of Fairchild PT-19 trainers. (Harrison Ford was not in evidence today.)

T-6 Texan time...and SNJs, for you Navy types.

A pair of P-40s put in an appearance, one dcked out in AVG colors.

And three B-25 Mitchells came over low enough to set off a couple of car alarms. Because RADIAL ENGINES!

Next came a beautiful PBY Catalina flying boat.

And a Grumman F4F Wildcat (lower left) escorts a Douglas Dauntless dive-bomber (upper right).

Another pair of Wildcats made a low pass.

Then a Lockheed P-38 Lightning flew past almost to fast to capture.

A B-24 came next, escorted by three little friends of the P-51 Mustang variety.

And four more very photogenic Mustangs followed.

They were clearing the way for two Boeing B-17 bombers.

Then it was a couple of Douglas DC-3s, better known in military parlance as C-47s.

Next, a Curtis SB2C Helldiver came over.

He was leading a flight and had a Grumman TBM Avenger on each wing.

Then came a Douglas A-26 Invader, my favorite attack bomber of all time.

Followed up by my favorite fighter in the form of a pair of Chance-Vought (of Goodyear) Corsairs.

Then Fifi the B-29 made a low pass over Arlington and came on across the river into the District.

Last, but certainly not least, the "Missing Man" flight, composed of (left to right) a P-40, a Corsair, a TBM Avenger and a P-51D.

I got these from the back side of the Lincoln Memorial, and it was well worth the effort to get down there to see this half-hour long parade of aircraft goodness. A special thanks is due to the men and women who made this event happen, because it could not have been easy to coordinate this event and make it come off as smoothly as it did. Out of all of the participating aircraft, only one, a TBM Avenger, had mechanical problems. That one made an emergency landing at Reagan International Airport just south of the District, and it'll be ok.