This is a subscription only section
Want to read more? It's only €10/year.
No account yet? Just Create an account first and head to the shop
This is a subscription only section
Want to read more? It's only €10/year.
6 - 7 October 2012
| The Alliance Air Show 2012 was held this year at 6 and 7 October at the Alliance Airport north of Fort Worth, TX. This |
| year the show hosted two military demonstration teams, the Canadian Snowbirds and the USAF Thunderbirds, which is |
| quite rare in this part of the world where there are only three teams around. The last time the Snowbirds performed at the |
| Alliance Air Show was in 2005. The Snowbirds performed around one o’clock while the Thunderbirds were the final |
| act, of course. New to the line-up this year was Tora Tora Tora, which is a realistic re-enactment of the December 7, |
| 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor that preceded the United States involvement into WWII. As one of the most popular performing |
| teams on the air show circuit, Tora Tora Tora’s performance includes strafing Japanese “Zeros” and dive-bombing |
| “Kate” aircraft along with a thunderous pyrotechnic display and an emotional narration. Although you could be fooled |
| by their colour schemes and matching appearances including torpedoes and bombs, these aircraft are almost all thoroughly |
| rebuilt Harvard war birds. Six of these aircraft were rebuilt and used during the making of the movie with the |
| same name in 1972. Afterwards, the aircraft were donated to the then Confederate Air Force and assigned to the Gulf |
| Coast Wing. With these aircraft this team started to work on a routine and were ready and performed at the Galveston Air |
| Show in 1972. During this year’s Alliance air show, the team was divided into three flights, one with four Zero aircraft |
| which circled the display line for strafing attacks, one with three Val bombers which performed very low level torpedo |
| attacks along the display line while one Kate bomber performed his dive bombing attacks on the display line. During |
| these attacks, the Tora Bomb squad, consisting of about 15 volunteers, performed their magic, matching |
| the attack profiles of above mentioned aircraft with associated explosions. During the last formation |
| attack of this demo team, the well-known Wall of Fire was detonated, always impressive. Another |
| impressive performance was given by the three bare metal F-86 Sabres of the Horseman Flight Team. |
| Piloted by three very experienced war bird pilots, including the owner of Fighter Rebuilder LLC and |
| president of the Planes of Fame Air Museum, the routine included many very tight formations. Later |
| in the show, one of the Sabres took its position in the USAF Heritage Flight, together with the P-38 Lightning |
| and the F-4E Phantom II. The static was a bit difficult to photograph, especially the larger aircraft |
| but included some nice aircraft. The Hind attack helicopter belongs to the Cold Air War museum located |
| close by in Lancaster, TX and still shows its Bulgarian colours. Fort Worth JRB sent only one Hercules, while |
| Andrews AFB based 201st Airlift Squadron sent both their operating types, including the quite rare C-38A Courier, in |
| civil life known as the Gulfstream G100 or IAI Astra SPX. And of course the wonderful Dallas based Cavanaugh museum |
| was present with many of their flying warbirds. |
| Static: | |||
| 71-0295 | A-7D | preserved | nose only |
| 86-0124/DY | B-1B | 28th BS |
| 61-0029/BD | B-52H | 93rd BS/AFRC |
| 61-0040 | B-52H | preserved | nose only |
| 69-0020 | C-5A | 68th AS |
| 94-1569 | C-38A | 201st AS |
| 02-0201 | C-40C | 201st AS |
| 85-1362 | C-130H | 181st AS/TX ANG |
| 62-3556 | KC-135R | 756th ARS/AFRC |
| 78-0561 | F-15D | 114th FS |
| 89-2037/OK | F-16C | 125th FS |
| 90-0748/OK | F-16C | 125th FS |
| 70-2412 | F-111F | preserved | nose only |
| 90-26228/DR | HH-60G | 305th RQS/AFRC |
| 92-0338/RA | T-1A | 99th FTS |
| 05-3804/XL | T-6A | 434th FTS |
| 65-10361/WM | T-38A | 394th CTS |
| 68-8143/RA | T-38C | 100th FTS |
| 164111/NA-604 | E-2C | VAW-125 |
| 761532/AF-116 | F-5N | VFC-111 |
| 163310/QH-3310 | KC-130T | VMGR-234 |
| 165498/A-155 | T-45C | VT-7 |
| 165633/B-201 | T-45C | TW-2 |
| 167089/B-311 | T-45C | TW-2 |
| 167099/B-321 | T-45C | VT-21 | special colours |
| 158926/LK-926 | P-3C | VP-26 |
| N679FE | A310-F4 | FedEx |
| N7BS | BeE18S |
| N2036F | Bell 206L4 | Bell Helicopters |
| N8159 | Bell 206B3 | Bell Helicopters |
| N407BP | Bell 407 | Bell Helicopters |
| N985MB | Bell 412EP | Dept. Of Justice | 36390 |
| N470BH | Bell 47G-4A |
| N4817C | Ce172 | Civil Air Patrol |
| N8152A | Ce170B |
| N226TM | CeT182T |
| N106TX | Da20-C1 |
| NX118NX | Mi-24D | ex Bulgaria 118 | 150153 |
| N720N | Spartan C3-225 |
| N3632F | SNJ-5 | ex USN 85022 |
| Hangar: | |||
| 65-10428/XL | T-38C | 87th FTS | |
| Warbirds flightline: | |||
| N9643C | B-25J | ex USAAF 44-86758 | |
| N79MM | BeE33C |
| N1592L | BeA36 |
| N67208 | BT-13A | ex USAAF 41-11297 | Aichi D3A Val replica |
| NX1F/FU-756 | CL13B Mk6 | ex CAF 23671 |
| N18P/”86960/17” | FM-2 | ex USN 86956 |
| NX860AG/FU-666 | F-86F | ex USAF 52-4666 |
| NX186AM/FU-012 | F-86F | ex USAF 52-5012 |
| N2047/310 | Harvard Mk IV | ex CAF 20292 | Nakajima B5N Kate replica |
| N9097/AI-112 | Harvard Mk IV | ex CAF 20367 | Mitsubishi A6M Zero replica |
| N15797/AI-114 | Harvard Mk IV | ex CAF 20408 | Mitsubishi A6M Zero replica |
| N4447/AI-111 | Harvard Mk IV | ex CAF 20450 | Mitsubishi A6M Zero replica |
| N5XV | O-2A | ex USAF 67-21334 |
| NL38TF/120 | P-38L | ex USAAF 44-53095 |
| NL51JC/9D-J | P-51D | ex USAAF 44-72339 |
| N8224Y | Pa30 |
| N3725G/AII-356 | SNJ-5 | ex USN 84875 | Nakajima B5N Kate replica |
| N9820C/AI-118 | SNJ-6 | ex USN 112178 | Mitsubishi A6M Zero replica |
| N3242G/AI-313 | AT-6D | ex USAAF 41-34527 |
| N828JC | T-28D | ex USN 140012 |
| Flightline: | |||
| 72-1478/TD | QF-4E | ||
| 74-1627/HD | QF-4E |
| 165913/AD-227 | F/A-18F |
| 165934/AD-226 | F/A-18F |
| NX385AF/1 | T-38A |
| CT-114 of 431sq/Snowbirds: | |||
| 114009/7, 114013/1, 114081/9, 114085/11, 114090/6, 114109/10, | |||
| 114131/4, 114141/2, 114143/8, 114146/5, 114149/3 |
| F-16C/D* of USAF ADS/Thunderbirds: | |||
| 91-0413/3, 91-0466/-, 91-0479/4*, 92-3880/6, 92-3881/5, 92-3896/2, 92-3898/1, 92-3908/3, | |||
| Other side: | |||
| 66-4359/XL | T-38C | 87th FTS | |
| FedEx platforms: | |||
| N735FX | Ce208B | FedEx | |
| N481FE | B727-227 | FedEx |
| N718FX | Ce208B | FedEx |
| N994FE | Ce208B | FedEx |
| 64-13266/EN | T-38C | 469th FTS |
| N33VW/C8 | C-47A | ex 43-15935, as “320401” |
Made by Piet Luijken, Ben Uffen
As a member you get access to all our
premium content and benefits learn more