Air Power Expo 2011 NAS Fort Worth

One of the fastest growing airshows in Texas is the NAS Ft.Worth Air Power Expo 2011. After several years of absence, NAS Ft.Worth hosted an outstanding Open House this past April. As an official Centennial of Naval Aviation event, the US Navy was well represented with the world famous Blue Angels as well as many top notch civilian acts. Many aircraft representing special CONA paint schemes were in attendance. This photo essay the highlights of the show.

 A very special thanks to Don Ray and his PAO staff who accommodated the TMAJ photographers.

To start off with is a bit of a blast from the past. Showing off the great restoration work is the infamous F-14A from VF-202 as well as an adversary scooter from NAS Dallas. A bit of the new is represented by the all black F-5F from VFC-13.

The US Navy contingent was well represented with many CONA painted aircraft as well a beautiful Commander's bird from VFA-94.

O'Reilly 300 Fly By Aircraft

US Navy aircraft from VFA-83 performed the fly-by for the O'Reilly 300 the day prior to the Samsung 500 race. VFA-83 also supported the Super Bowl fly by seen in a prior post so they must love Texas and big events.

Samsung 500 Fly By

One of the great things about Spring is the Samsung 500 held every April at Texas Motor Speedway. For the NASCAR fan there is great racing but for the aviation enthusiast, it is a great time to photograph visiting aircraft that are with the teams but in this case, the military jets participating in the fly for the Nationwide and Sprint Cup Races.

This year the Navy and USAF ANG were well represented. Sunday's fly by was performed by a four ship F-1 flight from the 159th Wing of the Louisiana ANG. Sporting some new jets retired from the 1st FW, the F-15c's were nice and shiny as opposed to the A models which the 159th recently retired.

Of special note was the commander's bird which was a former 33FW and 1st FW Wing bird. The 3 MIG kills on the starboard side represent air to air victories in Desert Storm.

The aircraft left in the usual F-15 fashion...loud and with a lot of thrust.

The aircraft made their fly by right on time as usual and recovered back at Alliance. What was pretty nice was their recovery as they both landed on the twin runways Nellis style. Always good to see the F-15. She still looks awesome.