Fly-In Of B-29 Fifi, B-20 Liberator Diamond Lil, T-6 Aircraft Landing At Air Force Museum

On July 4, 2023, I was honored to be a special events photographer at the National Museum Of The United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.  Three historic WWII-era aircraft were flying into historic Wright Field for a two-day event provided by the Commemorative Air Force.  One of the last two flying B-29  Superfortress, Fifi (based in Dallas Texas), B-24 Liberator Diamond Lil, and a T-6 Texan, WWII trainer all flew in on a foggy Tuesday morning.  A few times per year I get special access to photograph aircraft landing at the Air Force Museum from the flightline inside the gates of the museum.

Arriving To Photograph Aircraft Landing At Air Force Museum

The other photographers and I arrived at 6:45am to prepare to photograph these beautiful machines.  Around 7:30 we entered the flight line and drove around the west end of the runway.  Lately, we have been photographing near the Spinning Road gate on the south side of the museum’s property.  It was a hot, humid, and stagnant day, and the sun was bright.  We watched the skies until the planes got close and then it was go time.

The First Aircraft Landing At Air Force Museum

The first flyover was the T-6, a small chrome-colored training aircraft.  It was an ok plane to photograph but fairly unremarkable.  The B-29 and The B-24 Did a dual fly-over about 1000ft in the air.  It was a beautiful sound, but due to the fog, the planes were not as crisp as usual.  The B-29 came in for a singular fly-over which was close to the ground and awesome.  I love the sound of those 70-year-old engines roaring in the morning.  Then, the B-24 landed west to east and waited at the end of the runway as the B-29 flew overhead.  The B-29 came in to land minutes later.

All three planes taxied to the taxiway at the east end of the runway (south end of the parking lot) where they were staged and cleaned.  30 minutes later we were able to begin photographing the outsides of the static aircraft.  Around 10 am, the public was invited to tour some of the planes and to marvel at these feats of aviation engineering.

Thanks to the Air Force Museum for having me out once again.  Aviation photography is a passion of mine.