Category Archives: aircraft

Will We Ski?

We are creeping up on a day that may or may not prove to be a good day out. This one is weather dependent – something that is often true but in this case more so than normal. At the end of January, EAA schedule their annual ski plane fly in. Held at Pioneer Field it is combined with a chili cook and a celebration of the birthday or Audrey Poberezney, wife of the founder of EAA.

Aside from the weather being good enough to fly, two other things are required. First, there has to be enough snow on Pioneer Field for the planes to land. Second, there has to be snow at wherever they are taking off from! (Some planes do have skis with wheels that can go through them so are more flexible in operation but they are in the minority.) If the snow isn’t playing ball, the fly in has lost its main interest.

I originally planned to go a couple of years ago. Lack of snow canceled that trip for me. I decided to have another go last year. This time things were a lot better. Oshkosh is about two and a half hours north of us if the traffic is flowing. Since the fly in can start early, you either have to get going really early or stay locally. If you can find a nice hotel not so far away that your wife likes that has a spa, you can all be happy!

I had been in touch with Jim Koepnik (until very recently, EAA’s chief photographer) to keep an eye on the developments in the days ahead of the event and Jim ended up being an excellent guide (provider of transport and a warm car to hang out in between aircraft) throughout the day. (Good luck Jim with whatever comes next!) We ended up having great weather and when wrapped up suitably felt little of the cold. I got a bunch of shots and ended up writing a piece for Global Aviation Resource on the day.

This year the plans have been less effective. Originally I intended to repeat what we did last year. However, there had been no snow for ages and there didn’t appear to be any coming soon. We decided to scrub the hotel. I had been in touch with EAA Chapter 1414 about their group trip up and possibly putting cameras on their planes. They offered a ride up. Since I originally thought I would already be there, I had not intended to accept. However, since the hotel cancellation, this became a good possibility if the event went ahead.

Now we have had snow! A big storm came through Illinois and Wisconsin last week. I’m not sure whether the conditions will be good by the time of the event or whether the weather will allow flying anyway. However, we have a plan of sorts so now we just have to wait and see what comes next. Fingers crossed. In the mean time, here are the shots from last year.

Poplar Grove – A Friendly Place!

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There are occasions when you have an idea for something that you want to do, get a bit of a start on it and then it falls by the wayside for a long time. Such was the case with heading to Poplar Grove. I had read something about this airfield not far from Rockford IL and thought I should check it out. I made contact with the owner of the field and he said I was welcome to visit any time. After that, somehow I got distracted from this and didn’t follow up. Not only a failing on my part but also rather rude! Not the impression I would normally expect to give someone I hope – other than my friends and family who know my true nature of course!

Despite all of this, Poplar Grove came back into my mind recently. I am looking at the Oshkosh Ski plane fly in later this month and a group from Poplar Grove are regular attendees when the conditions allow. I made contact with them about possibly working together if the weather allows the fly in to go ahead. This reminded me of my previous failings to do anything after my previous contact.

This time, I decided to be a bit more cautious. Rather than contact some people and then fail to follow through, I decided to take advantage of the continuing pleasant weather and make a trip up. The Sunday weather forecast looked very promising and a weekend is more likely to have activity for light aircraft. I got on the road early and headed up to the field.

Surprisingly, it doesn’t appear on my GPS. However, a little check on Google Maps was enough to point me to where I needed to set the destination and I got there without any trouble. A couple of aircraft departed as I pulled into the lot which always inspires a bit of confidence. Initially I decided to just hang out in the lot and see what was going on. Standing around with a 500mm lens tends to start a few conversations and this was no exception.

One guy stopped by to ask if I had got any pictures of his son who was learning to fly and had been up while I was stood there. Another couple of people said Hi! as they passed by and another guy stopped for a longer chat. He pointed out that the field was a friendly place and, if I knew how to stay out of trouble on an airfield, it would be fine to take a walk to some other spots.

I followed his advice and headed off. The layout of the field is very cool. There is one hard runway and two grass strips. One of the grass strips and the hard runway were both in operation. There were many hangars (apparently about 450 aircraft are based on the field) and there are also some houses with taxiway access. I want to move!

Standing near one taxiway I got a good view of the aircraft movements. As people taxied by I would get friendly waves which I reciprocated. What a nice place. The chap I had talked to previously drove up and we ended up talking for a while. His name is Steve Langdon and he is involved with the EAA chapter that I had been talking to as mentioned earlier on! He told me about the many different and interesting aircraft that people operate or are working on at the field. This was reinforced by the arrival of one T-34 and the departure of another – one that obviously knew where I was!

By lunchtime, I really needed to be heading back to Chicago so started to walk back to the car. I passed an open hangar with a beautiful Beech 18 sitting in it. This belongs to the owners of the field and, having now been back in touch with them, I hope to get a chance to photograph this aircraft at some point. I suspect there are plenty of other aircraft on the field that I will want to shoot as well. This place is a treasure trove.

Thank you to everyone I met at poplar Grove. it is a lovely field with a great attitude. I hope to spend more time there soon!

More WHF Fun!

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Some days things are just looking like they will be good. The Warbird Heritage Foundation have their newly restored P-51 Mustang, Baby Duck, ready for flight. Before they can do too much with it, they need to get some hours on the engine. Consequently, they have had Vlado Lenoch coming across to fly the aircraft when possible to build the hours.

I knew that they had intentions to fly in the week before Christmas but I didn’t know exactly when. However, the weather was crap for the majority of the week. When I saw a good forecast for Friday and I had some free time, I decided to take a chance and head on up to see if anything was happening. If not, it was still a nice day to be out and about!

As it was, not only did the guess prove to be accurate, I got a bit luckier than even I had expected. Baby Duck was out on the ramp when I arrived which was a good sign. Indeed she would be flying and Vlado was coming to fly her. What is the easiest way for Vlado to get there? In his P-51 of course. Paul also was planning on flying one of the other aircraft that day as well. Bonus!

Vlado showed up and got ready to fly the Duck. I scooted across the field to be in a position for good light and angles and it wasn’t long before Vlado was taxiing out. A few other aircraft movements kept me amused while he headed out to the departure end. Before I had left the hangar, I had foolishly suggested to Vlado that he keep it low on departure. That was a pretty redundant thing to say. Vlado certainly kept the aircraft in a good position for me as he came past and he built up speed before turning it into height.

I headed back since we didn’t know how long they would be out. They actually landed away so were gone for quite a while. Chris Doud had been in the right place to bag the back seat so he was having a great time.

When they got back, Paul had a chat with Vlado about how the flight had gone and then got ready to take the T-2 up for a run. Vlado was also heading home in Moonbeam McSwine so I made a second run across the field to get the departures again. They ended up heading out close together. Both provided sporty departures so I was considering the day a very productive one.

I headed back to the hangar to await the return of the T-2. They broke back into the pattern and landed so some taxi in shots and then a few pictures of a very happy back seat passenger made for the end of the day. Time to head back to Chicago and enjoy all the traffic could offer on the last day before Christmas!

Other Waukegan Bits and Pieces

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I did get a little side benefit when out shooting the A-4 at Waukegan. I made my way to the other side of the field to be ready to shoot the A-4 when it departed. However, I did give myself a bit of spare time to make sure I didn’t miss it. The result was a couple of extra aircraft.

One was the Yak 52 that Grant owns and flies. He was running it up when I got across the field. I told him where I was going to be so he would know when he departed. Sure enough he came close and he headed out. Hopefully we will be seeing more of Grant’s Yak in the not too distant future.

The second benefit was a corporate jet heading out. Waukegan has a lot of corporate traffic. If I had waited a few more minutes there was a Hawker 800XP heading out but I had to be back at the Hooch. However, I did get this fella as he departed. He used a fair amount of the runway which suited me well.

The last one was a CJ that departed while we were taxiing out in the T-6. Not as great a shot but one to add to the catalog!

Scooter Time Again

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For those of you that have hung around here for a while, hopefully there is more than one of you, you will know that I have spent a lot of time shooting with the Warbird Heritage Foundation up at Waukegan. If you saw my recent post on the T-6, you will know that I was up at Waukegan to see the A-4 fly again. The A-4 is a great little jet and one that I love to see in action.

The aircraft has some new stores fitted underwing. These are practice bomb carriers and they add to the options for displaying the aircraft. They certainly look good. The weather was great on the day I went up and Paul wanted to get up and flying as quickly as he could. He had other things to get to later in the day so getting the jet up and running was a priority. First it required an engine run and a leak check after the servicing and then it should be good to go.

The engine run went well and a couple of minor things were noted and fixed. Then it was time to fly. I decided it would be best to head across the field. The hangar is north of the runway and doesn’t have the best light angle for the aircraft taking off. Fortunately, the wind, while light, meant that the jet would be departing heading in to the light so, from a position by the other hangar (the maintenance hangar is called the Bunker) should provide a good view.

This worked out well, Paul certainly helped by keeping the jet relatively low as he transitioned the gear up. I got some nice close shots as he came by and then he pulled up into a steep climb out. Certainly great and worth the trip – the T-6 flight was a cherry on the top!

Time in the T-6

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I recently popped up to Waukegan to see the good folks at the Warbird Heritage Foundation. I was up there to take some shots of their A-4 Skyhawk. It was scheduled to fly and the weather was looking particularly good so it seemed like an opportunity not to miss. A post on that will follow soon.

While I was there, the Chief Pilot, Herwig, was getting ready to take up the T-6 to run a check on the adjustments that had been made to the aileron trim. When he asked if I wanted to come along, I think you can guess what my answer was.

This was to be my first trip in a T-6. I minimized what photography equipment I was going to take along in order to keep things simple. Since we weren’t shooting anything else, I really only had two shot options. The ground or myself. Needless to say, I had a go at both. There is something very self centered but fun about shooting yourself in the cockpit while flying. I like shooting the pilot too but in the case of the T-6, the best I can get is the back of Herwig’s head!

The flight was a quick one and the trim checks were carried out before heading back to Waukegan. An overhead break into the pattern and then we were back on terra firma. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon. Thanks guys.

Article In Progress

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When you are first putting together a piece for a magazine, you don’t know exactly what sort of response you are going to get from the subject. I am presently working on a piece about a manufacturer of business jets. The magazine is getting well established so it should be a good amount of exposure for the company but you never know whether that is something they want or not.

When I contacted this company, I got a speedy response from their PR team which was great. They provided responses to a series of questions I emailed to them but that is really only half of a story. When writing questions, you think you have covered the main bases. Then you get the responses and they trigger further questions. In a face to face interview, this process also takes place but you get to deal with the back and forth immediately and the result should be a lot better as a result.

Consequently, with a little prodding, I managed to secure an interview with one of the board members of the company. He arranged to meet me at one of their facilities that was conveniently located for me to get to. When I got there, he immediately had to apologize that an aircraft closing was happening that morning and he couldn’t immediately be available. This was really no big deal for me since I had made plenty of time available in case anything should mess up the schedule. Selling aircraft is the business they are in so it isn’t hard to see that it should take preference over an interview.

In the mean time, one of the team was available to show me around the hangars. I needed to get images of the aircraft in work to illustrate the piece and he was great at helping me get what I needed. There were only two restrictions applied. Registration numbers had to be obscured since customers owned the aircraft and some of the internal looms could not be shown. This was fine by me and wasn’t going to limit the piece at all.

Aside from those rules, everything was made available. Aircraft were powered up if I needed them. Anything in the way or obscuring the shot was removed. Gallery access was fine to get an overview of the hangars. When I asked if anything was out on the ramp, I was told it wasn’t but if I wanted something, it would be put out there. Fantastic cooperation and all provided with the friendliest attitudes. Everyone I met in the hangar was very friendly. They treated me the way they apparently treat visiting customers – shame I don’t have the cash to be a customer!

With the important things taken care of, it was possible to conduct the interview. The person I was interviewing was very helpful and willing to discuss most things that I brought up. One aspect of it was quite interesting from my point of view. My idea of who I am is not necessarily the same as that of the interviewee. I shall explain. I am interested in the topic that I am writing about and I have a fair bit of experience in the subject so like to delve a little deeper into the subject. I am interested in understanding but I am not trying to embarrass the company. They will get a chance to review what we write to make sure we do not say anything untrue.

As far as they are concerned, I am a journalist who wants a story. Will I try and make them look bad? They don’t know. The answers are all in line with the general message the company wants to portray. This is perfectly reasonable. However, it can mean that they are not going to give me the most frank answers to the questions or may avoid answering them altogether. As we were talking, I found this a little odd. It was only when I thought about it further afterwards that it made more sense. They don’t know me, what my motives might be and they have a business to protect and promote. I guess this is an example of my own inexperience in some aspects of this.

None of this should in anyway suggest that I wasn’t provided with the utmost cooperation. The team were great and I hope they find the article both fair and interesting. I wish them the best with their efforts and hope that we might get to work again some time. Now to just get some images of the aircraft flying!

Airliners versus Jetphotos

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I bounce backwards and forwards about whether I am interested in the two most prevalent of the online aircraft photograph databases, Airliners.Net and Jetphotos.Net. I have pictures on both services and they have (very) occasionally brought some useful contacts my way. Getting images on to their databases can be a frustrating process if you let it since they have very specific requirements about what they accept and what they want.

They own their websites and they can have what they want on there. If I don’t like it, I am sure they won’t be losing sleep and recognizing this a while back made my life a lot less stressful! Indeed, I stopped uploading to Airliners.Net and focused on Jetphotos for a while. They became similar in their issues over time and I stopped bothering altogether. It hadn’t done much for me so I didn’t see the need.

Every once in a while, I thought it might be useful to have something further there based on the occasional contacts I got. Therefore, I would get back into the idea of creating edits of my images for the websites. However, I now make the edits, submit the shots and, if they are accepted, fine. If not, fine a well. I am not chasing database statistics with these people.

I have recently come across a few shots of mine that I thought might be good for the sites so made the edits and uploaded to each site. This was one of those moments when I wanted to compare them in their acceptance policy. They have a desire for a high level of sharpening but don’t like things to be over-sharpened. They also can have different views as to what over-processing is – something I like since they often reject for that when I have done very little processing at all!

I have now got the results back and it continues to amuse. Both sites have accepted some and rejected others. The fun comes from the fact that they have taken very different approaches to their analysis. Airliners have rejected some things that were accepted by Jetphotos. Similarly Jetphotos have rejected some that Airliners accepted. Rejections were often for similar reasons but for different images. Is there any rhyme or reason? I don’t know. I used to appeal shots that I thought they had been incorrect on. Now I don’t bother. Will this ever change? Probably not. Will I change my approach? Probably not. Does it matter? Probably not. The most important thing is to not get stressed about this stuff I guess.

Some Special Schemes

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One of the things I did quite well with while around LAX was getting jets with special color schemes. Plenty of airlines are painting aircraft in something other than the normal house colors. This can be a livery that is part of their alliance, like OneWorld or Skyteam, or it can be something special of their own. It might also be a tie up with another organization.

Whatever the reason, it certainly makes things more interesting to get something that is a little different to break up the monotony of the regular fleets. Here are a selection of some of the different colors that were on display while I was out west. The Alaska scheme is not too apparent since the shot is head on but you can see it if you look. Others are more obvious. Hope they are worth a look.

Some Nice Biz Jets

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While shooting at LAX, there are the occasional business jets operating. Thankfully, the FBOs seem to be on the south side of the field so the movements are on the runways that are closer to you when at Imperial Hill. They may also use the closer runway of the two so you get a close look.

I won’t say much about the jets other than a couple of things. first, being on the Pacific coast, you can get nice big jets that have long range. Second, I saw one jet that had a Chinese registration. Not sure how many biz jets there are in China yet – I know the number is growing. However, having this show up was a nice treat.

Last was the Aramco 767 which is something a bit different for me. Not a bad collection in a short space of time.