Category Archives: aircraft

McCook Lift

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As I hinted previously, my day with Midwest involved a couple of lifts.  The first was a relatively straightforward job.  In common with a lot of jobs it was cooling systems for the roof of a building that was being constructed.  The equipment was laid out on the ground near the building and the guys were ready to roll when we landed.

The location is quite close to Midway airport.  We talked to them as we came in and the traffic from the airport was close to where we were operating.  A couple of times, a low flying Boeing 737 from Southwest could sneak into my shot.  They were obviously well clear of us and there was no problem but it was quite fun to see something different in the background.

The job went off without too many issues and soon the aircraft was back on the ground and we could hop on to head to the next job.

Frosty Start

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The good team at Midwest Helicopter called me up recently to see if I wanted to go out on a job they had scheduled.  There were two jobs on the one day, one of which was going to be a long one.  Anyway, I need to get there first thing to be ready to head on out with the team.  I was going to ride in the aircraft so no messing around in Chicago traffic for me during the day.  Just sail across.

It had been a cold night so there was ice on the ground and frost on the aircraft.  I am not much use to the guys while they are getting ready.  Telling me what to do would probably take longer than doing it themselves and they would probably want to check whatever I had done anyway.  Therefore, I took the chance to get some shots on the ground of them getting ready and of the aircraft.

Normally I see the aircraft when it arrives at the job so getting it at rest was a nice change.  Also, the weather was great with lovely soft morning light so it was a great opportunity.  Here are some shots of the morning.  The jobs themselves will follow in the days to come.

Millennium Park and a Helicopter? Result!

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The good folks at Midwest Helicopters were recently undertaking another lift in downtown Chicago and invited me to come along.  This one required two goes since the date of the first attempt awoke to find cloud base down amongst the buildings – not ideal conditions for a flight of any sort let alone one that requires weaving between the buildings downtown.

The forecast for the second attempt was considerably better.  In the end it didn’t quite turn out that way with a slightly grey and overcast morning for the lift.  This was a mixed blessing really.  I was going to be facing east so would have had some awkward lighting angles if the sun had been strong.  However, cloudy skies are not a great backdrop.  This limits some of what you can get but, in this case that wasn’t too much of a problem.

Cloudy skies also soften the light in total which can avoid some of the harsher contrasts that you can get shooting aircraft.  Since Midwest’s fleet are painted orange and white, this contrast on the airframe alone can sometimes be a problem.  Moreover, I have a lot of pictures of their fleet.  Shots against a blue sky are not terribly new but something that brings in the different backgrounds in which the work is being done are a lot more interesting.

The location for the lift was a building directly across from Millennium Park.  This should be a photogenic location.  In advance of the job I was pondering where a good spot to shoot from would be.  Involving the Bean would be a good feature.  However, if I shot from near there, I would basically have one shot and miss the rest.  Getting a reflection in the Bean was another idea.  However, the shape of the Bean acts as a very wide angle viewer which means getting anything specific reflected in it – especially something not too large like a helicopter – is problematic.  The idea seems good but it is hard to make it happen.  If we had a second lift, I would certainly give it a go but I had to make this one count.

The roof was going to be the location of choice again.  This way I can get the aircraft with the park in the background, have it flying in front of other buildings, look down on it while it is low to the ground and also get some of what is happening on the roof as the load is set.  This was a little more tricky since I was actually operating mainly from a slightly lower section of roof than that on which the loads were being delivered.  I also had to make sure to keep myself out from underneath the path of the loads as they came up.

All in all, it went pretty well.  I got some good shots and most of what I was hoping for.  Sometimes you wish you could instruct the crew where to fly for the benefit of the shot but that isn’t why they are there!  However, it was funny at one point to look at the images and notice that Jim, the pilot, must have just spotted me as he brought a load up since he is briefly looking directly at me and grinning!  A couple of frames later and the grin is gone and he is back focused on the task – a task that requires quite a bit of concentration!

Dreamliner Introduction

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The development of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner has been a protracted story filled with technical and programmatic challenges which have led to financial challenges as well.  However, while the program is not yet out of the woods, production aircraft are now making their way to service with customers and Boeing is undertaking a promotional tour for those who have been involved in the program or are potential customer.

One of those events was at Rockford, not far from me.  I covered the event for Global Aviation Resource and you can see the full piece at this link.

Some Ski Plane Video

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In the previous post I talked about the trip to Oshkosh for the ski plane fly-in.  While I was mainly taking stills on this trip, I did also take the GoPro with me for the occasional bit of video.  Unfortunately, the bar clamp I took was a little larger than the ideal place to mount it.  Instead I hand held it which makes for some fun bouncing around when on the ground!  However, it isn’t too disastrous so I am prepared to let some of the footage make it out in public.  Hardly broadcast quality work though!  Still, I hope you enjoy it.

Skiing to Success!

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As I wrote before, I was hoping to make a trip to the ski plane fly-in at Oshkosh this year.  The weather had not looked good long in advance but then some snow fell and it looked promising.  Oshkosh still had patches of the runway without snow so it wasn’t clear until the day before.  Then a storm came through on the Friday.  In Chicago we got quite a good fall.  In Oshkosh, it was only 2-3″ but that was enough to cover the gaps.  The next question was with the storm clearing out, was the weather good enough to fly?

The answer was yes.  I was riding up with some of the people from Poplar Grove.  I drove out to Union IL to meet up with some of the guys.  As I left Chicago, the weather was not great with some snow still falling.  I was not optimistic.  However, as I reached Union, I came out into clear skies (and falling temperatures) and suddenly things looked a lot better.

I met Lee, Buck and Jim at Union as they were getting the aircraft ready to go.  I was riding up with Drew who was coming across from Poplar Grove to pick me up.  It was 8F as we got our stuff together.  The Champ and the Cub were prepped and started up just as Drew arrived.  They headed out as I loaded up and we followed on.  Drew has a Piper Clipper so we had a speed advantage to catch up.

The first leg was to Palmyra in Wisconsin.  Here the whole group had agreed to meet up for breakfast.  The good folks at Palmyra had held off from plowing half the runway and one of the taxiways so we had no problem operating on skis.  We all met up and trekked across to the restaurant who did a great job of feeding a raucous bunch!  It was a very friendly group just confirming me previous good experience at Poplar Grove.

From Palmyra we all headed north to Oshkosh.  We departed near the back again and caught up with some of the group.  We managed to get some nice formations going en route and I could grab a few shots.  Shooting through the windows was a little tricky but the results were not too bad.  It was far too cold to consider sliding the windows open!  At Palmyra we had reviewed the arrival procedures for Oshkosh.  Since Pioneer field is not part of the main airport, we have to arrive low on a special route.

This sounds straightforward when reviewing the brief.  However, the arrival height is about 500′ above ground level.  At that height, it is not so easy to make out exactly where everything is.  However, with two pairs of eyes checking it all out, we managed to pick out all of the appropriate waypoints and find the field.  Even doing it right is quite interesting since you have to head straight at the cab of the main tower and then turn final.  You feel like you are doing something wrong even though you aren’t.  Drew made light work of it all.

Once on the field there was time to take a look at all of the other aircraft that had made it – and see the arrivals of those we had left behind.  Chatting with the other crews was a lot of fun and also talking to some of the other visitors made it all the more interesting.  There was a briefing about the departure as well.  Since the wind was calm, departures were in the opposite direction.  This made for great viewing from our location in the parking area with planes taxiing right past us and then turning to depart back past again!

We watched a fair few go.  Our group was nearly last to head out and, again, we waited to be towards the back of the group.  We got airborne and caught up with one of the Cubs which we found had a ski out of alignment.  There are safety wires that limit the travel but a bungee holds the ski in optimal position.  This had dislodged.  They decided it was easiest to land and fix it so found an open field and dropped it in.  They were back up in no time.  A few more pictures of the group and then we left them to it.

They were planning making a few touch and goes at various spots but we were on our way home.  Only in the last section of the trip did a low cloud base come in.  This wasn’t a problem from our perspective other than that the lack of sun meant the cabin suddenly felt a bit colder!  It obviously wasn’t a deterrent to some hot air balloonists we passed on the way back.  They must have been chilly when the burner wasn’t going!

Drew dropped me back at Union and then headed home to Poplar Grove.  It was a great trip and I had a whole lot of fun.  I hope Drew’s passengers on his 767s have as much fun as I did.  Thanks to everyone involved.  It was great and I hope to spend a bunch more time with everyone in the future.

Will We Ski?

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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!