Tag Archives: piston

Dream Machines Article

While it isn’t actually an airshow, Dream Machines at Half Moon Bay was my first aircraft event of the year. Hayman and I headed over there to see what would show up. I was also planning on writing it up for GAR again this year. That piece has now gone live at http://www.globalaviationresource.com/v2/2014/05/05/aviation-event-review-dream-machines-half-moon-bay/ so you can head over the GAR to see the finished version.

The piece focuses more on the aviation side of things than the cars since it is an aviation site. However, the cars were really cool. Here are a couple of cars along with a plane to give you a hint. I might add some more at a later stage!

DH Dove

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A few years ago, my friend, Richard, had arranged a visit for a number of us to Mojave Airport. This airport does not have a reputation for being photographer friendly but Richard had made the necessary contacts to get us some time out on the field near the taxiways and runways. One of the operators at Mojave is the National Test Pilot School. NTPS operate a wide variety of types on various flight test training activities and some of them were up and about early on this particular morning.

One type that really caught our eye was the deHavilland Dove. An old piston small transport type, the Dove is not something you see around very often these days. This one is kept in excellent condition and appears to have some modifications for flight test purposes and to assist the training of test pilots and flight test engineers. It took off on a runway that brought it towards us nicely. When it returned, it used another runway so we got to see it from several angles.

C-46 Commando

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Even people how aren’t particularly into aviation have a reasonable chance of having heard of the Douglas DC-3, also known as the C-47 and the Dakota. Not only was it a hugely important aircraft in WWI but it also continued to provide the post war commercial services and, even today, to fill a niche in air transportation. Far less attention is given to one of its counterparts in the war, the Curtiss C-46 Commando. The C-46 never stuck in the public conscience in the same way and its use post war was a lot more limited.

However, they didn’t all disappear and one fine example still flies at a lot of air shows. I got to see it at Pungo in Virginia a few years back at an ISAP event. The symposium was being held in Virginia Beach and we spent a couple of days at Pungo. One was the day before their annual air show. We got to look around the collection and see the aircraft in action. The C-46 put on a few great low passes and I was at one end of the field and got a great view head on.

On the day of the show, the weather was not cooperating and the train came down heavily at various times throughout the day. The C-46 did fly in the gaps provided by the not so awful weather. They were not conditions conducive to good photos but I still got some of it. However, the practice day proved to be the better day for seeing this fine machine in the air.

Sea Fury Surprise

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It’s always fun to get a nice surprise while you were out. I was up at Sonoma Skypark with my friend Eric looking at a bunch of pictures he had taken. There is usually something buzzing around on a Saturday so, while the noise of an engine will cause us to look, we normally then return to what we are doing. However, the sound of this engine made us take a second look. It was a Hawker Sea Fury circling high above. This is a plane belonging to Walt Bowe and we watched him high above us. Eric said it was unlikely Walt would do a pass so we just watched casually.

However, as we watched, Walt’s path did look like he was turning in towards us. We paused a little so as not to look foolish but then it was clear he was dropping down towards the field. Fortunately, I had the camera on the table near me. Eric and I jumped up to get to the other side of the field where the light is better. We scurried across as gracefully as two old geezers can and we in position as Walt dropped into his pass. I guess he saw us as we got a great pass from him before he pulled up and continued on his way. Now I want to shoot this plane again but in a more planned way!

Howard 500 at Nut Tree

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Just a quick post today. I have been to Nut Tree Airport a few times. There is an old Howard 500 parked up at one side of the field. I had never taken a picture of it since it was a bit out of the way. For some reason, I completely forgot about it when they had the Mustangs Day when it would have been easy to wander over and get a shot. I forgot! So, when in Vacaville recently for something else, I popped across briefly to get a couple of shots over the fence. Just something to prove to myself that I had seen it!

Hangar Three

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While I was at Moffett Federal Field to cover the Soaring Angel exercise, we were shown around Hangar Three. It is used by the base units to store material as well as to stage equipment ahead of shipping. However, it is more interesting because it is one of the huge airship hangars on the airfield. I have previously posted some shots of Hangar One here. Hangar Three is on the other side of the field and one of two hangars of a different design to Hangar One. However, it is still a cool structure.

The structure is very dense. Being a wooden frame, it is very complex series of beams and joists to hold up such a large structure. It is both cool to see and hard to photograph when trying to convey the size of the thing. Added to that is that it is very dark in there. Compared to the brightness outside, there is a huge range of light from the ramp to the interior.

One other nice thing about the hangar is that it is currently the home to the P-2 Neptune for the museum across the airfield. It will move across to join the collection on display before too long. The QSRA research aircraft has already moved over and hopefully it will too. In the meantime, it is waiting in the dark. I don’t know whether any work is underway on it but it looks in pretty good shape. It will make a nice addition to the P-3 to show the history of maritime patrol aircraft at Moffett.

Tiger Moth Flying

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With so many things going on, I realized it had been a while since I made a trip up to Sonoma Skypark for the normal Saturday activities. I arrived and spent time with my friend Eric discussing many things aeronautical. While we talked, a Tiger Moth flew back into the pattern. We stopped to watch it for a moment and Eric assumed I had flown in one before – he couldn’t believe an aviation enthusiast from the UK could possibly not have done so. However, I hadn’t.

As it was, Eric got in discussion regarding an issue with the engine with Mike, the owner of the aircraft. Eric thought a short flight would be necessary to help diagnose the issue and thought I should provide ballast. I was not going to turn down this opportunity.

The flight was a short one as was required to check out the engine. We took off, climbed to a moderate height, flew a couple of turns and then returned to Skypark. It was a remarkably smooth aircraft and seemed to just glide through the air. Eric pointed out the guy with the stick might have something to do with that (for those of you who are photographers the assumption you must have a great camera will spring to mind) and, while I was certainly appreciative of Eric’s flying, I did like how the Tiger Moth flew.

Not sure when I will next get a chance to fly in the type but it was certainly great to experience and my thanks to Mike for letting me ride in his plane and to Eric for taking me up.

Night Star Trails

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My buddy Paul was in town and we had a day of shooting and exploring planned. However, we wanted to have a go at star trails in the evening as well. Consequently, we set up at Schellville as the sun went down to shoot the trails around the Douglas DST parked on the field. I set up two cameras at different angles and with different lenses to try and maximize what I got. The sun was still going down when I started so the exposure was varying a bit more than I was prepared for but a little tweaking in post got things back together. We also did some light painting on the airframe in a couple of frames to make the scene pop a bit more.

The biggest thing I learned during this was to start when it is darker and to take mosquito protection. I got badly bitten during the early part of the shoot and the bites reacted quite severely! Also, doing this in the winter so you don’t have to wait so late for it to get dark might also be a good plan. However, it went reasonably well and I have a few things I will know to do differently next time. I might also try a trail on one camera and a time lapse on the other.

Spruce Goose Then and Now

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There is a fine line between being inspired by someone’s work and plagiarizing them. Today I shall tiptoe along that line. My friend Hayman Tam has recently posted some pictures of the Spruce Goose on his blog after a trip he had made to the Evergreen Air Museum in McMinnville OR. Go to Hayman’s blog at shutterspeedaero.wordpress.com to see that post and many others. In doing so, he reminded me of my own trip to the museum and photographing the Goose. However, that was not the first time I had seen it.

In 1990, during my first ever visit to the United States, I was in Long Beach with my Dad. We visited the Queen Mary and in those days, the Spruce Goose was inside the large dome that sits on the waterfront. I had my camera with me on that trip. It was my first Canon camera, an EOS600 (which was called the EOS630 in the US) and that camera got a lot of use over the years. I still have it. I didn’t take a huge number of pictures of the Spruce Goose but I did get a few.

T-6s Doing Their Stuff

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A pair of locally based North American T-6 trainers were keeping busy while the Collings folks were in town. Shortly after I first arrived, they launched as a pair. The departure was very nice but was a little spoiled by a card error on my camera. (I had a card that had given me occasional trouble but this was the first time it really crapped out. It has now gone back to the manufacturer for a replacement.) The T-6s were not done and flew several times. This gave me a few more opportunities to get shots of them. Their returns to base would involve some nice breaks into the downwind which were well centered on our location. I will have to investigate these guys further since they flew very nicely.