Developing a passion
I'm a self-professed aviation nut. This all started at an early age, but really took off after my first visit to the Dayton Air Show in 1980 as a teenager. That’s me, second from the left, with my friends the Phillips brothers and my little brother Jay, far right. We all shared a passion for flying machines. Three of us had career paths involving aviation, and my brother is currently flying Boeing MD-11s for FedEx.
I never dreamed that I would, one day, be photographing the air show professionally.
What started out as a desire to capture images of the fast jets and roaring engines of propeller-powered machines morphed into the need to show the relationship between these flying contrivances and people.
High tech
Mamie and Jacob Long from Farmersville take an up-close look at the Joint Unmanned Combat Aircraft System mockup at the Dayton Air Show in 2005. The simplicity of their straw hats contrasts the complex shapes of the J-UCAS, which was designed as a pilotless stealth combat jet.
J-UCAS is an acronym for Joint-Unmanned Combat Air System, which was a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)-Air Force-Navy program to demonstrate the technical feasibility of networked unmanned air vehicles.
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Impressive military
Every air show has a strong military presence.
Military jet demonstrations showcase aeronautical technology and military readiness. Historic military aircraft, dubbed warbirds, reflect the valor and sacrifice of airmen in past wars. Legacy or heritage flights combine the two by flying modern and World War II aircraft in formation.
In 1985, the Kalamazoo Air Museum in Michigan began the “Flight of the Cats” – formations of historic Grumman warbirds with feline names. Dale Snodgrass, a Navy pilot flying the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, added a modern “cat” to the mix. In 1996 he teamed up with John Ellis, who flew the Air Museum’s F7F Tigercat in Dayton and other shows.
Snodgrass said their “flight of the Twin-Engine Cats” was the first aerobatic legacy flight, with barrel rolls and Cuban-eights. Since the 1990s, formation flights that include both modern and historic warbirds have become air show staples.
Midair moments
During the middle of the 2003 Centennial of Flight Celebration at the Dayton Air Show, Sean D. Tucker approached me and proposed a formation photo flight during the middle of the air show. How was he going to pull this off, I wondered. The show is tightly scripted, and I know the Show Boss does not like to change the schedule.
“I’ve already talked to the Show Boss,” Tucker said. How could I refuse? I loaded into the chase plane minutes later. We took off in formation and made one pass down the show line. I don’t believe I let my finger off the shutter button during the entire pass. I called our managing editor immediately after landing to report that I had the page one photo for the next day.
... and, here's how it happened
This is how the photo was made from the Piper Seneca chase plane flown by Brian Norris. That's me, in the lower plane.
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Seeing the sun
It’s always a challenge to find new ways of photographing at the air show, and I noticed that the sun was at a really good angle to be included with some centerline, over-the-crowd fly-bys. Knowing that direct sunlight is extremely bright, I selected a very low light sensitivity setting, small aperture and allowed the camera to choose the shutter speed as the Blue Angels passed through the fiery orb. Light bouncing around the lens elements added spectral highlights to enhance the effect.
Wartime aircraft
The heavy bombers of World War II are among the rarest warbirds still flying – not only few in numbers, but challenging to maintain, and expensive to fuel with four piston engines guzzling aviation-grade gasoline. The groups that fly them depend on skilled volunteers to keep them airworthy. The Avro Lancaster was the British Roy Air Force’s main heavy bomber of WWII. It was built mainly in Britain, but several hundred were produced in Canada.
At last report, only two Lancasters remained airworthy – one in England and one in Canada. In 1994, the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum brought North America’s only flying Lancaster to the air show. "The Lanc" appears to be devouring a spectator.
Runway effects
The Brazilian Esquadrilha da Fumaca - Smoke Squadron flying Embraer Tucano airplanes flew the Dayton Air Show in 1985, '93, 2007 and '09. This long-lens shot accentuates the heat mirage coming off the taxiway on a hot July afternoon. The brightly colored blue, yellow and green training aircraft fly a seven-ship formation show and high-energy solo crossovers.
Blue Angels
Kevin Davis was Blue Angel 7 when he flew me in the F/A-18 Hornet in 2006. I made this photo to send him as a token of a gratitude for being such a great person as he talked me through passing out three times while learning about the capabilities of the Hornet and the maneuvers the Blue Angels and other fighter pilots endure to keep our country safe. Davis perished in a crash the following year as Blue Angel 6 solo in Beaufort, S.C.
Not your usual upside-down photo
While this photo of Chuck Aaron may not appear too different than other aerobatic pilots flying upside down, it is different. Few people have flown helicopters upside down and lived to talk about it.
Aaron is the only pilot licensed by the FAA to perform such helicopter tricks in a helicopter in the U.S. Aaron made a career out of flying aerobatics in his Red Bull B0-105 helicopter and came to the 2011 Dayton Air Show. Due to the nature of rotating objects and physics that are too complicated to describe here, few helicopters can be flown through loops and rolls, but Aaron made some modifications, lightened the helicopter and learned how to finesse the maneuvers safely. His latest flying work in film appeared in the James Bond movie "Spectre."
Fighter jets
The Air Force’s fifth-generation, front-line fighter jet, the F-22 Raptor, flew at the air show in 2008 for the first time. Pilot Max Moga flew the demonstration that left me feeling glad the jet is a U.S. weapon.
The F-22, which is managed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, is a twin-engine wonder that allows hair-pin turns and sustained supersonic flight without afterburner. Moga gives a point to his crew chief and the crowd as the Raptor prepares to launch in the photo above. The green glass at right is the head up display, which is used as a flight information display and targeting sight. The newer F-35 Lightning II does not have a HUD, but a helmet-mounted display.
Fan favorite
An air show favorite and National Aviation Hall of Fame Inductee Patty Wagstaff appears to fly her Extra 300 right at the camera during this photo shoot over Miami County before the air show in 2009.
Wagstaff made her name in competition as her air show star was rising. She became the first woman to win the U.S. Aerobatic Championship in 1991, and repeated in 1992 and ’93. Her airplane in those contests, an Extra 260, now hangs in the National Air and Space Museum.
Wagstaff flew her first Dayton Air Show in 1989, and she has returned often. Her 2004 appearance included the National Aviation Hall of Fame induction, which lauded her for breaking gender barriers in aviation.
Shockwaves (literally)
When the atmospheric conditions are just right, a visible shockwave begins to form around a Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet as it approaches the edge of the sound barrier. Low pressure causes the humid air to condense. Hornets are regular visitors to the air show.
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