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RAB's Tip Pad

~ Photographing History, Aviation and People

RAB's Tip Pad

Tag Archives: Madras

Madras A2A X

30 Saturday Aug 2014

Posted by Rick A. Brown in History, Shooting

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Tags

aerobatics, aircraft, airplane, aviation, corsair, Erickson Aircraft Collection, F4U, F4U-7, FM-2, Focke Wulf, Fw190, history, landmark, Lightroom, Madras, Madras A2A X, mustang, Oregon, P-51, photo, photograph, photography, plane, Tillamook Air Museum, warbir, wildcat

 

I finally did it! I finally flew in a light plane. I finally photographed some planes air to air. What do I plan to do now that I’ve achieved these goals – work towards doing a whole lot more of it.

Several years ago, I read an article in Digital Photo Pro about aviation photography. Aviation photography had long been a field that I was interested in pursuing, but knowing that professional level aviation photography usually requires some special access I had no idea how to go about it. This article gave birth to a kernel of an idea of a way I might be able to make it happen.

This made me hyper alert to any further information I ran into online of ways I might be able to make this happen. I saw several things online early on that inspired me that this may be possible. One of the key items was there are actually workshops out there that teach photographers how to do this sort of photography. Here it was the key thing that would allow me to demonstrate ability in the field in a method that the only thing I needed was money to make it happen.

Unfortunately, money was in short supply and I had to let several opportunities pass me by. I was afraid every time that the opportunity might be my last. Finally, when 2014 rolled around, I received word that a friend, Lyle Jansma, was arranging an event known as Madras A2A X in conjunction with the Erickson Aircraft Collection. Here was the best opportunity yet. It was closer to home than any of the others, reducing travel costs. It was with a collection with which I was very familiar, although I knew them as Tillamook Air Museum up to that point. I was determined that this time it was going to happen.

I threw together every dime I had. I discussed the issue with family and mentioned that for the time being I’d prefer a contribution to this venture to any birthday, Christmas, etc., gifts. Together, we made it happen.

The night before the first flight was quite interesting. I couldn’t sleep to save my life. I was very excited about the next morning. I was also scared that I might be very frightened by aspects of flying in a light plane, most notably, sitting in the open door of the plane in flight. Turns out, none of this scared me when I flew. In fact, I found that there’s nothing like flying in formation with a couple of warbirds while skimming along the tops of the clouds. It is beautiful and strangely peaceful. (Ok, it’s also dang cold, but well worth it.)

In addition to the absolutely incredible flying – first hop with an FM-2 Wildcat and F4U-7 Corsair skimming the clouds in the late morning, second flying close formation with two incredible aerobatic pilots in the late afternoon, and the final hop right at dawn with a P-51 Mustang and a Focke Wulf FW190 replica) – we had lots of fun on the ground. There was the grand opening and dedication of the Madras Maiden party, several lunches with the group, and finally a real cool bbq with the airshow crew to close out the weekend.

Now it’s time to get back to work incorporating aviation photography into my editorial/commercial photography business, where I specialize in people, the cool things they do, and the machines that help them do it; in simpler terms, portraits, planes and cars.

I’d like to thank the organizer Lyle Jansma, our instructor Scott Slocum, and the pilots Scott Slocum, Brent Conner, Mike Oliver, and Greg Anders.

Please check out a bigger selection of my images from Madras A2A X or my aviation portfolio.

Pearl Harbor Veteran and Book Recommendation

10 Thursday Apr 2014

Posted by Rick A. Brown in History

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Tags

aircraft, airplane, aviation, history, Interstate Kadet, Madras, Oregon, Pearl Harbor, photo, photograph, photography, plane, WAFS, WWII

An Interstate Cadet that was flying over Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 taxis at the Airshow  of the Cascades. (Rick A. Brown)

In the 1970 Hollywood classic, Tora Tora Tora, there was a scene where one of the attacking Japanese Zeroes attacks a civilian piloted Stearman. In reality, the event consisted of a Japanese Zero attacking the very Interstate Cadet, pictured here. A young woman, Cornelia Fort, was instructing a student when the attack on Pearl Harbor commenced.  They were fired upon briefly, and the plane was strafed after landing.

Cornelia Fort was portrayed by Jeff Donnell in the film.

Ms. Fort, went on to become one of the earliest WAFS, Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron, a unit that ferried planes from factories to Air Force bases for the USAAF in WWII. This unit was somewhat a forerunner to the more well-known WASPs. Unfortunately, Ms. Fort also became the first woman aviator to lose her life in service to the United States.

Recently, while working on aviation photography projects, I ran into the pilot who brought the plane to the Airshow of the Cascades, Tim Talen. Through conversing with him he recommended the book Daughter of the Air: The Brief Soaring Life of Cornelia Fort, by Rob Simbeck. This is an inspirational biography of Cornelia, that I highly recommend to everyone. Some of the most moving parts of the book are letters she wrote to various people quoted in the book. She had studied literature and writing and was known to write very well about subjects that moved her.

The book closes with one of the passages I found most moving from a letter she wrote her mother a few months before the accident that killed her.  She was writing of the possibility of her dying violently in the course of her work.

I was happiest in the sky – at dawn when the quietness of the air was like a caress, when the noon sun beat down, and at dusk when the sky was drenched with the fading light. Think of me there and remember me, I hope, as I shall you.

                                                                                                                                With love,

                                                                                                                                Cornelia

Give this book a read, you won’t regret it.

Take a look at some of my other images from the Airshow of the Cascades.

 

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