Jan 3, 2014 | Aviation
Hey guys, whatja doin 07 April? Well, if you’re going to be in Atlanta for Photoshop World, you should come of my PreCon which will be held at the Dixie Wing of the CAF. I hear I have just a couple of seats left (want to be the first sold out, again) for this full day of fun, learning, and photography. What do I teach at the Precon? Photography, the language of light and the art of storytelling. My teaching tools are WWII aircraft and reinactors which YOU have complete access to, an opportunity you would have any other way and make the learning fun and easy. So, click on the link, learn more and join us. You won’t be disappointed!
Dec 18, 2013 | Aviation
After my getting my little work done, only fair Dennis gets in a little time for his. The T6 Gold Race champ at Reno many times over (including this year at the 50th), Dennis took me for a spin around his practice course. I’ve always wondered what it was like to go around the pylons, being 50′ above the ground at 244mph. I can honestly say I now have a sense of it. Here, we’re setting up to “jump onto the course.”
Oh baby, blows away any E Ticket ride! See the blur of the ground? That’s at 1/500! You see, I had the Df and 18-35AFS set up from the aerials and in having SO MUCH FUN flying, I totally forgot to set for the ground run. Oh darn, I’ll just have to do it again!
Dec 18, 2013 | Aviation
Sharon & I are blessed with many great friends. Some of them have some really cool toys and when opportunity knocks … well. On Sunday afternoon, had the good fortune to go flying with our long time friend Dennis, simply an amazing pilot! We went up to Lake Tahoe in a WWII trainer, T6 Texan and man, what a flight! It was just us, no other aircraft checking out the view on a gorgeous blue sky day. After getting done with the basics, it was time to head back to the field. Dennis asked, “Everything all secure back there?” which I know is the signal for fun. So with, “You bet,” off we ran.
With the Df and 18-35AFS set to go, we ran the ridges all the way down to the valley floor. There are no words and certainly no photos that can begin to say how much fun this is to do. Many times, Dennis checked to see if I was OK (many loose their biscuits on such runs) but all I could say was, more! The one BIG challenge is to remember to take photos. To be honest with you, on the first barrel roll, I totally forgot to put the camera up to my eye. I could do barrel rolls all day. Dennis does them so smooth and with such romance, well, I simply can’t put the experience into words other than, big time fun! mtc
Dec 13, 2013 | Aviation
Had simply an amazing morning yesterday in Brighton, MI. I’d meet Patrick this past July at Oshkosh at my friends B-25. It was a quick introduction because well, we were all rather busy. It was the Sandbar Mitchell team. Well I emailed Patrick and said I would be in the neighborhood this week and asked if we could stop by. The next morning, we pulled up to this home with what appeared to have a slight extension on the garage. It was the right address, but we were coming to see a B-25J Mitchell. I sheepishly knocked on the door and there was Patrick.
The Sandbar Mitchell is just a great American story. Of a youngster’s dream to grow up working on Warbirds and the ripe old rage of, well, perhaps 30, has made it come true. They rescued from a sandbar up in Alaska a B-25J and now have it in this hangar in Brighton, MI with the goal to have it flying in ten years. The amazing thing is, they don’t have some big institution or individual bank rolling this venture (but they should). Better than that is they have a dream and they are sharing that dream with a group of high school students who come to the hangar after school who share the same dream. In just a short part of a half year since getting the B-25, they have made tremendous progress! Patrick has been mentoring these kids so now they are learning how to restore the B-25 and are actively part of the restoration process. The kids start with the basics of pushing a broom and cleaning oily parts and graduate to problem solving of how to carefully disassemble parts for restoration by reading the manual, talking over their plan with Patrick and then executing those plans. It’s is just a wonderful story of American ingenuity at work to save a part of our history!
I’ll be reporting back on their progress overtime because this is a great story. Being the season of giving, I thought I would make you aware of an opportunity for you to contribute. For the small amount of $25 or $75 (seen above), you will receive a piece of the original aircraft. This small amount makes a huge difference in their efforts and does so much more than just rebuild an aircraft. mtc
