ISnAP June 2019

WELCOME TO THE JUNE 2019 ISSUE OF ISnAP! Great Day to Jump! Joint Exercise with the US Army Golden Knights Kevin Hong, Larry Grace, Marc Farb

Meet Our Members Nick Moore, Ora Lassila, Steven Schott

Planes of Fame 2019 Geoffrey Arnwine, Simon Wong, Larry Grace, Hayman Tam, Michael Bellinger, Mike Bilek, Nick Moore

Airplane Silhouettes John Ford

Thunder and Lightning Strikes Again Jeff Krueger Flight Deck: Aboard The USS Harry S. Truman Scott Kelby Honoring the Last Doolittle Raider Lt. Col. Richard “Dick” E. Cole Memorial Flight Honoring Dick Cole Larry Grace, John Slemp, Gary Daniels Lt Col Richard “Dick” E. Cole Memorial Service Kevin Hong Camera Review: Testing the Sony A9 Mike Bilek Long Live The King!

Nico Limbioul Thunder Over The Bay 2019: Travis AFB Geoffrey Arnwine The Belgian Demo Team Nico Limbioul Salinas Airshow Geoffrey Arnwine Nightingale Regional Air Ambulance Rick Charles The Unmanned KC-135 Flight Crew Kevin Hong, Larry Grace, TSgt Abigail Klein

FRONT COVER PHOTO: Nicolas Limbioul This is a Ukranian Antonov An-124-100M from Antonov International Cargo Transporter. The aircraft was taxiing to his parking stand, arriving at Liège Airport (Belgium) from the US. BACK COVER: Scott Slingsby C-47 getting ready for overseas trip for the 75th Anniversary of D-Day at Waterbury-Oxford Airport in Connecticut.

ISAP’s goal is to bring together our members who share a love of aviation, and want to preserve its history through their images. Through our organization, members can seek to enhance their artistic quality, advance technical knowledge, and improve safety for all areas of aviation photography while fostering professionalism, high ethical standards, and camaraderie.

ISAP continues to help our members to better their photography skills, workflow, and set up resources to help with business questions that our members have. Updates are being made to the ISAP website and member portfolio section, and we are showcasing ISAP members’ images and accomplishments on our social media pages.

In this issue we are continuing to highlight ISAP members. I’m sure you will enjoy learning how your fellow ISAP members got started, as well as seeing some of their images and learning some tips. Remember that ISnAP is your publication to share your images, stories and tips with other members and the public. We look forward to each member sharing his or her stories with all of us.

Enjoy this issue of ISnAP! Sincerely, Larry Grace, ISAP President Kevin Hong, ISnAP Editor International Society for Aviation Photography www.aviationphoto.org • www.facebook.com/ISAPorg isnap@aviationphoto.org

Kevin Hong

At Chennault International Airshow, World War II veteran Charles Nicholas talked about his missions as a flight engineer on his B-17 “Shade Ruff�.

While waiting for the weather to lift a crowd gathered around CAF B-17 Texas Raiders. When the skies cleared we were able to take Charles up for one more mission on board the B-17.

-Kevin Hong, ISnAP Editor

w e l c o m e

n e w

a n d

r e t u r n i n g

i s a p

m e m b e r s

Duane Adams

Simon Fitall

Vincent Laforet

Kishore Sawh

Stephen Butler

Duane Flanagain

Ora Lassila

Brett Schauf

David Carlson

John Ford

Vic Lopez

Steven Schott

Joe Cavallo

Ian Glover

Mark Magin

Jason Skinner

Mark Chiolis

Joseph Gonzalez

Jeffrey Magnet

Scott Slingsby

Brent Clark

Benji Gordon

Michael Manz

Robert Stave

Sean Costello

Kristopher Haugh

Eric Martin

John Stephan

Gordon Court

Jo Hunter

Nick Moore

Craig Swancy

Gary Daniels

Bill Ingalls

Robert Moser

Ozkan Uner

Sam Eckholm

Richard Jack James

Nick Nelson

Jan Arie Van derLinden

Laura Falkner

Philip Johnson

James Robinson

Brian Wigen

Marc Farb

David LaCombe

Cristina Rodriguez

Anna Wood

The ISnAP is a periodic publication of the International Society for Aviation Photography and is used to communicate news, functions, convention information, and other information of interest on the local, regional, and national scenes. The views and opinions expressed in this magazine are those of the authors and should not be construed as the views or opinions of the International Society for Aviation Photography.

GREAT DAY TO JUMP! JOINT EXERCISE WITH THE US ARMY GOLDEN KNIGHTS Text by Kevin Hong Photos by Kevin Hong, Larry Grace, and Marc Farb

The United States Army Golden Knights team of almost 100 men and women performs parachute stunts alongside other members from all branches of the US Army. The Knights include four parachute units, an aviation unit and the Fort Bragg headquarters. U.S. Army soldiers began skydiving in 1959, when the sport was new. By 1962, the team was nicknamed the “Golden Knights.”

According to the Golden Knights website, the team has conducted more than 16,000 shows in 50 states and 48 countries, reaching an average of 60,000 people per show. The team has earned the U.S. Army thousands of gold, silver and bronze medals and has broken 348 world records.

The Golden Knights conduct winter training sessions at the Homestead Air Reserve Base from mid January until mid March every year however, this time was different. For the first time the U.S. Army’s parachute demonstration team hosted a joint exercise with other branches of the military and parachute teams from around the world. The other jump teams participating in the joint exercise were the Leap Frogs – US Navy Parachute Team, USASOC Black Daggers, SOCOM Para Commandos, British Army Parachute Regiment display team Red Devils, Silver Wings Parachute Demonstration Team, and the USAF Parachute Team Wings of Blue. “We come together. They learn from us, we learn from them.

We interact pretty routinely on the demonstration cycle, so air shows and games,” said U.S. Army Battalion Commander Ned Marsh with the Golden Knights. “We see other teams fairly routinely, and it’s important for us to establish joint and combined interoperability and make sure we can work together.” Watching the jump teams interact with each other on the ground and in the air was truly a unique experience.

The day started early with a 6:30 a.m. roll call with the Golden Knights team. We met with Major Mark Snowbarger, Public Affairs Officer and a few other members of the Golden Knights team. We were informed a few days before we arrived the other visiting jump teams went up with the Knights up to four times a day to train and learn more from each other how to be safe while joining up in the sky. As the sun rose small groups of jumpers practiced on the ground what they would do in the air. They would stand in a circle and walk through the routine joining up and breaking away to open their parachutes. It was a ballet on the ground watching the choreography of men and women huddle together and scatter in different directions. Communication played an important role as the group of parachutists spread apart and stopped to discuss the position where everyone would be after they dispersed in the air.

Unfortunately, in the air no mistakes can be made since you can’t talk to one another and you’re falling over 100 mph towards the ground.

Kevin Hong

While the jumpers were discussing the position of everyone during a freefall I was able to speak with one of the instructors who works with team members who wears the helmet cameras to catch photos and videos of VIPs, and the formations during the parachute jumps at events across the country. Sgt First Class Joe Abeln of the Golden Knights Competition team explained the team looks for people who have air skills for flying abilities above the others. They start with some training jumps with Go Pros or Sony action cameras attached to their helmets to see how they capture the jumpers outside the formation. The goal is to make sure the team member can capture a basic sight picture with the jumpers. If they pass the test, then they progress to bigger helmet cameras.

The photographers wear wing jackets to their jump suits to give them lift that can take them above and below the formation. They jump with the wing jacket first to get used to jumping with it then add the camera helmet. Only then after all of this will the photographer be able to get critiqued learn about camera settings and make adjustments. They learn more about the camera settings and sight picture to jump with the team before the show season starts.

After learning about the advanced process to be a Golden Knights photographer/videographer in the sky we were able to hop aboard with the jumpers on the Golden Knights’ new Dash 8-300 aircraft replacing the old Fokker C-31A “Troopship” with double jump doors. We had a safety briefing before the flight and thought it was humorous due to the comment, “Whatever you do don’t go out with everyone else out the door.” To me that made me laugh considering the excitement and adrenaline can be infectious to jump.

We arrived at the aircraft and noticed although the Fokker was more fun for the photographers the Dash 8 did have a lot more horsepower to climb and we soon found out later after we lifted off the runway.

During the takeoff everyone on board started cheering and stomping their feet on the floor showing their enjoyment for jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.

Kevin Hong

While climbing through the clouds to jump altitude there was constant movement to the back door to check on the visibility of the ground.

During the climb everyone started checking each other’s gear and started to prepare for the jump. Once the final checks were made we orbited for a few minutes and the jumpers were ready to go. With great anticipation the mixture of jump team members stood up in the aisle waiting for a red light to go green for the clear signal to jump. The green light came on and the jumpers went out like a freight train running out the door. Within seconds the plane was empty and we were the only ones left in the main cabin. It was pretty surreal experience to see people in the plane and now gone.

After a great flight we returned to Earth and worked with the Golden Knight’s Public Affairs photographers. We had the opportunity to speak with them and share some knowledge about photography. Since Marc Farb worked for Sigma lenses, he was able to bring some nice lenses for the team to play with while the jumpers came down. Unfortunately, the time was short lived due to high winds and the rest of the jumps had to be canceled. While the guys experimented with the lenses some of the other team members had the opportunity to play with some great equipment as well. After a long day Larry and I shared some photoshop and post processing tips inside on their computers.

We had a great time with the Golden Knights and the other jump teams.

I believe anytime we can support the military with their photography we should always be able to help them.

Kevin Hong

Kevin Hong

Kevin Hong

Kevin Hong

Kevin Hong

Marc Farb

Marc Farb

Marc Farb

Jeff Krueger Marc Farb

Larry Grace • ISAP President

Larry Grace

Larry Grace

Geoffrey Arnwine For my third airshow of 2019, I went down to Chino, California for the Planes of Fame Airshow celebrating 75 years since D-Day. This was a very special trip for me because I enjoy going to that airport and it was my first time going there in three years.

My trip started Friday morning when my dad and I left the San Francisco Bay Area to drive down south. Instead of taking the most direct route on Highway 5, we chose to back track a little and drive down Highway 99 near Fresno and Bakersfield. We did this so that we could visit Castle Air Museum in Atwater on the way down. It was a fun time at the museum seeing the many historical aircraft on display and I even got to leave one of my photography stickers there for someone to pick up. We ended up getting down to Chino past dark, but it was well worth the extra travel.

On Saturday morning, we got up and arrived at Chino Airport for the show. Upon entry on a tram to get to the show ramp, it was nice to see a rare SEPECAT Jaguar on display next to one of the hangars. It was a special treat and something that I don’t remember the last time I attended. I hear rumors speculating that they may even get that plane restored to flight in the future, which would be really awesome.

When we got through security, we chose to walk around the many different tents that the show had to offer. One of my favorite tents was the Art Gallery of CA tent featuring a bunch of cool aviation paintings with special motion effects. We bought one of the Blue Angels diamond canvases to display in our garage and even had a nice conversation with the artist himself, Dave Medore. After our talk with Dave, we walked down to more tents and found the Tamiya Models exhibit which featured a lot of their detailed models on display including F-16s in multiple scales. A bunch of those kits I’ve seen on the Internet before, but never in person, so it was a great opportunity to look closely at how detailed they are.

Just before flying activities began, I visited the Viper Demo Team tent where I got to meet up with fellow friend and team member Luis Lopez.

I even got to meet some of the team’s new members including Ryan Hutchinson. Before I left, I gave Luis a bunch of my stickers to pass out to the team and a lot of the members I was able to connect with on Instagram to share pictures.

PLANES OF FAME 2019 Text by Geoffrey Arnwine Photos by Geoffrey Arnwine, Simon Wong, Larry Grace,

Hayman Tam, Michael Bellinger, Mike Bilek, Nick Moore

Geoffrey Arnwine

As the flying portion of the show went on, I was able to find a nice spot in the general admission area with a large crowd in attendance.

The great opportunity about Chino is that anywhere you sit by the line is a great place for photography as each warbird flies a nice long photo pass.

While it was really nice to see a bunch of aircraft fly that I don’t get to see at many other places, I thought one of the coolest things about the flying was the various formations that many of the aircraft did, ones you may never see anywhere else in the world. It was also nice to see a missing man formation in honor of David Vopat, the pilot who was tragically killed in the N9MB Flying Wing crash last month.

Towards the end of the day, I finally got to see the treat that I mainly came down to see, the F-16 Viper Demo. It was fun to watch Maj. John “Rain” Waters perform his exhilarating performance and take pictures as the jet he flew looked nice and fresh as it recently came out of the paint shop. Following the team’s performance, I chose to stick around after flying activities and take pictures of the many static aircraft on display. It was a great opportunity to take pictures in the good sun lighting as well as allow time for traffic to clear up after the show.

The final day on Sunday, we arrived at the show later than normal, because we had already seen all the ground displays we wanted to see the previous day. On that day, I had a good time talking to new people and sharing my photography website with them to visit. It was also easier to find a place to sit that day since the audience was slightly smaller than Saturday.

This day also marked the final public demonstration for Rain as commander and pilot of the Viper Demo Team as he will hand the job over to a new person later this month. Before he landed, he buzzed the tower with one last photo pass, the perfect way for him to complete his term on the team. Immediately after his performance, my dad and I packed up and started the long drive back home. We ended up coming home around midnight, but it was nice to drive back with a beautiful sunset to look at over the central valley.

Special thanks to the volunteers, performers, sponsors, spectators, and the Planes of Fame Air Museum for making their 2019 show a success!

The huge crowd turnout made for a great impact on the museum’s future of keeping historical aircraft flying.

Geoffrey Arnwine

Geoffrey Arnwine

Simon Wong

F-16 Viper Demo by Maj. John “Rain” Waters

Simon Wong

Lockheed T-33 (TV-2), Canadair CT-33 “Silver Star”, Mikoyan-Gurevich Mig-15

Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer

Heritage flight, F-16 Viper & P-47 Thunderbolt “Dottie Mae”

Hawker Sea Fury T. Mk20 “Dreadnought”

Simon Wong

Hawker Sea Fury T. Mk20 “924”

Larry Grace • ISAP President

Larry Grace

Larry Grace

Larry Grace

Hayman Tam I made my pilgrimage to Chino for the annual Planes of Fame Airshow.

This is certainly one of the great airshows in the United States, especially for warbird lovers and this is just a small sampling of what can be seen at this show. Like Oshkosh, anyone who hasn’t attended needs to go at least once. This year’s show featured over 50 historic aircraft and was dedicated to the memory of David Vopat, the Planes of Fame Air Museum pilot who perished in the crash of the Northrop N9M Flying Wing a week prior while preparing for the airshow.

Shooting conditions can be challenging at Chino. As with any airshow, the moving sun results in backlit conditions for about half of the day’s performances. This year we were blessed with reasonable weather, unlike the scorcher last year. In flight photos with a Nikon D500 w/Tamron 150-600mm while ground statics were with my D7100 w/18-200mm.

These two cameras are my standard airshow setup.

Hayman Tam

Michael Bellinger

Michael Bellinger

Michael Bellinger

Mike Bilek

As a newcomer to air show and aviation photography, it goes without saying that 2019 would be a year of firsts. Despite growing up and living in relatively close proximity to Chino Airport, I had never attended the Planes of Fame Airshow. Earlier in the year, I had the pleasure of attending a Planes of Fame Living History event, where I was treated to just a taste of what I would experience in early May of 2019. From the start, I was amazed by what I would experience over the next few days.

Upon entering the gates, one of the first things I saw was a group of World War Two reenactors so authentic, it felt as though I was transported in a DeLorean by Dr. Emmett Brown back to the year 1943 to a camp occupied by American troops in the European theater. The level of authenticity was so real, it was hard to believe that this was possible to relive outside a Hollywood movie set. The realism of the camp was only eclipsed by the spectacle that I witnessed in the air. Planes of Fame from the European and Pacific theaters would grace the skies of Chino, CA and mesmerize me all along the way.

It was only through expert advice and careful preparation that I was able to capture the amazing events that took place throughout the weekend.

Over the course of two days, I would capture more images than I knew what to do with. However, what I was able to witness spawned a new level of historical curiosity that can only be tamed with future visits to one of the premier displays of living history alive today.

Mike Bilek

Mike Bilek

Nick Moore

Nick Moore

Nick Moore

Thunder and Lighting Strikes Again D AV I S - M O N T H A N A F B A I R S H O W A N D O P E N H O U S E Article and photos by Jeff Krueger

This was the year that Davis-Monthan Air Force Base opened up for its biennial Thunder and Lightning over Arizona air show and open house.

The show was postponed last year in order to set up an every other year schedule to alternate between their show and Luke AFB’s show.

Showing the wide range of USAF capabilities, the F-22 Raptor Demo Team and the F-35 Lightning Demo Team each put on a great show of their respective aircraft, showing off why they are the most formidable aircraft in the world.

The weather was great as tens of thousands of spectators filled the show area. There were plenty of ground static displays which included many of the show planes and even a mothballed Tomcat. It was very interesting to see how DM prepares these aircraft for desert storage. An impressive C-17 Globemaster, which would later be doing a demonstration, was opened up for the public to walk through. A long list of other aircraft such as helicopters, drones, C-130’s were all there for the public to check out.

The abilities of the C-17 Globemaster were displayed with its short take-off and short-landing demonstration. The sheer size of this aircraft would make one think such maneuvers were not possible.

The US Air Force Wings of Blue parachute demo team opened the show unfurling a huge American flag to a standing and applauding audience.

It was amazing to watch what started out as small specs in the sky work their way to earth to a precise landing in front of the crowd.

Performances by Red Bull’s Kirby Chambliss as well as the Red Bull Skydiving team, The Desert Rats Demo Team, Kent Pietsch and his Jelly Belly Interstate Cadet comedy act, Vicky Benzing and others entertained the huge crowd. We even had a Jet powered truck.

Vintage Warbirds included a B-25 Mitchell, an F-6 Hellcat and one of the few remaining Mitsubishi A6M Zeros still flying. Also joining the Warbirds was a Korean War era F-86 Saber Jet. The WWII Warbirds put on a great show of bomber protection and a pretty darn good dogfight.

The USAF Combat Search and Rescue Team, supported by a flight of A-10’s were on hand to put on a behind enemy lines pilot rescue showing their skill and capabilities. Of course, being at Davis-Monthan AFB, a demo of the A-10 Warthog and the multiple roles it plays thrilled the hometown crowd. We do love our A-10’s.

The United States Air Force Thunderbirds were featured. Watching the ground support crew prepare each aircraft, guide them on their way, and bring them back in line upon landing was fun to watch. The Thunderbird performance was spectacular and the precision flying had the eyes of every spectator glued to the sky.

The Heritage Flight was something pretty special, all jets. Joining an A-10, F-22 and F-35 was the vintage F-86. This was a Heritage Flight I have never seen before and it was pretty impressive. The entire crowd was standing as they made several passes over the field.

The show dates were March 23rd - 24th and was free to the public.

Can’t wait for the 2021 event.

Jeff Krueger

Jeff Krueger

Jeff Krueger

FLIGHT A B O A R D T H E U S S H A R RY S . T R U M A N

Getting the opportunity to shoot on a US Navy Aircraft Carrier is an incredible experience, and when I got the chance to shoot onboard the USS George H.W. Bush six years, I felt it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The thrill of landing on a carrier and getting tail-hooked, and then being catapulted back off at the end of the trip, was truly something I’ll never forget. That’s why I was so tickled when I got the opportunity a few weeks ago to fly out to the USS Harry S. Truman for a second shot at a once in a lifetime opportunity.

On that first carrier shoot on the Bush, after my first day of shooting, I went to my stateroom to look at my images from the day, and I was so disappointed and what I had taken that day. It was shot after shot of the same jets, taking off one after another from the same spot, and it was just gray jet after gray jet, and I knew right then I had blown it. Yes, fighter jets are incredible machines, and that’s why I had taken so darn many shots of them, but looking at those shots…it really hit me that what makes a carrier so amazing, isn’t the jets. It’s the people that make it all happen.

The deck crew are miracle workers of teamwork, dedication, discipline, and professionalism, and they are the real story, and the real color on a carrier, so the next day I deduced to focus on them, and my results were so much better.

On this recent trip to the Truman, I knew from the start that while of course,, I would certainly be including jets in my shots, this time I would focus more on the people, on the process, and on telling the story of ballet of absolute precision that happens on the Flight Deck of a carrier.

I had carefully put together my shot list; I brought remote cameras with wireless controllers to get those low perspective shot I had missed the first time. I would shoot at Flight Deck locations I missed out on the first time around, and well, having six years to lie there in bed thinking about what you’d do differently…well, I knew I was going to approach the entire shoot differently the second time around. The only problem was — my entire plan fell apart.

Because “sometimes that’s just how things work out,” after more than 2-days on board, I only wound up getting to shoot on the Flight Deck for a total of around 20 minutes. That was after being told we wouldn’t be able to shoot from the flight deck at all because the ship was returning to port the following day and all the jets and aircraft onboard would be leaving our 1st morning on the ship and returning to their home bases. During this “fly off” were told it would be too busy and too dangerous for us to be on the flight deck at all. Well, we both were just crushed! If it weren’t for one of the Safety Officers who stepped us and volunteered to escort us on

DECK Article and photos by Scott Kelby

the deck personally, we wouldn’t have even had that 20 minutes. You’d be amazed at how grateful you become for 20 minutes shooting on the Flight Deck, after going to sleep the night before thinking you’d have zero time on the flight deck.

We did get some shots the first day, though. My buddy and fellow photographer Todd Beveridge from NCIS, and I did get to shoot for about an hour up high on The Island from a cat-walk area called “Vulture’s Row.” The perspective of the Flight Deck from there is pretty cool, but you have limited sight lines of the Flight Deck and the shots, from up high like that, just aren’t nearly as dynamic as what you’d get on The Flight Deck itself.

It’s the difference between shooting an NFL game from up the stands or shooting down on the sidelines. It’s that big a difference. You’re not in

the middle of the action; you’re shooting down on the action below you, and after about an hour up there, you know you’ve pretty much gotten all you’re going to get. So, with only 1-hour and 20-minutes of combined shooting time between Vulture’s Row and the Flight Deck for the entire trip, it makes you a master of “Gettin’ what you can get when you get it.”

There’s no time to dink around —so you’re not standing around holding your camera a lot — you’re shooting from the minute you step out there until they drag you off by your safety gear, which feels like 5-minutes when you want 50.

So was it worth all the time, and the flight’s to Norfolk and the overnight hotel, and all that just an hour and 20-minutes of shooting time? Absolutely! It was worth it if I had never taken my camera out of my camera

Now, I have to figure out some way to get aboard a carrier again someday, so I don’t spend another six years lying in bed at night and thinking over and over, “I should have done this….” or “Next time I’d do that…” Thanks for letting me share my story with you, and hats off to our the men and women in our armed services. Go Navy!

Scott Kelby

bag, only to experience the precision, camaraderie, and teamwork of the amazing men and women the USS Harry S. Truman. Getting to see first hand the dedication and hard work of the Truman’s team — it makes you so proud, and it’s so inspiring. I wish every American had the opportunity to see it all first-hand. I’m very grateful for the time I had on board, and for the opportunity to share a few shots with you here in the magazine. I’m even more thankful to the men and women of the Truman for their service to our country, for their sacrifice, and the sacrifice of their families. I’m honored to have had a second opportunity to shoot onboard a carrier, and I’m thankful for the gracious hospitality of the officers and crew on the Truman for allowing us aboard in the first place.

Scott Kelby

Equipment check

Scott Kelby

Scott Kelby

Scott Kelby

Scott Kelby

Nicolas John Slemp Limbioul

HONORING THE LAST D O O L I T T L E R A I D E R

LT. COL. RICHARD “DICK” E. COLE SEPTEMBER 7, 1915 - APRIL 9, 2019

We honor the passing of a legend, the last Doolittle Tokyo Raider from Comfort, Texas. He was a humble man who worked to benefit his fellow Americans and humanity for almost all of his long life, and he lived more than 103 years. He was Lt Col Jimmy Doolittle’s co-pilot on what we now know as “Doolittle’s Tokyo Raid,” one of the most famous actions in American history. It has earned an honored place as one of the most audacious air operations of World War II. The immortal Jimmy Doolittle conceived of a masterful plan for a surprise attack on Tokyo itself, by launching Army Air Corps medium bombers from an aircraft carrier—a truly joint strike mission. Doolittle’s attack plan was a calculated counter-strike for what the Japanese had done at Pearl Harbor.

After Dick Cole’s passing a memorial flight was performed in honor of him and also a memorial service was held by the military. Ceremonies were captured by ISAP members Gary Daniels and Kevin Hong. This is a special section of the ISnAP magazine dedicated to Lt Col Richard “Dick” E. Cole for his service to our country. *Dick Cole’s Memorial Service insert

The bomber selected by Doolittle for the mission needed versatility and range; only one was suitable, Mitchell B-25 aptly named for General Billy Mitchell. When they departed the U.S.S. Hornet seventy-seven years ago, the Raiders’ boldness and guile stunned the world. All 16 B-25s successfully bombed Japan in broad daylight and none was lost to enemy action. The Raiders fought through despite balky top gun turrets and broomstick decoy machine guns in the tail. Though each B-25 made it safely out of Japan, they attacked knowing they had insufficient fuel to land safely in China. Against all odds, and with the help of brave Chinese people, 68 of the 80 Raiders lived to return to their families, despite harrowing bailouts, ditchings and narrow escapes in China, or cruel and sadistic treatment as prisoners of war.

Larry Grace

After the raid, the Japanese then began a period of desperate overreach to protect themselves from American air power. What they did not comprehend was that the Doolittle Raiders had already signaled their inevitable defeat. Though safely back within American lines, then Lieutenant Dick Cole remained in the China/Burma/India (CBI) Theater to fight on, flying C-47s carrying vital supplies to fighting forces throughout the hazardous CBI Theater. He also helped pioneer AIr Force Special Operations, flying with the Air Commandos later in the war. Dick Cole’s record of personal sacrifice and service to mankind, through his energetic pursuit of helping others no matter the cost, continues to inspire us. Though he was the last living Raider, his legacy, and that of the Doolittle Raiders, will live in our collective memory forever.

MEMORIAL FLIGHT HONORING DICK COLE Article and photos by Gary Daniels

Saturday, April 13, was a miserable weather day in Oklahoma and Texas.

I was covering an event in Oklahoma, but the howling wind and driving rain had ruined what was planned. Wondering if I should cut my losses and head home enduring three hours of driving in the rotten weather, my phone chimed with a text from Taylor Stevenson. Taylor owns a T-6 Texan based at Addison Airport in Dallas, Texas. Taylor’s text said several people were putting together a memorial flight for Dick Cole on Sunday afternoon. He asked, “Can you join us?” “Count me in, Taylor!”

was my quick response. I hurriedly packed my bags, said my goodbyes and headed back to Dallas, thankful for the new wiper blades I had installed last month.

Overnight, the storm moved on, leaving behind a brilliant, chilly Sunday with light winds. Eight T-6 Texan variants gathered at Lancaster Regional Airport (LNC) at 10:00a. Four of the birds live there, and the other four flew in from the surrounding region. Stephen Beal lives in

Gary Daniels the Dallas area and owns two of the aircraft that would be part of the memorial flight, a bright yellow Harvard IV and an SNJ. Stephen flew the SNJ, and Trey Carrol flew his Harvard. The SNJ was slated to be the lead aircraft and the camera ship…my ride for the day. I really enjoy Stephen’s SNJ. It has the rotating gunner’s seat and canopy that retracts back toward the center of the cockpit, leaving the ‘gunners’ position completely open. Facing backwards with 180 degrees of open air makes photographing from this aircraft a blast…literally! It’s a very

windy perch, and I wear a fabric helmet to keep my headphones in place.

Meeting at LNC were Stephen Beal, Trey Carrol, Taylor Stevenson, Lanny Parcell, Mark Todd, Steve Swift, Ben Wilson, and Ladd Gardner.

And, most aircraft had a back-seater joining in the mission. Beal was flight lead and conducted the brief. This first leg was straightforward: fly to Gillespie County Airport (T82) to meet the others for the memorial

flight. Our eight aircraft were wheels up at 11:00a and heading south.

It was a fantastic day to fly with smooth air and crisp, clear blue skies.

From 6500’ we could see a million miles. At that altitude, I was glad I had chosen to wear two jackets. Sitting in the back, with the canopy open to shoot the flight, was quite cold and a lot of fun.

We made an impressive eight-ship break over T82 on arrival. Folks in Fredericksburg love to hear the noise of radials over their town, and it wasn’t long after we had landed that several people arrived at the airfield to see what all the commotion was about. Four T-6s were already on the ground, flown there by Sam Strahan, Daniel Rathbun, Conrad Huffstutler, and Terry Adams. Rod Lewis and Jim Dale soon arrived in the Lewis Air Legends B-25. After much handshaking, the aircrews headed to the Airport Diner for a quick lunch.

Terry Adams is responsible for making the memorial fly-over happen.

He is a good friend with Dick and his family. When he heard that a ‘celebration of life’ service for Dick was planned, Terry started making phone calls, and before long, he had 12 Texans and one B-25 lined up.

The memorial service was held at the meeting hall of the fire station in Waring, Texas. T82 was the perfect location to stage the flight due to its proximity to Waring. During the flight brief, Terry became a bit emotional as he thanked everyone for their effort and expense in making this memorial flight possible. Terry later told me he once asked Dick, after his 100th birthday, how he had lived so long. Dick told him, “I live like the sheriff is chasing me!”

Stephen Beal led the flight brief. The brief called for Rod and Jim to lead in the B-25. The 12 Texans were split into three groups of four, Alpha, Bravo and Charlie flight.

Alpha Flight was led by Stephen Beal and flew off the left wing of the ’25. Bravo Flight was led by Mark Todd and flew off the right wing.

Charlie Flight was led by Daniel Rathbun and flew in trail. Terry Adams flew in Charlie Flight and pulled the Missing Man on the second pass.

We were a few minutes early over the fire station, and a person attending the service said they heard the flight approaching, so everyone rushed outside to watch, interrupting the speaker. After the fly over, the flights broke apart, and the Dallas area Texans turned north toward home. Four of us landed at LNC, and the others went on to their home airfields.

After putting the airplanes away, I shook hands with everyone and thanked them for including me on the special flight. During my drive home, I reflected on Mr. Cole. Terry told me Dick never considered himself a ‘hero’… he was just doing his job. I certainly consider him a hero and know how fortunate I am to have had a serendipitous involvement in his celebration of life. Blues skies Mr. Cole. Thank you for your extraordinary service.

Gary Daniels

Stephen Beal leading the flight brief at T82.

Dallas-area Texan’s en route to T82.

Scenes of the formation during the memorial flight.

Gary Daniels

Seven-ship echelon taken during the flight to T82 to join up with the other memorial flight aircraft.

Group photo of all aircrews at T82 before the memorial flight.

Texan break over LNC

Lt Col Richard “Dick” E. Memorial Service Article and photos by Kevin Hong

On April 18, 2019 a military memorial service for Lt Col Richard “Dick” E. Cole was held at Randolph AFB. A special flyover by various aircraft included a RC-135, B-52s, a missing man formation by T-38s, and B-25s. In attendance was family and friends of Dick Cole, the Secretary of the Air Force, The Honorable Heather Wilson and Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, General David Goldfein, Tuskegee Airmen, and people from around the world.

The memorial service took place on the same day of the Doolittle Tokyo Raid when 16 B-25s departed the U.S.S. Hornet seventy-seven years ago bombing Japan in broad daylight. To see the tribute video visit https://bit.ly/2Wv7Y9w

Cole

Kevin Hong

Kevin Hong

Kevin Hong

Kevin Hong

Camera Review

TESTING THE SONY A9 Article and photos by Mike Bilek

In a genre of photography typically dominated by names like Canon, Nikon, and Sigma, one doesn’t usually think of Sony as a major player in Aviation Photography. When I shot my first airshow in October of 2018, Sony didn’t even cross my mind. I was previously a Canon shooter and rented a more capable Canon 5DmkIII and a 100-400mm lens than the 60d I was shooting with. By the end of the weekend, I was searching for something different. Not because I was disappointed with the image quality of Canon, but mainly because of the weight of the DSLR system. That same month, I was forced to retire from my previous career due to back issues and the eventual surgery needed to stabilize my lumbar spine; and so, the search began for something different. Like many of us nowadays, I tend to rely on the expertise of others when making decisions related to a new gear investment. Two of the YouTubers that I usually turn to are Ted Forbes of “The Art of Photography” and Jared Polin of “Fro Knows Photo.” Following my initial research, I settled on a mirrorless system and the Sony A9. Over the past few months, I have had the opportunity to shoot extensively with the A9 and these are my thoughts. This review was written in late February 2019; Sony has recently updated (Apr 2019) the firmware of the A9 and I am currently testing those updates.

Likes: 1) Autofocus is incredibly fast. There are changeable focus modes that are suitable for pretty much any type of shooting scenario. My favorite so far is “Locked on: AF Wide.” In this mode, you can lock on a subject and the camera will track it through the entire frame, even if you don’t pan with the subject AND even if it passes behind another object.

2) Weight - My current setup (Sony A9 w/ Sony 100-400 GM + 1.4x teleconverter…also, with battery grip which I don’t own) only weighs 8 lbs.

I haven’t confirmed, but read that the equivalent Canon and Nikon setup weighs 11 lbs. Having back issues, this is a huge deal for me. After shooting the Pacific Air Show in Huntington Beach last year with a Canon 5D3 and 100 - 400mm, I was incredibly sore afterward.

3) Image quality - The RAW images straight out of camera are great.

When I first started using the A9, I took the time to build a custom camera profile with the Xrite color checker. Using that profile, the image is very usable at that point. I mainly only do basic color corrections if the exposure was off, then apply a custom “recipe” using the Nik collection that applies detail enhancements. I don’t do much retouching, if any.

4) Frame rate: 20 frames per second (fps) compressed RAW is a little overkill in my opinion, but then again, I haven’t needed it. 12 fps UN-compressed RAW is plenty for me and based on my limited knowledge of Bit Depth, I know that 14-bit RAW is a lot better than 12-bit RAW for post-processing.

5) Silent shutter: I didn’t realize how awesome this feature was until I shot photos at my daughter’s Christmas Chapel event inside a church. Pretty cool to be able to shoot like crazy and not worry about annoying anyone.

6) One of the best features about the A9 that the other Sony cameras and DSLRs don’t have...there is NO blackout in the viewfinder when releasing the shutter. I can fire off 12 or even 20 fps and I can frame my subject the entire time without losing sight of it when the mirror flips up, as it does in DSLRs. The other Sony cameras, like the A7rIII, don’t have this function even with an electronic shutter enabled. Not sure why that is the case on the A7rIII, but this is excellent on the Sony A9.

Dislikes: The only problem I have at this point is the buffer speed of the A9. The Sony A9 has a dual card slot system which is great. However, each card slot does not clear the buffer at the same rate. I have my camera set to shoot redundant (I’ve lost images before and I don’t want that happening again). The problem is that the slower card slot takes a long time to clear the buffer. I have shot multiple bursts of images, maxed out the buffer, and it took almost 2 minutes to clear. I will admit that I might not have had a fast-enough card in the second slot…I was using old cards as the new fast cards can get pricey. If you have two camera bodies, use the other one while the buffer clears, but not everyone can afford to shoot with two camera bodies. You can keep shooting as the buffer clears, but this issue is still troublesome. UPDATE: I have since started using faster cards in both slots, however the buffer still lags a bit; although the problem is less of an issue than it used to be.

Things that aren’t great, but don’t really bug me: 1) The ergonomics - Yes, the camera body is very small and if you have large hands (which I don’t) it could feel very awkward. There are a lot of accessories available that can solve that problem; or you buy a battery grip so you can also shoot in a portrait aspect ratio:) 2) Menu system - The menu system is extremely complicated, so if you’re coming from another brand, you WILL get lost quickly like I still do on occasion. However, I managed to find Mark Galer, a Sony ambassador on YouTube, who outlines setting up custom shooting preset modes so you can dial in appropriate settings at the twist on the mode dial. I know most other camera brands also have this feature, but this helps with the frustration of the menu system. And I have been really trying to master the menu system so I’m not fumbling around looking for anything.

3) I am a left eye shooter, so my nose sometimes gets in the way of the AF ON button; I’m a back button focus shooter. I have adjusted the way I shoot to accommodate.

Final thoughts…I recently updated my A9 to firmware version 5.0 and I am currently testing the new autofocus features. My initial impressions are that the already awesome autofocus got even better. All in all, I am extremely impressed with the capabilities of the Sony A9 for use in the aviation realm and would highly recommend it, provided you have the budget. More to come in a further review.

Mike Bilek

Mike Bilek

Mike Bilek

LONG LIVE THE KING!

BELGIUM RETIRES THE WESTLAND SEA KING MK 48 HELICOPTERS Article and photos by Nico Limbioul

On Thursday, March 21, 2019, Westland Sea King Mk 48 helicopters, from 40th Squadron (based at Koksijde AB in Belgium) have been retired, after 43 years, from active service.

During his last operational flight, the helicopter bearing the number RS-05 flew over the entire Belgian coastline, from Knokke to La Panne, as sign of farewell.

Although the range of their mission is much larger, Sea King helicopters were mainly known to the general public as Search and Rescue (SAR).

Since their introduction in 1976, the five machines have logged close to 60000 flying hours and completed 3309 rescue missions.

365 days a year, 24 hours a day, one of the five helicopters and associated crews were ready to perform a scramble. In total, Belgian Air Force crews saved 1757 people… sometimes in very difficult conditions!

Some mediatized operations and a Belgian TV series called Windkracht 10 (literally 10 Beaufort from Beaufort scale) have made both helicopters and crews famous far beyond Belgian borders.

The helicopter is deeply linked to the Belgian coast. That’s why during this last flight, a member of the crew has plant a commemorative flag, on the beach of each municipality or coastal city, marking 43 years of service, assisted by the mayor (or his delegate).

NH-90 NFH CAIMAN helicopter will now take the role of his predecessor!

All the pictures have been made on the shore of Oostende.

Many thanks to Stéphane ROOBROEK, Luitenant-kolonel Vlieger SBH,Commandant 1W/BKOKS - Base Commander and Philippe “Smurf” VAN HUYCK, Adjudant-chef (Air) - OR 9, Air Component - Image & Public Relations from Belgian Air Force who helped for the making of this article.

Nico Limbioul

Nico Limbioul

Thunder Over The Bay 2019 TRAVIS AFB

Article and photos by Geoffrey Arnwine

The 2019 Thunder Over The Bay Open House at Travis Air Force Base was a blast. I had many amazing opportunities to take pictures of aircraft in the air and on the ground as the media team and personnel that ran the event did a terrific job under the hands of SSgt. Amber Carter.

The show, which was originally schedule for May, was held at the end of March to accommodate the Thunderbirds. In addition to the Ambassadors of Blue, the F-22 Raptor Demo Team made it’s first appearance at Travis which was awesome.

On Thursday, I had the very special honor to go on a refueling flight on board a KC-10 Extender. During the flight, we flew over many areas including Oregon, Las Vegas, and the Southern California coast. Me and the rest of the media group had the unique opportunity to watch an E-3 Sentry and two A-10 Thunderbolt II’s get refueled. The E-3 was extra special because another KC-10 had to leave due to an electrical issue, so ours filled in for it. The A-10s came from Davis-Monthan AFB and were coming to Travis for static display.

The Friday practice day featured many unique ground opportunities including the chance to get up close to the Thunderbirds aircraft and talk with the pilots. Actor Chris Pratt was also there visiting, which was very special. In addition to walking up to the team’s aircraft, I was also able to get up close and personal with the F-22 Raptor Demo Team, courtesy

of 2nd Lt. Sam Eckholm, and see up close what the crew does before and after a demonstration. During that time, I had a nice conversation with the pilot, Maj. Paul “Loco” Lopez.

For Sunday’s show, I had the opportunity to go on board with the Golden Knights for a media flight and watch the jumpers exit the aircraft.

This was another special chance for me to view the airshow from a pilot’s perspective as I got to see the base and multiple static aircraft from the air. During the flight, the team gave me a special media kit and allowed me to take a group photo.

The flying activities, highlighted by the Thunderbirds and F-22 Demo Team, were excellent. The sky each day featured a nice variety of clouds for some scenic photos and the hills and grass in the background were bright green from the rainy season. One of my favorite parts of watching the show was finally having the opportunity to see the C variant of the F-35 fly as two of them from VFA-125 departed for home on Sunday to NAS Lemoore.

Overall, the Thunder Over The Bay Open House was a huge success and I look forward to going back again. While the official dates are not secured yet, the next show should occur as early as 2021.

Geoffrey Arnwine

Geoffrey Arnwine

Geoffrey Arnwine

THE BELGIAN DEMO TEAMS Article and photos by Nico Limbioul

The Belgian Air Component introduced its demonstration teams at Beauvechain Air Base on Thursday, April 4th. The goal was to present their show for acceptance by Aviation Safety Directorate but also to the press.

In 2019, the Air Component will present its capabilities to the general public through numerous in-flight demonstrations. Three teams represent the Belgian country during air shows organized both in Belgium and abroad.

- Dark Falcon / F-16 Solo Display - A109 Display Team - The Red Devils

They gave a glimpse of their talent to the press above the Beauvechain Air Base. The flight of an NH90 helicopter flying the national flag brought a finishing touch.

The pilots gave the best of themselves under the eyes of the Aviation Safety Directorate. This safety service checks compliance with altitude and flight speed instructions. As demonstration teams participate in events around the world, flight safety remains a top priority.

The three Demo teams made their first 2019 presentation at the Beauvechain Air Base Day on Wednesday, April 10th. Thanks to the Press Service of Belgian Defense for their help in the realization of this report.

Nico Limbioul

Nico Limbioul

Nico Limbioul

SALINAS A I R S H O W

Article and photos by Geoffrey Arnwine

For the first time ever, the California International Airshow in Salinas was held in March unlike it’s usual fall dates. This move was made in order for the show to book the Blue Angels who haven’t appeared in Salinas in 10 years. Switching to the spring time was a good change because there was less of a fog threat and the beautiful scenery around the airport was nice and green from all the rain that occurred during the month.

The overall weather for the show was great with a wide variety of clouds making for great backgrounds for aerial photography. It is also to great advantage for this show to have them considering the difficult sun lighting conditions that the show has. But by the time the Blue Angels flew, the sun was farther behind the crowd making for less silhouette shots.

One thing Salinas is best known for is the vapor from jet performers, and the Blue Angels showed a lot of it in a variety of their maneuvers including the sneak pass and minimum radius turn. Even Fat Albert showcased some off the propellers during it’s solo performance.

One of my favorite parts of the show was the DeHavilland Vampire piloted

by Jerry Conley. His performance in the historic jet aircraft included many low level passes and even an incredible wall of fire in the end.

This was a rare opportunity to see an old British jet in the U.S. with only few remaining in airworthy condition in the world today.

After the show concluded on Sunday, I was able to enjoy the last hours of the show watching multiple static aircraft depart for home.

Overall, this show was a nice one to start my airshow season off this year and I look forward to the next one on June 2020 with the Thunderbirds.

Geoffrey Arnwine

Geoffrey Arnwine

Geoffrey Arnwine

“Nightingale Regional Air Ambulance:

Saving Minutes, Saving Lives�

Article and photos by Rick Charles

With its numerous rivers, waterways, railroads, natural constraints and growing traffic congestion, the Hampton Roads area of Southeast Virginia and Northeast North Carolina can be a challenge to move a sick or injured patient quickly to comprehensive medical care. Based in Norfolk, Virginia, this region’s primary air ambulance service is carried out by Nightingale. The Sentara Healthcare-owned and operated air medical evacuation capability, avoids these geographical complications to help improve patient outcomes with critical care-level paramedicine and efficient transportation in time-critical situations.

Founded in 1982, Nightingale serves the numerous cities in the region: Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Williamsburg, Newport News, Hampton, and Chesapeake, as well as the unincorporated areas in between from its base at the region’s only level one trauma center, Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. Nightingale also serves the Virginia portion of the Delmarva Peninsula and the northern-most stretch of the North Carolina’s summer tourist hotspot, the Outer Banks.

Rick Charles

Nightingale’s primary aircraft is a 2010 IFR-capable, twin-engine, fourblade Airbus Helicopters EC145 (formerly Eurocopter and MBB/Kawasaki BK117 C-2), and carries the registration “N145NG”. The pilots, who work a 7-on, 7-off, 12-hour schedule, and maintenance technicians are provided by Metro Aviation, a leading U.S. Part 135 and 145-certified operator and maintainer of emergency mission rotorcraft. The medical flight personnel and dispatchers are employees of Sentara Healthcare and also work 12-hour shifts. Standard crew staffing is one pilot, registered flight nurse and flight paramedic. That leaves one open seat for an additional crewmember, first responder or passenger.

In addition to N145NG, Nightingale also owns a backup helicopter which, until April 2019, was its former front line workhorse, “N117NG”, a 1986 BK117 A-4. However, that aircraft was not IFR capable so a spare aircraft capable of IFR-operations is needed. Nightingale’s spare aircraft are kept at Hampton Roads Executive Airport (KPVG), 10 miles southwest of downtown Norfolk.

On 29 March 2019, I was given the opportunity to photograph N145NG on a glorious spring day on one of the last days it will launch from its ground level pad. Beginning in late April 2019, Nightingale will begin operating from its brand new, state-of-the-art rooftop facility on the 12th floor of Norfolk General Hospital. Sentara has invested heavily for two elevated helipads capable of sustained 24-hour operations.

This facility is equipped with an advanced fueling capability with aviation fuel pumped from ground-level underground storage tanks, AFFF fire suppression systems, corrosion control system, and aircraft tie-down points. Nightingale will use the “A” pad, a smaller dedicated pad for its helicopter, while the larger “B” pad is designed for visiting helos up to 60 feet in length. That means United States Navy and Coast Guard Sikorsky H-60 variants from nearby bases will be able to land on the B pad.

On the day of my visit I spoke extensively with Scott N., the pilot and former U.S. Army OH-58 Kiowa and UH-72 Lakota driver, and flight nurse Janice M., a 25-year veteran of the Nightingale program. Both were very gracious hosts and answered my barrage of questions on operations, aircraft, and life in the Hampton Roads area.

Like most medevac units, calls for air ambulance service come through their dispatch center and crews are alerted verbally or via radio (if not in their office). The duty pilot will evaluate the weather conditions for launch and landing location as well as the route of flight and make a “go/no-go” decision. If the flight is accepted, the pilot and medical crew make their way to the aircraft for pre-flight and launch. While the pilot initiates aircraft powerplant, navigation, and communications systems, one of the medical flight crew conducts an external inspection (walk around) of the aircraft and visually clears the aircraft while the main rotor and anti-torque (tail) rotor begin turning. The other medical crewmember checks and readies the medical compartment for the upcoming patient care.

By the time the aircraft has lifted off, the dispatch center has provided further information about the mission: nature of the call, patient information, special considerations, landing location (usually either another medical facility or an emergency scene), and the ground contact if it is a “scene flight”—usually a local fire department officer appointed the task of “LZ coordinator.”

A couple key nuggets of crucial information crews need are patient weight information and if there will be any “ride along” passengers such as a parent of a pediatric patient. For medevac helos, payload

weight is a critical factor for safe operations and determining flight range. Simply put, the more weight there is, the shorter the range.

Every pound matters and excessive weight is not wanted. Once the crew has the patient on board, a thorough medical report is given to the receiving facility which could be anywhere in the region as far away as Richmond, Virginia, Nags Head, North Carolina or the Delmarva Peninsula (eastern shore of Maryland, Delaware and Virginia).

For Nightingale, the current ratio of scene flights to inter-facility patient transfer flights currently stands at 50/50.

During my visit, Nightingale launched for a scene flight located across the James River to the City of Hampton for a motor vehicle accident.

Prior to departure, Janice, the flight nurse with a quarter-century of medevac flight experience in this region, told me in a matter-of-fact tone, the flight would be “four minutes there, four minutes back, ten minutes on the ground.” Without the capabilities of Nightingale, a ground ambulance crew on this call would have had to travel roughly 18 circuitous miles during Friday rush hour traffic over congested Interstate 64, the 3.5-mile long Hampton Roads Bridge and Tunnel, and Norfolk city streets to reach the trauma center.

In 2018, Sentara Nightingale Regional Air Ambulance flew 721 patient transport flights. They have flown more than 20,000 accident-free missions since program inception.

Rick Charles

The Unmanned KC-135 Flight Crew

Kevin Hong

Article by Kevin Hong Photos by Kevin Hong, Larry Grace and TSgt Abigail Klein

The Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) were the first female pilots to fly American military aircraft in World War II. Since that time more and more women have joined all branches of the United States military to serve around the world.

On April 9, 2019, an all female KC-135 flight crew of the 931st Air Refueling Wing launched out of McConnell Air Force Base with two female ground crew assisting them claiming the title “unmanned” flight crew.

Although this has been done before with other units, it’s a rare occasion to capture this and go behind the scenes with not just the crew but also the female maintainers who keep the planes flying. In addition to the rare occasion during their flight they were able to also refuel a female F-16 pilot in training.

This article is a salute to all women in the armed forces and women in aviation. They come from all walks of life as a sister, daughter, wife, mother and even grandmothers.

At 6:30a the planning and coordination began for the aerial refueling mission. It takes a lot of moving parts to coordinate the tankers of the skies and watching the briefing is always interesting. At the briefing table we met the KC-135 aircrew: Aircraft Commander: Maj. Monica Riggs Instructor Pilot: Lt. Col. Suzanne Jones Copilot 1: Capt. Sarah Cassman Copilot 2: Maj. Susie Crespo Boom Operator: TSgt Sarajo Danis Today’s mission was going to involve flight training for F-16s.

They were going to New Mexico to refuel five F-16s with the 54th Fighter Group from Holloman AFB. By coincidence one of the pilots in training just happened to be a female as well. For a Lt. Maggie Nicklas this was her first time hooking up for aerial refueling.

Major Riggs explained “Throughout the process you have to stay in contact with the units and what planes need gas. Where to meet the planes is critical to make sure bad weather doesn’t become an issue and miss their point of contact with the tanker.” During the flight planning the crew not only discussed where they were going but also ran through safety procedures and what to do in case there is a problem with planes they were tanking. At this point the boom operator plays a vital role telling everyone the safe words for a plane to break away from the receiver.

After the briefing we headed to the jet for preflight. As we all know a KC-135 isn’t exactly a small plane so preflight took over an hour and a half to do a walk around and perform system checks onboard.

While Larry took photos of the walk around with Major Riggs I had an opportunity to shoot photos in the plane and talked with boom operator, TSgt Sarajo Danis. We talked about the duration of flights and claims in some cases they fly around for about three hours however, if the pilots have issues tanking up the flight could take longer. Her first flight as a boom operator was connecting with a massive C-17.

Once the KC-135 was ready the plane departed. We moved inside to meet with some of the female maintenance crew and get a more in depth perspective on what it was like for them to join the military.

Listening to their stories was inspiring to know that it takes a lot to not only have them move but also uproot their families.

The maintainers of the 931st Maintenance Squadron play a vital role to keep the KC-135s flying. For some of the maintenance crew, their family members inspired them to serve. For A1C Maricela Perez, her stepfather was in the Marines and other family members inspired her, however, when she used to write letters to the military that became the tipping point that inspired her to join the Air Force.

TSgt Anne Phillips recalls joining the Air Force just to get benefits for college, however the world had changed in the wake of 9/11 during the time she was in basic training. Since then she continues to serve from active duty to staying in the Air Force Reserves. During deployment and having children, one with a disability was not always easy for her and says that without the support of the Air Force she would not be where she is today without them.

One of the reasons TSgt Phillips highlighted the support is the sisterhood between some of the other females in the group. During a deployment TSgt Phillips was away from her daughter and was going to miss her 10th birthday. With the help of MSgt Sarabia who was

also deployed with Phillips, decided to bake her daughter a cake and Facetime her so she wouldn’t miss the special moment.

After hearing some great stories from the maintenance crew we reconnected with the flight crew after their flight. Spending time with the flight crew was interesting to hear that not everyone was always in love with aviation. In the beginning Major Crespo was in the Air Force Academy but had no aspiration to fly until she had the opportunity there to get her private pilot’s license. Lt. Col. Jones was studying marketing and photography and Capt. Cassman was flying a desk as a medical officer before she realized it was never to late to fly. Major Riggs was a former 2017 pageant winner as Mrs. Kansas and continues to fly as an instructor for the 931st teaching younger aviators to follow their dreams.

During the time we were at McConnell we also interviewed the Public Affairs (PA) TSgt Abigail Klein which was the photographer onboard the KC-135 flight. She was able to describe what she experienced as she took photos of the F-16 and gave some input on what the PAs do for McConnell AFB. I’m glad we had the time to interview everyone we could at McConnell AFB. All of them had words of encouragement for the next generation of female aviators. Major Riggs said it best, “As more and more females join the military hopefully there will be a time where getting a female crew will not be a rare occurrence but just an everyday event.”

Special thanks to everyone at McConnell AFB Aircraft Commander: Maj. Monica Riggs Instructor Pilot: Lt. Col. Suzanne Jones Copilot 1: Capt. Sarah Cassman Copilot 2: Maj. Susie Crespo Boom Operator: TSgt Sarajo Danis Ground support SrA Emily Graham

A1C Destini Brown

Maintenance Crew MSgt Elizabeth Sarabia – 931st Maintenance Sq Aircraft Structural Maintenance Section Chief / Non-Destructive Inspection Craftsman TSgt Heleina Mixon – 22nd Maintenance Sq KC-135 Periodic Inspection Lead Technician / Crew Chief) SrA Keyonna Davis – 22nd Maintenance Sq KC-135 Repair and Reclamation Journeyman SrA Olivia Mitcham – 931st Maintenance Sq Metals Technology Journeyman A1C Maricela Perez – 931st Maintenance Sq Aircraft Structural Maintenance Journeyman TSgt Anne Phillips – 931st Maintenance Group KC-135 & KC-46 Jet Engine Quality Assurance Inspector / Aerospace Propulsion Craftsman F-16 female pilot 1st Lt. Maggie Nicklas – 54th Fighter Group, Holloman AFB Public Affairs 931st ARW TSgt Abigail Klein Lt. Denson To watch more of this story visit https://bit.ly/2QoiQRn

Kevin Hong

Larry Grace

Larry Grace

TSgt Abigail Klein

Kevin Hong

Kevin Hong

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MEET OUR MEMBERS

MEET OUR MEMBER

Nick Moore

I am a semi-professional photographer located in Wichita, KS. Being located in the “Air Capital of the World” ensures that there is always something fun in the air to shoot. I grew up around aviation as my grandfather was an award-winning homebuilder and my weekends typically consisted of hanging around the airport while he worked on his planes. After graduating college, I decided that it was time that I fulfill a lifelong dream of becoming a pilot. Around this same time, I purchased my first DSLR, the mighty Nikon D40. Little did I know that these two “loves” would soon be joined together. My grandfather invited me to attend my first AirVenture the following summer and I decided to take my D40 along with me. I had no idea what I was doing, but something about capturing the lines of an aircraft really impressed me. Since then, I have improved my skills a lot. I have not had much in the way of formal training. Most of my learning came in the form of YouTube videos or simply trial and error as I did not know many of the great mentors and friends that I have now.

Much has changed for me since my first D40 purchase. I am currently shooting Nikon D500 and D600 bodies with a combination of Sigma and Tamron lenses. My “go to” ground-to-air lens is my Sigma 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM. This lens has great reach, good stabilization, and pretty decent sharpness for the price tag. I predominantly use my Tamron AF 70-200mm f/2.8 Di LD IF for my air-to-air work.

I always shoot in RAW as I believe that technology can be used as a very powerful tool and should not be treated like a crutch. I utilize a combination of Lightroom and Photoshop for my post processing, with Lightroom handling the library management and rough edits and Photoshop addressing the fine details. I believe that both applications are very powerful and become even more so when utilized together.

I joined ISAP last year without much knowledge of the organization.

I felt that it might be a good place to network and learn from others.

I also belong to a group known as Full Disc Aviation. We are a group of friends and photographers with various levels of experience that all share the same love of aviation and photography.

I am the son of two teachers so whenever the opportunity presents itself, I thoroughly enjoy helping others by sharing shooting or editing tips that I have learned along the way. The aviation community is a small one and I feel that helping someone elevate their skills is a good way to grow the community. I tend to shoot at lower shutter speeds in an effort to capture motion rather than freeze it. I often get asked how I get the results that I do. The first thing I explain is that I miss more than I make when panning at a slow shutter speed and their is no shame

in using a faster speed until they are comfortable with their abilities.

Once pleased with the results, then it is time to start slowing the shutter down. This cycle is repeated until you find the sweet spot where you are getting lots of motion while producing a tack sharp subject.

Practice is the key to getting better at anything and panning is no different. It does not need to be a P-51 at an airshow for one to feel motivated to practice. Go to the local airport and shoot Skyhawks.

Stand in your yard and shoot cars driving by. Anything that gets you in the habit of smoothly tracking your subject will yield better results the more you do it. Finally, I like to offer some contact info and the offer to contact me anytime with further questions.

Nick Moore

Nick Moore

MEET OUR MEMBER

Ora Lassila

Ever since I can remember I have been interested in aviation. As a kid, I built scale models and flying models. I got my glider license at age 17, soloing on an L-13 Blanik. I have always taken pictures of aircraft.

Originally this was so I could have reference material for scale model projects, later I have realized that I am actually recording history.

I grew up in Finland. After high school I served in the Finnish Army (basic combat training, NCO school, then as an instructor). I subsequently attended college, founded a startup company (it did not succeed), went to graduate school and eventually earned my Ph.D in Computer Science.

At some point I immigrated to the United States, and now live in Southern New Hampshire.

I would consider myself an advanced amateur, although I have done commissioned work as well, both photography as well as technical illustration. While I have no art or photography training, my mom was a professional artist and also a good photographer. I’d like to think I learned something from her. As an aviation photographer I am not trying to emulate anyone, but rather create my own visual style. That said, I really like the work of Gunnar Åkerberg. When it comes to “people photography”, Pete Souza is my favorite.

Some years ago, I started a publishing business called “So Many Aircraft”, figuring that other aircraft enthusiasts and scale modelers would like to see similar kind of reference material that I always crave; my plan is to fill that niche. My first book, about the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport (KMHT), is out and can be found on Amazon.

I have two Canon DSLR bodies and an assortment of lenses. My favorite lens to use is the 1st generation Canon L-series EF 100-400 mm f/4.5-5.6 IS USM, bought used several years ago. It is an excellent lens when shooting flying aircraft. I shoot all my photos in RAW format, mostly because I find that it offers me better opportunities for correction when editing; I don’t worry about file size since disk space is cheap nowadays.

I edit all my photos using Adobe Lightroom Classic, and very seldom have to resort to Photoshop. This is mostly because I don’t really want to edit my photos too much: for historical accuracy I try to limit my editing to straightening the horizon, doing various exposure adjustments, and cropping. For technical illustration work, I use Adobe Illustrator, and for organizing photos the Phase One MediaPro (plus some software I wrote myself, leveraging some of my Ph.D work, actually).

I joined ISAP to connect with other aviation photographers and to learn from those who have mastered this art. I also belong to IPMS, the International Plastic Modelers’ Society, since I have continued to build scale models.

I have a blog, and from time to time I write about photography, mostly about how to organize photographs, what is expected from proper captions (if you are recording history) and other issues related to photo metadata. Insufficient photo captions are sort of a pet peeve of mine. In my opinion the caption of an aircraft photograph should always answer the basic questions of what, where and when (aircraft type and identity, location, and date). That should not be too much to ask, is it?

Ora Lassila

Ora Lassila

MEET OUR MEMBER

Steven Schott I am an advanced amateur. mainly self taught. I started 35 mm photography in 1980. My father owned the FBO in Quincy, Il. which developed my interest in aviation photography.

I use a Nikon camera with two different Nikon zoom lenses. I have one digital camera and the rest use 35 mm film. I use jpg because it seems to be the standard.

AIRPLANE SILHOUETTES

by John Ford

Identify these aircraft. The answers are found next to the Kenyon Gyro Ad.

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2019 PHOTO CONTEST

The photo contest is open to all current members of CAF and/or ISAP. Each contestant may submit a maximum of three entries.

Photos should be in digital format (JPEG), high resolution 3600 x 2400 pixels (12 x 8) @ 300 dpi, and must not be digitally edited aside from cropping and adjusting color/light. Watermarked images will not be accepted. Landscape or vertical formats will be accepted. Photographers are only eligible to win once per category.

Only photographs shot after October 1, 2018, should be submitted.

For each category: 1st Place $75 Gift card to CAF Gift shop 2nd Place $50 Gift card to CAF Gift shop 3rd Place $25 Gift card to CAF Gift shop Winners will be announced and printed in the September Issue of The Dispatch.

CATEGORIES Each category will be divided and judged in groups of professional/amateur photographers.

1. CAF Aircraft (Flying Aircraft) 2. Aviation Events (People) 3. Around the Hangar/Ramp (Static Hangar, Aircraft) 4. Warbirds (non-CAF aircraft) Contest information can be seen at: https://issuu.com/isaporg/docs/isap_caf_contest https://aviationphoto.org/2019-photo-contest-information/

Commemorative Air Force (CAF) collaborates with International Society for Aviation Photography (ISAP) on its 2019 photo contest The International Society for Aviation Photography is pleased to announce that the 2019 Commemorative Air Force Photo (CAF) contest will be opened to ISAP members, as well as to members of CAF. CAF’s members photograph people, planes, and their events throughout the year.

The Commemorative Air Force hosts many events across the country and recognizes that many ISAP members share the same love of aviation through their photography. As a result, the CAF has taken the unusual step of inviting interested ISAP members to participate in the contest and enter some of the great photography they may have taken of CAF aircraft or at CAF events.

As always ISAP encourages its members to carefully consider the rules of any contest they consider entering. Although the rules of the CAF contest may sound like a “rights grab,” CAF worked with ISAP on some changes, and the organization understands ISAP’s concern surrounding image rights and will be working with ISAP to develop fair, more photographer-friendly rules in the future.

Under the rules, all photos submitted to the contest by CAF members and ISAP members may be used in the future to promote the Commemorative Air Force. These photos help to document CAF’s efforts and tell the organization’s story—the hard work on the ramp, vintage aircraft in flight, and the audience reacting at CAF airshows and engaging with CAF members are essential. Images will be used primarily in CAF’s magazine, The Dispatch, both in print and online and in social media. The contest rules also give ISAP the ability to use contest images. ISAP will use these images only in its ISnAP digital magazine, on the ISAP website, and in social media in its reporting of the contest.

The rules do not give third parties rights to use images entered in the contest, and ISAP members who have worked with CAF in the past say that the organization is great about relaying requests from such third parties as other magazines and video producers to the photographer involved, so that he or she can negotiate a usage agreement.

CAF and ISAP are working to build a relationship between the organizations that will allow them to work together at events in the future, showcasing ISAP members’ knowledge and exploring ways to help everyone who loves aviation photography to become better photographers.

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For details visit the ISAP newsletter or member log-in section of the ISAP website.

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The Art of Air to Air

Aviation Photography: Post Processing

Aviation Photography: Warbirds and the Men Who Flew Them

VISIT WWW.KELBYONE.COM TO VIEW ALL INSTRUCTORS, GET MORE INFO & BECOME A MEMBER Adobe, Photoshop, and Lightroom are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems, Incorporated. All images courtesy of Moose Peterson.

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$3.50 OFF DISCOUNT TO ALL ISAP MEMBERS

LCD Screen Protector

High-quality screen protectors

Custom-fit Japanese technology

I know, I know. Some things just shouldn’t be talked about in polite society. They’re too horrific to contemplate. But that’s why we exist.

At Expert Shield, we looked closely at the screen protector market.

Then we recoiled in horror.

But here’s why you should be telling your Aunty Mabel about us.

We offer a lifetime guarantee. Whose life? The life of your phone, camera or tablet. If you scratch your screen protector, send it back.

If you scuff it, send it back. If it’s rude to its elders, cut off its pocket money and send it back. That’s a no small print, no-scratch, no-bubble, no-quibble guarantee.

You paid a penny or two (probably three) for your Canon 5D Mark III, Nikon D800, Sony A7R II or Olympus OM-D. So how would you feel if you scratched the screen just a few weeks ?

The options seemed to be cheap screen protectors that doubled as clingfilm or expensive screen protectors affordable only by those listed on Forbes. There had to be another way.

We use Japanese Optical Grade CrystalFilm™ technology that comes in three scratch-repelling layers and offers a custom fit that’s as precise as cosmic molecular geometry. Which we made up, admittedly.

Visit ExpertShield.com and select your items.

Click “View Cart” before checkout and click “Use Coupon Code” For the coupon code visit the ISAP newsletter or member log-in section of the ISAP website.

www.ExpertShield.com

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LIOE Design is a product company that manufactures their own product designs. Located in Seattle, WA all their products are aviation inspired from their Aero Ti Chopsticks Every product has a story. A reason why a product looks the way it does from function and practicality to aesthetics. All our products are designed with the belief that everyday goods can be extraordinary. We strive to ensure the user is getting the most unique experience and to create a everyday item in a completely re-imagined way. We design to spark imagination and creativity even in the most creative people.

Creating products that inspire design.

1) Air Squadron playing cards This deck of cards has artwork of modern jets and aircraft.

The inspiration was to create a deck of cards unlike other cards, the Kings and Queens are B-2 Bomber and SR-71. The Jokers are the A-10 and F-22. Every card is unique creating the perfect deck for an aviation enthusiast or card collector! 2) Stealth Pen The Stealth Pen has a unique, aluminum uni-body design with four total components making it lightweight as well as easy to assemble and disassemble. The slotted design offers a futuristic touch and cuts down on the weight of the pen while allowing the user a glance at the inside ink cartridge.

3) Titan Business card holder The Titan is aero-inspired minimalist light-weight card holder. The pattern on the front of the card holder is reminisce of a futuristic space door and inspired by the nose of the B29 Super Fortress. Titan has a dark gunmetal gray color and is made from aircraft grade 6061-T6 Aluminum.

LIOEDESIGN.COM Visit their website to learn more about their products

15% discount for ISAP members

For details visit the ISAP newsletter or member log-in section of the ISAP website.

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Answers to Airplane Silhouettes 1. Kawanishi Baika Project 2. Lockheed Orion P-3 3. Martin XB-33A 4. Martin XB-68

Special Offer for ISAP Members

For the special offers visit the ISAP newsletter or member log-in section of the ISAP website.

The Professionals Source Professionals in the world of imaging rely on the professionals of B&H for their equipment needs. We have experts ready to give courteous service with a phone call, a click of the mouse or a personal visit.

Our SuperStore http://www.bhphotovideo.com/find/HelpCenter/NYSuperStore08. jsp?About_Us-The_Professionals_Source pays tribute to the wealth of possibilities available for photography, videography and other media industries. We make the wonders of technology available through our complete lines of photo, video, audio, lighting, pro accessories, computers, data storage, optics, entertainment, projection and surveillance devices, to which we add a wonderful, personal experience for professionals, hobbyists and consumers alike.

History We opened our original storefront in 1973. Our reputation for extensive inventory and intelligent conversation about photography began with our first customer. We grew from a small photography shop in Manhattan’s Financial District to a major supplier of photo, video and audio equipment on 17th Street, with customers returning again and again for our low pricing and high reliability. The new millennium’s explosion of affordable technology for pros and consumers alike brought new lines of computers, home entertainment, and consumer devices, as we moved to our SuperStore: www.bhphotovideo.com/find/HelpCenter/NYSuperStore08. jsp?About_Us-History on 34th Street and opened our cyber-doors at www.bhphotovideo.com. We continue to expand to meet your needs with showrooms, classes, educational and social media, and more.

ISAP Merchandise

If you wish to purchase any ISAP merchandise please email info@aviationphoto.org Send your name and current address and you will be invoiced via PayPal. Shipping cost will be added to your invoice.

Members with an international address will have a higher shipping rate.

ISAP Challenge coin - $10 + shipping ISAP safety vest (Small to X-Large) - $38 + shipping (An additional $10.00 will be charged for a 2X-4X size vest) ISAP membership patch - $5 + shipping Limited patch version with Velcro backing - $10 + shipping

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ISAP Board Members President and Board Chairman Larry Grace Vice President and Vice Chairman Jim Wilson Treasurer Gary Edwards Past Treasurer Bonnie Kratz Secretary Mike Collins ISAP Board Member George Kounis ISAP Board Member Kevin Hong ISAP Staff Member John Sepp ISAP Staff Member Craig Swancy Chairman Emeritus Jay Miller ISnAP Editor Kevin Hong ISnAP International Editor Mike Green The ISnAP is a periodic publication of the International Society for Aviation Photography (ISAP) and is used to communicate news, functions, convention information, and other information of interest on the local, regional, and national scenes. The views and opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the authors and should not be construed as the views or opinions of the International Society for Aviation Photography (ISAP).

Please contact us at info@aviationphoto.org, isnap@aviationphoto.org or isappresident@aviationphoto.org ISnAP is a publication to showcase our members work in capturing aviation events. Anytime you have images or would like to inquire on doing an article for ISnAP contact us via email at isnap@aviationphoto.org Images should be sized at 3600 x 2400 @ 300 dpi (12� x 8�) in a landscape format only. Submit up to 10 images per article and submit your text in a word document and email a link by using www.wetransfer.com and send to info@aviationphoto.org (Up to 2GB). You can also submit images for review for a future cover or back page display. If any questions you can email us as well to isnap@aviationphoto.org.

We look forward to your submission and to showcase your articles and images.