Wild Horses - The Mustang

This particular P-51 Mustang has been in the Chino California Planes of Fame Museum's collection for several decades. I remember seeing it in the mid 1990's. They seem to take very good care of it as it still flys quite regularly. My close up view of the aircraft reveals her glossy and smooth appearance.

One of the truly wonderful things about being newly retired is that I now have the long dreamed of freedom to visit these museums during the work week and avoid them during the weekends. This means I am typically visiting during slow times and I don't run the risk of getting in the way of other visitors and vice versa. I just setup my tripod and quietly take my shots. As usual I draw the attention of the museum docents who are curious about what I do with the photos I take. Not many visitors seem to show up with tripods and professional cameras. When I show them examples of the aviation photos on my blog they show a little sign of recognition but don't say much other than "Looks like you "Photoshopped" that photo". The truth is while I once used Photoshop extensively, I rarely open the application these days. I ingest and catalog the photos using Adobe Lightroom and use Luminar Neo to merge my exposures into one HDR image that I then occasionally lightly post process them back in Lightroom.

Staggering into Annual Inspection

One of the unique things about the Yanks Air Museum is that several of their historic aircraft are still flying on a regular basis. This of course means that they must be regularly inspected and certified as safe to fly. During my recent tour I came across a few aircraft that were currently undergoing their annual inspections. This takes the form of a mandatory, comprehensive maintenance check performed every 12 months. It's designed to ensure the aircraft remains safe and deemed airworthy for continued operation. 

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This Beechcraft Model 17 Staggerwing was one such aircraft. Seeing it with its engine cowl removed and all of its cylinders on display was a rare opportunity to sort of pull the curtain back and get a peek behind the scenes so to speak. To my uneducated eye, all tools needed for the inspection were all spread out in front of it and since the inspector had wandered off, I took the opportunity to take a few images. 

The Passion and the Fury

During a recent visit to the Yanks Air Museum in Chino, California, I met the museum’s general manager. Unlike most visitors, I often raise some concern among facility managers due to my unusual equipment and attire. I arrive with a tripod-mounted camera, an external monitor, sunshade, and sometimes a rolling dolly. I wear a camera vest with two additional cameras and occasionally also use a camera dolly along with a rolling camera case with extra lenses and batteries. This makes me stand out quite a bit.

Museum managers often approach me to discuss my plans for using the photos I intend to take, as many museums want to control or be aware of photo or video sales on their property.

I explained my photography process and preference for HDR photography to the manager. I explained that I aim to capture highly detailed photos while controlling the depth of field. Taking nine images with a tripod allows me to achieve this. I showed her some overexposed shots on my monitor and she was able to discern significant detail in the FJ-1 Fury aircraft.

Though polite and welcoming, she made it clear that the museum wouldn’t want me to sell the photos I take there. I agreed. I showed her some aircraft photos I’ve previously taken, including those from the San Diego Air Museum, the USS Midway, and Gillespie Field. She showed interest in possibly using some of my photos to promote the museum. I emailed her a few images from the Yanks Museum, but I haven’t yet received a response. I suspect my email may have inadvertently gone to her junk folder.

I feel it’s my passion for photography that compels me to carry around so much camera gear. Today, it led me to the FJ-1 Fury aircraft at the Yanks Air Museum.

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The 1946 FJ-1 Fury was the US Navy’s first operational jet aircraft. Only 33 were ever built, and only 2 survive today. Its black paint makes it ideal for HDR photography. A single exposure would likely make the black paint appear featureless. I’ve included a photo showing how much detail I captured in the black paint using HDR

A6 Intruder - Classic Design, Might Need Some Work

This is not the first time I have seen this Navy A6 Intruder aircraft. About 15 years ago, I was wandering around the Yanks Air Museum's "boneyard" in Chino California and came across two A6's . I photographed them then and posted them to my blog and my flickr photo stream.  This past March, I visited again and was somewhat surprised to find these same two aircraft still sitting there waiting their turn to be restored. My uninformed guess is that they will still be there 15 years from now. Aircraft restoration is a long process once it gets started and these aircraft show no signs that any restoration is in their near future…

I Got a Right to Sing the Blues

The first time I saw the US Navy's flight demonstration team, the Blue Angels, I was 5 years old. At the time the team was flying the powerful McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II fighter aircraft which were aptly nicknamed the Rhino. These huge twin-engine jets were unbelievably loud especially when all 6 of them fired up their engines simultaneously. The ground actually started shaking. All of this visual and aural stimulation was way too intense for a 5-year-old so after very little thought, I decided screaming and crying my eyes out would be an appropriate response. On the day this photo was taken at the Yanks air museum in Chino, California I was quite surprised to find this FA-18 aircraft wearing the Blue Angel livery. Unbidden, my mind flashed back to my first encounter with the blues. However, this time I was able to maintain my composure and just framed up my shot. I'm glad my response was a calm one. My wife would never have been able to scoop me up and walk me outside. It had probably been a decade since I had visited this museum and many things have changed including the fact that their aircraft collection has grown significantly.

1941 Pontiac Timelapse

Kathy and I drove out to the City of Chino car show this morning. She initially said she wasn't going to go since it was going to rain. It ended up raining but later in the day. The clouds were very impressive so after taking just a few photos (too many cars with their hoods up) I shot this short timelapse video:

Red Fresco

Kathy and I made plans to go to 3 car shows on Saturday. Unfortunately 2 had been cancelled. The remaining show was in Rialto and was excellent. On the way home we stopped at the Chino Planes of Fame Museum. This is a MiG-17 fighter designed in Russia. The NATO code name for the MiG-17 is Fresco. All Russian fighters were assigned NATO code names that started with a letter F. For example, the names for the MiG-15, 19 and 21 were Fagot, Farmer and Fishbed respectively. This example has been nicely restored, its bright red and black paint stood out beautifully when compared to the other aircraft in this hanger which were mainly silver or grey. American pilots that encountered the MiG-17 over Vietnam quickly learned that trying to turn with this nimble aircraft would most likely result in the MiG shooting them down. The solution was to fight in the vertical plane, using the American aircraft's superior thrust to accelerate away from the MiG and re-engage from a more advantageous position. In the 1960's, a few flyable examples of the MiG-17 were "obtained" by U.S. intelligence agencies and participated in mock combat against American pilots and aircraft to train them in methods of effectively overcoming the MiG's advantages in the skies over Vietnam. One valuable lesson they learned was that at speeds over 450 knots, the MiG's control stick would partially lock up. American pilots engaged by the MiG were instructed to accelerate to 500+ knots and evade. The MiG would be unable to follow.

Double Trouble

Double Trouble, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

Two pristine P-51 Mustang fighters line up for their afternoon flight. An American design powered by a British engine, the P-51 was greatly feared by German pilots during World War 2. Kathy and I waited to see them take off and I have to say there is nothing in this world like the sound of the Merlin engine.

Glory Days

Glory Days, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

I was a little shocked to see the condition of this seemingly famous experimental aircraft. It was rotting away in the boneyard at the Chino Planes of Fame Museum in Chino, CA. It turns out this is just a television prop. It was built and used for a show called Quantum Leap in 1989. The actual X-2 became the first aircraft to fly higher than 100,000 feet with pilot Iven C. Kincheloe at the controls. It was lost after becoming the first aircraft to fly in excess of Mach 3. The pilot Milburn G. "Mel" Apt was killed and the test program was ended.

Ghost Squadron in Fading Light

Ghost Squadron in Fading Light, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

These historic aircraft are awaiting funds and skilled hands to restore them to flight conditon. Making history by saving it, the Chino Planes of Fame museum is an amazing place.