Post aircraft pictures you took

I took this a while back at Santa Rosa Beach, east of Pensacola. I was contacted by a family member later, as the plane went down shortly after we left.T6-114799.jpg
 
35 AoA said:
Was the Whale a navy buno at the time, or one of the N registered industry test birds?
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A couple of ERA-3's and one TA-3, all VAQ-33 airplanes at the time.
35 AoA said:
...I always wonder if they had a plan for an engine failure on takeoff, or if they just shot from the hip. Historical record seems to point to the latter.
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My time with them was right about the time they stopped taking them to the boat, and I think everyone was relieved.
I'm probably repeating myself, but the egress brief was, in essence, "If you *need* to get out you probably can't, and if you *can* get out you probably don't need to." The stuff we were doing didn't last long but I got some learnings/memories burned into long-term storage.

I'll see if I can find some pics.

Nauga,
and the better part of valor
 
nauga said:
If you want to be 'impressed' by my age but not my luck I've also got some pics from within the belly of the whale (A-3).
[...]
I'll see if I can find some pics.
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The "Engineers Week" thread and photos reminded me of my promise from last year. I've been cleaning out a bunch of stuff and ran across another box of photos. The pics weren't great to begin with and the scanner definitely did not improve them but you get the idea.

Come with me on a trip through time, to a time WHEN DINOSAURS WALKED THE EARTH AND WHALES SOARED THE SKIES!

Crappy pic of an ERA-3 making a pass through an airspeed calibration range (tower flyby).
I'm just behind where the canopy meets the fuselage, ahead of the forwardmost upper antenna.
I probably should have waved, but I'm writing furiously as we try to hit conditions.
Low Whale.jpeg

TA-3B, looking aft, probably somewhere between Key West and Jax. I'm in the crew chief's seat just behind the pilot.
In some whales this seat faced aft, others forward. I've got time in these airplanes sitting forward, backward, and sideways. o_O
Whale Head.jpeg

TA-3 or EA-3, approaching NAS Key West. "My" pilot in the left seat, a host pilot in the right.
The scanner has washed out the view, which is unfortunate, but you can see the runway in the original.
The white area at the top of the frame should be blue, it's sky as seen through the egress hatchway. The hatch is open, part of the normal landing checklist.

Whale View.jpeg


Photo stitching with stone knives and bearskins. EA-3 or TA-3, looking aft from the forward egress hatch (the one mentioned in the cockpit photo). It's a big freakin' airplane. There are a few EA-6A's in the background, speaking of dinosaurs.
Stitched Whale.jpg
I still have a bunch of boxes to go through, who knows what will turn up.

ETA: If you've gotten this far and still don't know what the airplane looks like, Wikipedia will provide:
960px-EA-3B_VQ-1_in_flight_South_China_Sea_1974.jpeg


Nauga,
harpooned
 
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Domenick said:
What is on his back and what is he doing?
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I'm guessing it's a steadicam system for videography. Combines gimbals and dampening for smooth movement while moving around doing video. Good steadicam operators are amazing.
 
G-Man said:
I'm guessing it's a steadicam system for videography. Combines gimbals and dampening for smooth movement while moving around doing video. Good steadicam operators are amazing.
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I've seen SteadiCams. That doesn't look like a SteadiCam. And is that a bottle of ketchup in his belt pocket?
en.wikipedia.org

Steadicam - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
Today I was looking for something else and came across an old box of photos. These are from the early 1980s, my first plane.

A boy and his plane, shortly after I bought it. Looks like Orange County Airport (MGJ) in NY, probably on my first trip to visit my parents with my new toy. My mother said it was a "dinky little plane" but Dad loved it:
1774215293661.jpeg

On one of many flights up the Hudson River corridor:

1774215221607.jpeg

A girl at the airport had her own T-Craft, I think I was more interested in her than she was in me but we did a good bit of flying together for awhile until her plane was wrecked in a windstorm:

1774215446091.jpeg
 
winter in the rockies
 

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Here's an Antonov at the High Sierra fly-in. It's being worked on - of course! It's a good thing these birds are large. You have a chance to carry all the spares and tools you'll need to get home. I couldn't even get that ladder in my plane!
AN2.JPEG
 
My Hummel UltraCruiser during it's initial test flight. I guess I'm a test pilot now? :)150F.jpg
 
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