Skiplanes & Seaplanes | C-185 Landing on Grass Landing on the “mains” is very important. Those “nose” wheels won’t take much abuse. A nice long lens makes this this image possible.
The Back Story This beautiful Cessna 185 on floats from Northwoods Aviation showed us how it’s done at the Memorial Day fly-in breakfast at Home Acres Airport in Lake City , Michigan.
Skiplanes & Seaplanes | Super Cub Landing A PA-18 Piper Super Cubs on floats can land in some pretty tight places. With the floats attached the Super Cub can drop out of the sky very quickly at a steep angle.
The Back Story Northern Michigan provides some beautiful backgrounds when capturing floatplane images. This Super Cub on short final reminds one that the call to the wild is not far away. See Floatplane Weekend | a 7 Image Story for the whole story.
Skiplanes & Seaplanes | Cub Taking Off Strong winds made the lake waves higher than normal. The water along the coastline was much calmer. This Cub made the most of it, yet the takeoff run was still pretty long.
The Back Story This Piper Cub is a long way away. The Nikon 1 V1 with the 70-200mm lens at 200mm yields a 540mm reach. With the razor sharp exposure, a little crop in post still make a good image.
Skiplanes & Seaplanes | Volmer VJ-22 Sportsman As the VJ-22 moved along the taxiway, the late afternoon light spilled softly on its fuselage. It attracted several pilot onlookers as it made its way to its hanger.
The Back Story What is it? It’s a 1950’s vintage, experimental, high wing monoplane, Volmer VJ-22 Amphibian flying boat nicknamed “Sportsman.” You just don’t see a plane like the VJ-22 taxiing at your local airport very often. For more information on the VJ-22, see Volmer VJ-22 Sportsman | a 7 Image Story.
Skiplanes & Seaplanes | Seaplane Base Arrival This beautiful de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver on floats makes its grand arrival at the seaplane base during Air Adventure. For a float plane pilot, getting a tow to the dock is the lap of luxury. Pilots land and takeoff outside the seaplane base cove, but still in protected water leading into Lake Winnebago. For more on the seaplane base, see Oshkosh Seaplane Base | a 7 Image Story.
The Back Story The seaplane base is very low key and a nice place to kick back after an afternoon on the Oshkosh flight line. Sometimes, it help to just hang around and wait for a good image to come floating by.
Skiplanes & Seaplanes | PBY Catalina Flying Boat The numerous PBY Catalina flying boats, one of the most recognizable WWII warbirds, are still being flown today. PBY was the most widely used patrol plane in WWII. Nicknamed the “Cat,” or “P-boat,” or the “Canso” in Canadait, it saw combat in every theater of the war. In the Pacific theater with Its ability to stay airborne for hours and its 2500+ mile range, it served as the eyes of the fleet. Armed with bombs, depth charges and torpedoes, the PBY took the war to the enemy protecting merchant ships from submarine attack and raiding enemy ships using night radar. Still, it will likely be most remembered as a search and rescue (SAR) aircraft that could land in the water to pick up survivors of sunken ships or pilots shot down in combat.
The Back Story This PBY Catalina Flying Boat was on the ramp when I visited Fantasy of Flight located about half way between Tampa and Orlando. They have about 200 restored aircraft including a B-26 bomber, a B-25 bomber, and a B-24 bomber as well as many other WWII warbirds. And, most of their warbirds are airworthy. My time was limited for photog activities, but this PBY was just too cool to pass up.
Skiplanes & Seaplanes | Brrr it’s Cold Yes, engines get cold and when they get too cold, they are hard to start. When stopping for a bite to eat, this engine blanket really helps keep the engine warmer.
The Back Story One of the benefits of carrying a smaller camera, you can take it almost anywhere. When we hopped out onto this frozen lake and walked to a restaurant on the shoreline, the Nikon 1 V3 was in my pocket. Then, it was just a simple click. For more information on aviation photography, go to Nikon 1 V3 for Aviation | a 7 Image Story.
Skiplanes & Seaplanes | Final Approach on “36” Three six is a grass runway; although it’s hard to tell with all the snow. What was the visibility on short final? Well, don’t know, but it was better than a mile and an inch.
The Back Story With intermittent light snow showers around the airport, sometimes you found yourself flying through the snow showers on short final. This image was captured through the windshield by the right seat passenger. For more information on aviation photography, go to Nikon 1 V3 for Aviation | a 7 Image Story.
