The shot that I missed...

[Steve Nelson]

Mine happened at a visit to the Air Zoo when I was in middle school, I'm guessing fall of 2001. We pulled into the museum and Tom Wood's Bearcat and Vlado's P-51 were sitting on the ramp next to each other. There were also a bunch of T-6s parked in the grass. It was the day of the Free Fall Open House so my guess is they were all there to visit the museum and get some formation work in. We saw the P-51 and Bearcat flying around later that evening, but I would have loved to gotten pictures of them on the ramp. That's the last time I've seen that Bearcat fly.

IIRC there was an annual gathering of T-6s that weekend (in Kenosha?) and the Schiffers invited them to the Air Zoo for a cookout. We knew Vlado was coming with Moonbeam, but Mr Woods in the Bearcat was a nice surprise. I think I shot three or four rolls that afternoon..I can scan and post a few if you'd like..

For me, the first one that leaps to mind (I'm sure there are plenty more) was in 1983 at an airshow at Jeffco Airport outside Denver. One of H&P's Super Privateers did two water drops, but naturally I didn't have my camera. I was probably too broke to afford film (ask your parents, kids.)

I also once "almost" caught the engine flaming out on an F-14, but was a split-second too slow on the shutter. A huge plume of flame shot out of one tailpipe, but it lasted less than a second and by the time I clicked all that remained was a thin bit of residual smoke.



SN

[John Dupre]

Not sure if this counts.......Many years ago, I was flying a bright yellow Champ from Hill Country back to Houston area....low and very slow but it was a beautiful day, not too hot and I was enjoying the scenery. All of a sudden a big bird that looked like a bald eagle (was probably some kind of big hawk) tucked in off left wing and flew formation with the big yellow bird. No camera to confirm it but it really happened. I thought it a fluke and started some gentle jinking......he stayed right with me. After what seemed like between 5-10 minutes, he tired of the game and broke away to fly a different route. What an amazing experience....oh what I would given for any kind of camera.

I have heard of that happening to other pilots though most often sailplane or glider pilots. The late cartoonist Bill Mauldin used to tell a story of being attacked in mid air by a chicken hawk. His pilot friends equated the attack to his flying style......he flew like a chicken.

[John Dupre]

I know mine was a great shot because I got half of it. I took a full on shot of a rotary engine running in Sopwith Pup replica at Owls Head Transportation Museum in Rockland, ME. Then had a brain fade and opened the camera before rewinding my Pentax. Lots of the shots had bright pink lines running through them but the rotary engine shot was clear, all cylinders a blur, but half the shot was completely washed out.

[kalamazookid]

Steve, I would love to see those pictures. I really miss seeing that Bearcat. Hopefully the Wood group is able to show it off at airshows again some day.