Graham remembers this from the April 1998 shoot: "This was shot from the open hatch of (the late) Rob Carlson's HU-16B 51-5909 (which was in full USAF scheme), on a flight from Sun 'n Fun to Lakeland,FL.
I had arranged this photo shoot specially, as there was also Jack Bart's Grumman Mallard in the formation."

N96UC is a Canso PBY-5A with c/n 1737. More of its interesting days in Paraguay can be read on Gene Richardson's account on FAP 2002

I have Michael Prophet to thank for making this photo of N96UC available to me.

This 'Super Cat' was built as Consolidated Vultee 28-5ACF (PBY-5A) Catalina, manufacturer serial number 1649, in October 1943 at San Diego,CA.

An extensive history can be read on www.air-scene-uk.com/hangar/2005/pby/pby.htm

Lockheed P-2E Neptune N1386C (c/n 426-5268) of Neptune Aviation Services, photographed at Helena,MT by Graham.
This aircraft used to be employed by the US Navy, had tailnumber 128422 in those days.

Graham's comment:
"The Neptune Inc. P-2 was shot at Helena Mt. in August 2003. That summer I made a concerted effort to catch DC-7s in action and flew to Seattle, then travelled throughout the NW USA. A very lucky and timely trip, as the following year saw the major down-sizing in Federal contracts for heavy tankers.  As it happens, I struck so very lucky, with action at Moses Lake, Redmond, Coer-d'Alene and Helena.  In fact, at Helena there were 14 active tankers both days I was there, a bunch of P-2s (Neptune Inc. and Aero Union), P-3s, CL-215s, DC-7s and the DC-6 - quite a trip!

Tanker 62 of Butler Aircraft Company (Redmond,OR) is Douglas DC-7 (c/n 45145) and is seen roaring past here...
Its career started with delivery to United Air Lines in Feb.1957 as N6331C and was reregistered as N401US in 1964 when it was leased from C&J Aircraft to US Overseas Airlines. In 1965 it was bought by Stanley Weiss and was bought by Butler 25Mar76 for aerial firefighting.
Founder Cal Butler passed away in 2004, but the company continued to this day (2006).

"The DC-7 was also shot at Helena, it flew 6 or 7 missions and was later joined by IAR's Tanker # 33.  We had seen N401US in action at Moses Lake and Coer'd'Alene already, and the crew knew we were following them around, and made us very welcome in the crew and operations rooms at the various USFS bases."

This twilight shot of Beech N503N was taken in 1997.

Graham writes:
"The Twin Beech at Key West was the first of a number of sorties like this, all arranged on the spur of the moment, with very little planning.  I had arrived in KW the afternoon before, checked out the field and saw a pair of Beech 18s (one tail-dragger, the other this Volpar Tri-Gear example) and obtained permission to photograph them. Afterwards I sought out the crew in the pilots' lounge in the tower and asked when they were planning to leave.  Carib Air Cargo had the contract for UPS and DHL parcels off the island to Miami and the Twin Beeches flew every evening.  I asked the question of air-to-air possibilities and the pilot of N503N agreed instantly, as long as he got some shots back for his office wall  - deal !  So, I chartered a Cessna 172 from the local FBO, had the two pilots meet and co-ordinate the mission and we were all set to go. 
So, as soon as the last parcels were loaded on the Beech, we both taxied out and departed as a two-ship, the Twin Beech soon settling in right alongside. It was well after 6pm and the sun began to set, making me a little concerned that the film speed would not be fast enough, but it all worked out well.  The success of this allowed me to do it all again the following year, this time with two Beech 18s in formation, as the crew had heard what I'd done the previous time, they arranged an 'un-scheduled' crew training mission around the islands, again with me in a Cessna 172."

These grumman Trackers are Korean War era planes. They have radial piston engines, an 800 gallon retardant capacity and cruise at 160 knots. They're worn out and are being replaced by similar S-2s converted to turboprop engines for $3,000,000 each.
Source: www.firehogs.com/photos/s2.shtml

Photo taken in 1999.

This was my first ever visit to la Ferte Alais airshow. Only expecting warbirds, I was most surprised to discover that the Securite Civile always support the show with a display, including water drops on small fires lit for the display. This year happened to coincide with the last piston powered S-2 still in service, so we were treated to a great formation display of a piston S-2 and an S-2T Turbo Firecat and a CL-415, all of which then went on to do live water drops in front of the crowd! This picture was the opening 'act' of their display, a fast sweeping fly-by from right to left, which took much of the crowd by surprise!

After the great Leeward Ranch barbeque, that ranch owner Jimmy Leeward puts on, we departed south again, back to Tamiami, me again in the T-6, and Jimmy Leeward came up alongside the C-117 for some close ups, and formation shots, before diving away at high speed. The T-6 then plodded along back to TMB stopping at Belle Glade for fuel, carreering through and around the billowing cloud tops - great fun !!

During the 1960s this ConvairLiner (c/n 484) operated for Mohawk Airlines and was named Air Chief Joseph Brant whilst registered as N4402. At some point it was converted for use as a freighter and did so for Salair (of Spokane,WA) with tailnumber N357SA.
This CV440F/SCD drifted to Europe, to Portugal to be exact, for Agroar Trabalhos Aéreos and was registered CS-TML on 07May97 (based at Evora). It was bought by Atlantic Airlines of Coventry,UK in 1999 and later registered as G-CONV, but all sorts of certification difficulties kept it out of commercial use.
Great looking plane nevertheless.

N494TW is a Lockheed VC-121B Constellation, the military version of the L.749; Graham took his opportunity when N494TW made a rare visit to Europe.
I came across it in 1993, and one can read its historic details there; at one time it was owned by John Travolta!
There is more on my page about Surviving Connies. and Paul Schaack sent me photos when it was en route to its new owner in South Korea.

 
I came across this Connie in 1997 at Camarillo,CA (see Surviving Connies).

"In October 1995 I was on vacation in California, staying with friends who crewed and flew the CHS Super Constellation at Camarillo airport. At the time Wayne Jones, who had recently purchased this EC-121T from Pima Museum in Tucson, was also preparing to put the aircraft onto the airshow circuit. I had met Wayne at Camarillo the year previous and he knew of my interest in Connies and also that I was a photographer. His EC-121T had been at Santa Barbara airport for some avionics work and it was due to return to Camarillo the weekend I was there, so he invited me to fly to Santa Barbara with him in his Cessna 310, in which he was ferrying the Connie crew. We watched the impressive start up of the EC-121 then took off in the 310 to hold close to the field awaiting the Connie's departure, so we could fly back to Camarillo together. Once both aircraft were airborne and over the water, we began to formate on the EC-121T, making two slow over-taking passes on the Connie's starboard side, as Wayne was not proficient with formation work, this seemed the best option to shoot the pictures. Even though the windows in the Cessna were slightly blue tinted, and had distortions due to the curved perspex the shots were not too bad and are still, as far as I am aware, the only air-to-airs ever taken of this aircraft in civilian ownership."
John Lameck wrote me in April 2006: "in spite of the large ANG shield on the tail of the aircraft, it never flew with the Air National Guard; more likely it served with the AFRes."
Read more about C-121s with the ANG here.

This is Lockheed C-121C Constellation N73544 (c/n 4175).
Graham's comment: "I have been close friends with the owner of the CHS Connie and some of her crew for a number of years now, ever since I began working on my book Prop Perfection, in which I featured all of the airworthy Constellations then flying. In the years from 1995, my wife Joan and I regularly visited the US twice a year helping to crew the Super Connie at a number of airshows in California - great fun, and a real privilege to be part of Super Connie operations and also plenty of flying in her ! On the occasion of this picture, I was still preparing work for the book, and had agreed with the CAF at Camarillo to swap my place on the Super Connie on the flight back to Camarillo from the El Toro MCAS airshow in October 1996 with one of their ground-crew, so I could try to shoot the Connie from the open over-wing escape hatch on the C-46 'China Doll'."

This is VC-121B c/n 2604, on its way to its new homeland; the Netherlands. Its tailnumber is N749NL.
"The Dutch Constellation air-to-air was a real surprise opportinity that worked out so well. I had found out at the very last moment that she was due to transit the UK through Duxford, and following contact with the Imperial War Museum press office, was included in the small number of press photographers to cover the occasion. Also at Duxford were a number of the Dutch group responsible for the acquisition and restoration of the Connie, who had flown to Duxford in two Piper Navajo aircraft, with a tv crew, in order to shoot video of her delivery to Holland. One of the crew was Raymond Oostergo, whom I had met in Tucson a couple of years previous when they were preparing the Connie; he remembered me having bought my book Prop Perfection. I asked him if it be at all possible to accompany the tv crew in one of the Navajos to try and shoot air to airs of her on the short flight from Duxford to Manston... ? This was greeted with a very encouraging yes, no problem !
The flight to Manston was under generally dull and over-cast skies, although as we neared Manston the sun did break through the cloud for a short time to produce a few good shots."

"Having spent much autumn vacation time in Tucson in the 1990s, I watched the long and thorough restoration of the HARS Super Constellation. Over the same period I met and became good friends with many wonderful and generous people in Tucson, which continues today. Two such people were Gary Abrams and his father Harold (Bud) Abrams, who owned the lease on Avra Valley Airport and the associated FBO there.
Upon arriving in Tucson in October 1995, I saw that the Aussies were beginning flight training on the Super Connie in preparation for their impending delivery flight in January 1996. I had met and spent many a cool beer with a number of the group of volunteers, headed by Bob de la Hunty in the preceding few years.
Gary and Harold very kindly offered their T-28D as photo ship, to try and capture one of the Connie's test flights air-to-air. Co-ordination between Connie crew, me and Gary was a little hectic, as the aircraft was at Tucson and I would need to get up to Avra Valley once their departure plans were confirmed on the day of the flight. Sure enough, we received the go ahead from Bob in Tucson, I jumped in my car and raced north to Avra Valley (a 20 minute drive on a good day !). Gary had already prepared the T-28D and Harold had decided to join in the fun also, and was in their Beech Baron with my wife Joan to fly alongside us in the T-28, photographing the Connie ! We launched and climbed up to 10,000' above Avra Valley waiting for the Connie; we heard on Tucson departure control that the Connie was airborne and climbing to the north, now we just had to make sure she did not go past us. After 10 minutes, which seemed like a lifetime, we spotted the gleaming white Connie approaching fast from the south and pass below us. With a fighter style steep wing over, Gary brought the T-28 down alongside the Connie for some of the best air-to-air aircraft positioning I have ever experienced. He took us incredibly close to the Connie, on both sides, below as well as wing overs over the top of it to get top-side shots - AWESOME !"

Those military Connies seem the true survivors; this here is Lockheed C-121C Super Constellation VH-EAG (c/n 4176), former USAF 54-0157; it was purchased by the Australian Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) in Nov91 for restoration and delivery to Australia. After extensive restoration VH-EAG arrived on 03Feb96 in Sydney.
Read more on this plane in my Oz 2005 report.

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