60 FlightJournal.com
GALLERY
Regardless of the subject, photos can be
seen from two distinctly different points of
view. The obvious one is the impression that
is made on those who look at it the images,
and that inevitably varies from viewer to
viewer. Then there is the perspective as seen
by the photographers themselves. When
examining their own work, photographers
don’t see only the photos themselves. They
can’t. There is no way they can divorce their
mind from the memories that surround the
images. They will always see what was hap-
pening around them at the moment the shut-
ter was flashed open. The photos themselves
are simply the hub around which numerous
memories radiate like spokes on a wheel.
Behind
the Photos
Confessions of an
Aviation Shutterbug
BY BUDD DAVISSON
Sometimesthestories
behindphotosareasdra
maticorasinterestingasthe
photosthemselves.These
talesareunwrittencaptions
thatleavetheimagesfloat
inginspaceandviewers
totallyunawareofwhatthey
arenotseeing.Thatbeing
thecase,Iamgoingtothrow
someofmyownphotoson
thelightboxand,inaseries
ofshortfirstpersonessays,
giveadescriptionofwhat
theviewersaren’tseeing.
Somehappenedduringthe
1/320thofasecondwhen
theshutterwasopen,some
before,andsomeafter.
Sosomecaptionswillbe
shortandotherslongand
rambling.
Ihopethisraisesacuri
osityinreadersthat,upon
seeingthesephotos,causes
thefollowingthoughtto
popintomind:“Iwonder
whatelsewasgoingon?”I’d Rather Be Lucky Than Good
The phone next to my bed in the hotel just south of Osh-
kosh, Wisconsin, rang at about 11:30 p.m. It was EAA
Warbird Director Bill Harrison. He sounded a little excited.
“Chucky is on the field, and he’s leaving in the morning.
But he’s willing to do a photo shoot, if you’re willing.”
Of course, I was willing. Chucky was a B-17, which
meant we had four B-17s on the field at one time, and the
prospect of being able to get them all up for a shoot was
literally a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. At this point in
history, sometime in the early ’80s, there were only five
flyable B-17s in the United States—and we had four!
Bill took care of herding the B-17s, while I woke up my
friend Ron and begged him to fly me in his T-28C for the
mission. He couldn’t wait.
Early the next morning, I was strapped in the back
of the T-28, canopy open, engine running, watching a
drama unfold. I remember telling Ron over the intercom,
“You do realize we’re trying to do the impossible and
get 17 Wright 1820s running at one time.” The odds
weren’t in our favor.
Then he came up on the intercom with some possible
bad news: The EAA’s B- 17 Aluminum Overcast had a flat
tailwheel tire. They had found a spare, and I could see
a bunch of guys huddled under the tail. Even from a
distance, I could sense their frantic urgency. Then I
saw an engine on Aluminum Overcast start to crank, but
the group under the tail wasn’t moving, and I became
aware of engines coming to life on the other ’Forts. The
mechanics were still under the tail, and the tail was
still up on a jack. Then I saw Chucky starting to roll.
Damn! Were we going to miss this? Then a second ’Fort
started to roll. Double damn!
I saw the tail of Aluminum Overcast drop to the
ground, with all four engines turning, and a mechanic
run from the tail and around to the front of the airplane.
His arm was in the air, giving a frantic thumbs-up. At
the same time, the airplane started to move, and I felt
my pilot come off the brakes and we moved toward
the runway.
To this day, I don’t know how we got that many air-
planes off the ground so quickly, but I do remember
that, once in the air, I was on the radio trying to herd
them toward a hole in the low seven-tenths overcast
we could see down south. Everyone rogered that they
could see it. The camera ship climbed up first through
the sizable hole, and I could hear the B-17 pilots talking
as they worked their way toward the hole.
I saw the first one rise up out of the clouds. Then
another. And another. As number four came up, I looked
down at the hair standing up on my arms. Holy...! On the
intercom, I said, “I don’t believe what we’re seeing!”
Ron mumbled in agreement. It was absolutely magical!
And as the resulting photo shows, the pilots were just
as magical. There was a lot of logistical luck involved in
this, but it was the pilots that made it all happen.