Old Smoky in action !
10-24-2006, 11:29 AM
#1
Gets Weekends Off
Thread Starter
Joined APC: Apr 2006
Position: B767A[ret.]
Posts: 593
Old Smoky in action !
Classic from a retired pilot.
Here's the story on the Convair 880 picture. Apparently Larry Pullen noticed that a bunch of 880s left IAH between 8 and 9 AM each day. He decided to drive out and get airport ground transportation to drive us down to the end of runway 26. We arrived at the crew lounge before eight and Larry explained to each captain that we would be at the end of runway 26 with cameras waiting. He asked them to hold their aircraft as low as possible until clearing the cameras.
It was quite a sight to see all those "smokers" taxiing out to runway eight. One by one they were cleared for takeoff. Larry was into b&w photography at the time so he had Kodak Plus X loaded. I stood to his left and was using Kodachrome 25, a color slide film.
As each aircraft rotated they all tried to shallow out their climb but the pictures we were getting were more underbelly than front on. As they took off, Larry and I decided that the best picture would occur just before the wing tips exited the side of the viewfinder. We didn't have motor drives back then (1972) so you had to plan the exact moment of tripping the shutter.
Finally we were down to the last 880 and we both felt that we didn't have the picture we needed. The airplane took the runway and we could tell by the black smoke that he was coming our way. One final check of camera settings, a deep breath and we both raised our cameras. The aircraft looked like a dot as it accelerated towards. As we watched the nose rotated and the image increased in size. "Hold it down! Flatten it out. Try to hit us." I thought. And then it happened the nose came down, and this aircraft was coming at us low. As the wing tips filled the frame I clicked the shutter. Then I looked up. What I saw was 160,000# of aluminum and kerosene accelerating towards me at close to 200 miles an hour. Without thinking I dove to the ground and tried to become one with the grass and the earthworms. I don't recall the noise of the aircraft as it roared overhead. This lack of recollection has always bothered me as measurements will show the keel beam and partially retracted right main gear were only 10-12' off the ground. Captain John Steiger and F/O Howard Steed did a great job in helping to create a tremendous photograph.
Here's the story on the Convair 880 picture. Apparently Larry Pullen noticed that a bunch of 880s left IAH between 8 and 9 AM each day. He decided to drive out and get airport ground transportation to drive us down to the end of runway 26. We arrived at the crew lounge before eight and Larry explained to each captain that we would be at the end of runway 26 with cameras waiting. He asked them to hold their aircraft as low as possible until clearing the cameras.
It was quite a sight to see all those "smokers" taxiing out to runway eight. One by one they were cleared for takeoff. Larry was into b&w photography at the time so he had Kodak Plus X loaded. I stood to his left and was using Kodachrome 25, a color slide film.
As each aircraft rotated they all tried to shallow out their climb but the pictures we were getting were more underbelly than front on. As they took off, Larry and I decided that the best picture would occur just before the wing tips exited the side of the viewfinder. We didn't have motor drives back then (1972) so you had to plan the exact moment of tripping the shutter.
Finally we were down to the last 880 and we both felt that we didn't have the picture we needed. The airplane took the runway and we could tell by the black smoke that he was coming our way. One final check of camera settings, a deep breath and we both raised our cameras. The aircraft looked like a dot as it accelerated towards. As we watched the nose rotated and the image increased in size. "Hold it down! Flatten it out. Try to hit us." I thought. And then it happened the nose came down, and this aircraft was coming at us low. As the wing tips filled the frame I clicked the shutter. Then I looked up. What I saw was 160,000# of aluminum and kerosene accelerating towards me at close to 200 miles an hour. Without thinking I dove to the ground and tried to become one with the grass and the earthworms. I don't recall the noise of the aircraft as it roared overhead. This lack of recollection has always bothered me as measurements will show the keel beam and partially retracted right main gear were only 10-12' off the ground. Captain John Steiger and F/O Howard Steed did a great job in helping to create a tremendous photograph.
10-24-2006, 09:15 PM
#4
New Hire
Joined APC: Oct 2006
Position: Student
Posts: 5
10-25-2006, 05:42 PM
#5
New Hire
Joined APC: Oct 2006
Position: Student
Posts: 5
Posted for Joel...
Here's the story on the Convair 880 picture. Apparently Larry noticed that a bunch of 880s left IAH between 8 and 9 AM each day. He decided to drive out and get airport ground transportation to drive us down to the end of runway 26. We arrived at the crew lounge before eight and Larry explained to each captain that we would be at the end of runway 26 with cameras waiting. He asked them to hold their aircraft as low as possible until clearing the cameras.
It was quite a sight to see all those "smokers" taxiing out to runway eight. One by one they were cleared for takeoff. Larry was into b&w photography at the time so he had Kodak Plus X loaded. I stood to his left and was using Kodachrome 25, a color slide film.
As each aircraft rotated they all tried to shallow out their climb but the pictures we were getting were more underbelly than front on. As they took off, Larry and I decided that the best picture would occur just before the wing tips exited the side of the viewfinder. We didn't have motor drives back then (1972) so you had to plan the exact moment of tripping the shutter.
Finally we were down to the last 880 and we both felt that we didn't have the picture we needed. The airplane took the runway and we could tell by the black smoke that he was coming our way. One final check of camera settings, a deep breath and we both raised our cameras. The aircraft looked like a dot as it accelerated towards. As we watched the nose rotated and the image increased in size. "Hold it down! Flatten it out. Try to hit us." I thought. And then it happened the nose came down, and this aircraft was coming at us low. As the wing tips filled the frame I clicked the shutter. Then I looked up. What I saw was 160,000# of aluminum and kerosene accelerating towards me at close to 200 miles an hour. Without thinking I dove to the ground and tried to become one with the grass and the earthworms. I don't recall the noise of the aircraft as it roared overhead. This lack of recollection has always bothered me as measurements will show the keel beam and partially retracted right main gear were only 10-12' off the ground. Captain John Steiger and F/O Howard Steed did a great job in helping to create a tremendous photograph.
Here's the story on the Convair 880 picture. Apparently Larry noticed that a bunch of 880s left IAH between 8 and 9 AM each day. He decided to drive out and get airport ground transportation to drive us down to the end of runway 26. We arrived at the crew lounge before eight and Larry explained to each captain that we would be at the end of runway 26 with cameras waiting. He asked them to hold their aircraft as low as possible until clearing the cameras.
It was quite a sight to see all those "smokers" taxiing out to runway eight. One by one they were cleared for takeoff. Larry was into b&w photography at the time so he had Kodak Plus X loaded. I stood to his left and was using Kodachrome 25, a color slide film.
As each aircraft rotated they all tried to shallow out their climb but the pictures we were getting were more underbelly than front on. As they took off, Larry and I decided that the best picture would occur just before the wing tips exited the side of the viewfinder. We didn't have motor drives back then (1972) so you had to plan the exact moment of tripping the shutter.
Finally we were down to the last 880 and we both felt that we didn't have the picture we needed. The airplane took the runway and we could tell by the black smoke that he was coming our way. One final check of camera settings, a deep breath and we both raised our cameras. The aircraft looked like a dot as it accelerated towards. As we watched the nose rotated and the image increased in size. "Hold it down! Flatten it out. Try to hit us." I thought. And then it happened the nose came down, and this aircraft was coming at us low. As the wing tips filled the frame I clicked the shutter. Then I looked up. What I saw was 160,000# of aluminum and kerosene accelerating towards me at close to 200 miles an hour. Without thinking I dove to the ground and tried to become one with the grass and the earthworms. I don't recall the noise of the aircraft as it roared overhead. This lack of recollection has always bothered me as measurements will show the keel beam and partially retracted right main gear were only 10-12' off the ground. Captain John Steiger and F/O Howard Steed did a great job in helping to create a tremendous photograph.
10-28-2006, 11:57 PM
#8
Day puke
Joined APC: Feb 2006
Position: Out.
Posts: 3,865
Posted for Joel...
Here's the story on the Convair 880 picture. Apparently Larry noticed that a bunch of 880s left IAH between 8 and 9 AM each day. He decided to drive out and get airport ground transportation to drive us down to the end of runway 26. We arrived at the crew lounge before eight and Larry explained to each captain that we would be at the end of runway 26 with cameras waiting. He asked them to hold their aircraft as low as possible until clearing the cameras.
It was quite a sight to see all those "smokers" taxiing out to runway eight. One by one they were cleared for takeoff. Larry was into b&w photography at the time so he had Kodak Plus X loaded. I stood to his left and was using Kodachrome 25, a color slide film.
As each aircraft rotated they all tried to shallow out their climb but the pictures we were getting were more underbelly than front on. As they took off, Larry and I decided that the best picture would occur just before the wing tips exited the side of the viewfinder. We didn't have motor drives back then (1972) so you had to plan the exact moment of tripping the shutter.
Finally we were down to the last 880 and we both felt that we didn't have the picture we needed. The airplane took the runway and we could tell by the black smoke that he was coming our way. One final check of camera settings, a deep breath and we both raised our cameras. The aircraft looked like a dot as it accelerated towards. As we watched the nose rotated and the image increased in size. "Hold it down! Flatten it out. Try to hit us." I thought. And then it happened the nose came down, and this aircraft was coming at us low. As the wing tips filled the frame I clicked the shutter. Then I looked up. What I saw was 160,000# of aluminum and kerosene accelerating towards me at close to 200 miles an hour. Without thinking I dove to the ground and tried to become one with the grass and the earthworms. I don't recall the noise of the aircraft as it roared overhead. This lack of recollection has always bothered me as measurements will show the keel beam and partially retracted right main gear were only 10-12' off the ground. Captain John Steiger and F/O Howard Steed did a great job in helping to create a tremendous photograph.
Here's the story on the Convair 880 picture. Apparently Larry noticed that a bunch of 880s left IAH between 8 and 9 AM each day. He decided to drive out and get airport ground transportation to drive us down to the end of runway 26. We arrived at the crew lounge before eight and Larry explained to each captain that we would be at the end of runway 26 with cameras waiting. He asked them to hold their aircraft as low as possible until clearing the cameras.
It was quite a sight to see all those "smokers" taxiing out to runway eight. One by one they were cleared for takeoff. Larry was into b&w photography at the time so he had Kodak Plus X loaded. I stood to his left and was using Kodachrome 25, a color slide film.
As each aircraft rotated they all tried to shallow out their climb but the pictures we were getting were more underbelly than front on. As they took off, Larry and I decided that the best picture would occur just before the wing tips exited the side of the viewfinder. We didn't have motor drives back then (1972) so you had to plan the exact moment of tripping the shutter.
Finally we were down to the last 880 and we both felt that we didn't have the picture we needed. The airplane took the runway and we could tell by the black smoke that he was coming our way. One final check of camera settings, a deep breath and we both raised our cameras. The aircraft looked like a dot as it accelerated towards. As we watched the nose rotated and the image increased in size. "Hold it down! Flatten it out. Try to hit us." I thought. And then it happened the nose came down, and this aircraft was coming at us low. As the wing tips filled the frame I clicked the shutter. Then I looked up. What I saw was 160,000# of aluminum and kerosene accelerating towards me at close to 200 miles an hour. Without thinking I dove to the ground and tried to become one with the grass and the earthworms. I don't recall the noise of the aircraft as it roared overhead. This lack of recollection has always bothered me as measurements will show the keel beam and partially retracted right main gear were only 10-12' off the ground. Captain John Steiger and F/O Howard Steed did a great job in helping to create a tremendous photograph.
Looks like my old pick-up truck
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