I had always been taken to airshows by my father and remember the Thunderbirds at the CNE flying Phantoms but the earliest warbird experience I can remember was peaking through an open door at the CWH and seeing THe Corsair and Firefly. This was before they became a real museum. I had made models of all the great WWII aircraft and to see a Corsair in real life was a dream come true. It was not until 1994 that I got to go for my first Harvard ride and air-to-air shoot on the set of Iron Eagle IV in Oshawa, Ontario. I did several flights that fall and have not looked back. On the first flight we flew in a 3 Vic formation and then did low and overs for the movie camera at a private strip. By the third or fourth pull-up I was about to loose my breakfast but managed to hold on.
Writing and submitting photos to magazines let me experience the world on the other side of the fence and allowed me to fly in and photograph aircraft I never dreamed of. Not much money in the business but it sure is one hell of a lot of fun.
Next experience should be in a week or so, Stinson V-77 and some Chippies.
Eric
One of the perks. Dawn patrol at Willow Run 2003. What a glorious morning.
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The air resounds from the Rolls-Royce roar!
To an enemy the warning is dire: here only eagles soar,
and the last thing he'll see is a mirrored Spitfire!