Wed Jun 04, 2008 6:04 am
I put the photo up (first time I posted it publicly and its one of several dozen frames I got) in an attempt to illustrate what happens when an airplane hits the ground going FAST (or at all for that matter).
I fly helicopters and when I fly low and fast, I have made a decision in advance and that is: Should there be an engine failure, its unlikely I can do an auto I can survive. I've flow up the New River in WV (whitewater) when they just opened the dam for rafting season. We were so low that you had to run the windshield wiper and the river had a few feet of foam on top of the water. An engine failure and we were toast, but it was a real thrill.
When Dale flies with a P-51's wingtips 5' or less off, he has probably made some kind of decision about what may happen if he hits the ground. Also I've been to a few crash sites and from my experience at Jack Levine's I can say a RR Engine isn't going to stop moving when it hits the ground. His stopped bouncing about 400yds from the impact.
Lastly, concerning pilot skill, cemeteries are filled with pilots that were skilled and got killed flying for some reason or another. I don't need to start naming some of them.
I think its safe to do the flybys that we see in shows (Chino or OSH for example), but when you start doing this, it will eventually catch up with you.
Mark H
I fly helicopters and when I fly low and fast, I have made a decision in advance and that is: Should there be an engine failure, its unlikely I can do an auto I can survive. I've flow up the New River in WV (whitewater) when they just opened the dam for rafting season. We were so low that you had to run the windshield wiper and the river had a few feet of foam on top of the water. An engine failure and we were toast, but it was a real thrill.
When Dale flies with a P-51's wingtips 5' or less off, he has probably made some kind of decision about what may happen if he hits the ground. Also I've been to a few crash sites and from my experience at Jack Levine's I can say a RR Engine isn't going to stop moving when it hits the ground. His stopped bouncing about 400yds from the impact.
Lastly, concerning pilot skill, cemeteries are filled with pilots that were skilled and got killed flying for some reason or another. I don't need to start naming some of them.
I think its safe to do the flybys that we see in shows (Chino or OSH for example), but when you start doing this, it will eventually catch up with you.
Mark H
Wed Jun 04, 2008 7:38 am
There is something in these pictures that seems off to me. I am not a professional photographer but I know that scale does come in to play sometimes.
In the second picture there seems to be a hill between the camera and the plane. This can make the airplane seem lower than it is. I have several shots from the Reno Air Races that have aircraft that seem very low but in fact not as low as they seem.
In the first picture it just strikes me that it seems to be doctored. Now it would be pretty hard to do but these days not impossible. I am not saying it is doctored but it looks to me that the fence in the picture goes in front of one of the post to the building but behind the wing tip of the P-51. Now there does seem to be two fence lines and this may be an illusion that has something to do with that but that wing tip and the fence just don't look right to me.
Any pro picture hounds out there to comment?
Jim
In the second picture there seems to be a hill between the camera and the plane. This can make the airplane seem lower than it is. I have several shots from the Reno Air Races that have aircraft that seem very low but in fact not as low as they seem.
In the first picture it just strikes me that it seems to be doctored. Now it would be pretty hard to do but these days not impossible. I am not saying it is doctored but it looks to me that the fence in the picture goes in front of one of the post to the building but behind the wing tip of the P-51. Now there does seem to be two fence lines and this may be an illusion that has something to do with that but that wing tip and the fence just don't look right to me.
Any pro picture hounds out there to comment?
Jim
Wed Jun 04, 2008 8:15 am
aerojock wrote:"There is something in these pictures that seems off to me. I am not a professional photographer but I know that scale does come in to play sometimes."
"In the second picture there seems to be a hill between the camera and the plane. This can make the airplane seem lower than it is. I have several shots from the Reno Air Races that have aircraft that seem very low but in fact not as low as they seem."
I think you are right on that one...unless the bay doors in that tower are tiny!
"In the first picture it just strikes me that it seems to be doctored. Now it would be pretty hard to do but these days not impossible. I am not saying it is doctored but it looks to me that the fence in the picture goes in front of one of the post to the building but behind the wing tip of the P-51. Now there does seem to be two fence lines and this may be an illusion that has something to do with that but that wing tip and the fence just don't look right to me."
It looks like to me there is a fence line that goes around that shed, i.e. 2 fence lines perpendicular. To me it looks like he is behind them both.
Wed Jun 04, 2008 8:25 am
I can say this after looking at the Snodgrass pics again.
I've never been there, but it appears there is a small embankment between the Photographer and the P-51, which is why the bottom of the building in the background looks cut off. I'd say the P-51 is somewhat higher off the ground than it appears in the pictures. The telephoto compresses the distance some and flattens it out, which distorts it some more.
I have seen Snort fly this routine at Genesso and Thunder (If I recall right) and he still gets too low.......
Mark H
I've never been there, but it appears there is a small embankment between the Photographer and the P-51, which is why the bottom of the building in the background looks cut off. I'd say the P-51 is somewhat higher off the ground than it appears in the pictures. The telephoto compresses the distance some and flattens it out, which distorts it some more.
I have seen Snort fly this routine at Genesso and Thunder (If I recall right) and he still gets too low.......
Mark H
Wed Jun 04, 2008 9:39 am
Holy crap 
I don't think I've ever seen a pass that low. 
I love that first shot.
Mudge the impressed
I don't think I've ever seen a pass that low.
I love that first shot.
Mudge the impressed