Special Projects

Project # 3 - Smithsonian’s Air & Space Magazine Photograph

The photograph of a single Blue Angel, Thunderbird and Snowbird aircraft in formation was created for an article the publication was working on about the yearly private gathering of these three demonstration teams and their families. Each year the teams trade home base locations for a private gathering which the media is not allowed to attend, so I was asked if I could “do my thing” and make a picture happen. The most challenging aspect of the project was the time limit (two weeks) and having to build the Snowbird aircraft. After seeing the published picture I was most pleased that no one ever questioned whether or not the image was the real thing.

Project # 4 - Homer Rasmussens F-94C Starfighter “Playboy Leroy”

This project began at 31,000 feet over the Colorado Rockies when a co-worker told me about his dad Homer being crew chief on F-94C’s with the 27th Fighter Squadron in 1955. His son had seen my work and wanted to know if I would be interested in creating a picture of his dads a/c. I became enthusiastic after seeing pictures of the aircraft he crewed and the artwork he painted on the nose. I built the 1/72 scale Ehmar kit as it was the only one available at the time. CollectAire now has a 1/48 scale resin kit available with the 27th markings. I covered some of the model with foil to reflect the blue sky and added pilots. The artwork for the nose was hand painted onto a clear decal by aviation artist Mike Bacon and then placed onto the model. Photographing the model outdoors, I later added the a/c to the same sky I photographed when I thought about the project. Homer was pleased with the large image print his son had framed for him. I also presented the model to his son to give to his dad.

page 3