When I saw this biplane I was immediately reminded of the mid “60s album from Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. Although this image looks very different from the album cover the airplane itself is nearly identical to the one on the cover. I do have an image that was taken at a similar angle and I compared the two. On one hand it makes me feel old to be that familiar with the album but on the other hand I feel good that my memory is still keen enough that I made the connection at first sight.

I think I forgot to post this one back when I shot it last month. The plane in the image is a Lockheed Electra, the same model aircraft that Amelia Earhart used in her infamous attempt at trans-global flight. While I was photographing I was told that this is the specific plane that was used in the 2009 documentary film about her life.

In other news, a book that I worked on as photo editor, photo restorer, and contributing photographer, Tampa’s Hyde Park by author Del Acosta was just published on Monday. It is a pictorial history of one of Tampa’s oldest neighborhoods. Available at Amazon.com, bookstores, and museum stores.

This is the one and only airworthy B-29 Superfortress in the world. When I saw it rolling off the flight line and heading to the end of the runway I scrambled across the airfield as fast as I could and made a guess about what spot on the runway to head for. My estimate of runway position wasn’t too bad as it turns out. I wanted to shoot the plane with clear sky behind it, not the trees that lined the other side of the runway. I got to this spot out of breath just seconds before the aircraft did and luckily it was just barely higher than the treeline as it roared past me.

When I was walking the flight line at the airshow I gave myself an assignment to try not to shoot any “typical” photos of the aircraft there.