This nice and shiny plane is the “Esther Mae.” It is a Douglas DC3 that was built in December, 1945 and is the only DC3-3D that is still in flying condition. This photo is from its appearance at the 2010 Experimental Aircraft Association Annual Fly-in. It is my contribution to this week’s Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Shiny.
After much deep and thoughtful consideration I decided that this object – the wing of the particular airplane in which I happened to be seated – was most likely metallic rather than some high-tech composite. My decision was based on two things: first: the wing looks more or less metallic. Second and much more convincing to me was the basic fact that I was on the airplane to which this wing was attached. Given where I live. I never get to fly on the latest and greatest airplanes with composite wings and other fancy equipment. ‘Nuf said, Metallic.
On a recent trip we had some bad weather at one of our stops that required our plane to be de-iced. It was very late at night and the snow was falling as the guy working the de-icing equipment carefully sprayed down our plane. I was really grateful he was out on such a cold, snowy night working to help us on out way home. De-icing a plane is critical because the build-up of ice on the plane’s surface can add a huge amount of weight to the plane in addition to affecting the plane’s handling. De-icing is usually done by spraying aircraft with a de-icing fluid based on propylene glycol, which is non-toxic.
On the edge of more change than one would want the pilot of this plane was able to successfully recover from what looked like sure disaster.
I think it is fair to call this loop (performed by an aerobatic (or stunt) pilot at an air show in Minot, North Dakota) a circle, but as always comments are appreciated.
Here are some of my photos of aircraft in flight. These are from an air show in Minot, North Dakota on July 4, 2012. All photos were taken from the ground using a Canon Rebel T2i with a Canon EF 70-200mm f4L IS USM lens with the camera on a Manfrotto tripod and head. All shots were taken with a +2 exposure while I frantically followed planes hoping to catched a usable shot:).
Points of View 