NightOwl Cat
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I'm anticipating the video for sure! Sounds like a very challenging situation though, but I'm sure you got what you needed and then some!
JWilsonphoto wrote:
Here's quick de-brief on yesterdays' mission, image will follow, but it's classified at the moment until the powers that be have had time to see it. This was, without a doubt, the most difficult air to air scenario I have been involved in over the last 40 years as a pro shooter. We had three briefs yesterday and here were significant revisions in each one. Numerous challenges were in play because DFW was using the runway that involves approaches just NE of our site at 3,000' and above. The "BUFF" briefed that their approach would be from the NW, dropping to 2,000/1,500' at 250 knots. They would initiate a turn to 180 to take them across the front of the target site, bank right and depart. I believe the technical term for what he was executing is "One pass and haul ass.............!" I had sent everyone a Google Earth graphic with a B52 superimposed that represented the image I had in my head, and everyone did what they could do to make that image a reality.
So, it's 99 degrees, feels like 102, wind 10/15 out of the SSE. My pilot is a former Marine One 1st seater and we are locked and loaded. Due to schedule changes we don't have time to fly a scouting mission, so we laid out our one and only plan. 2,500' is the ceiling ATC allowed us so we lift off the pad at the ranch and zip to our max altitude so we can determine the optimum distance out to capture the pass.We've got doors on because their wasn't time to remove them after the VIP arrivals just prior to my departure for the mission, so I'm shooting through an 8x10" sliding window, kneeling on the floor. We decided that the best scenario to maximize our opportunities might be to get a visual on the B52 and try to time a rotational arc with it's pass, using our distance and altitude differential to try to compensate for the divergent platform/subject profiles. From the time we sighted the BUFF, we had 8 seconds to TOT and maybe two seconds of actual compositional opportunity. See, no pressure at all  All I remember is calling the B52 in sight, spinning on the rotor of the Bell 407, and trying to track the subject with a 100-400 as it passed over the target, kind of like one of those slo-mo replays of a situation.
The other component of this mission was to run some tests on my 360 degree cameras in the T-38. Chandler was shooting away on the ground for me while I was up in the helo, so we landed, I grabbed him and we headed over to retrieve the cameras from the Talon. Hungry and dehydrated, we headed to Salt Grass for a couple of steaks, we earned it! Chandler and I went through the 360 footage at dinner and had the restaurant mesmerized. Just wait for the footage from the plan I have in my head. A day with "Spirit One's" crew chief doing some camera position tweaks and an hour of Matt's flying talent in amongst the clouds at sunset, we'll have to hand out Depends to the viewing audience.
Imagery to follow, just need to follow chain of command ...Show more →
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