The Howland
Picture Pages: Aircraft The Howland
Picture Pages: AircraftPage by Royce
Last update: $Date: 2004/01/21 20:14:55 $ (UTC)
Airplanes are something I've always been fascinated with. As a kid, I built scores of model airplanes during two or three summers' worth of obsessive immersion. Most of the kits I built were of World War II-era military airplanes, but I would tackle pretty much anything.
I also used to scour libraries for all kinds of books on the history and development of flight, with particular interest in WWII-era aircraft. Since having to become a "responsible adult" my airplane obsession has cooled considerably, replaced by other ways to spend my time. However I still like to snap the odd photo of a flying machine that catches my eye. Up there with the space program and digital technology :~), powered flight to me is one of the great modern achievements of mankind.
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While on a family camping trip to Bow Valley Provincial Park, July 20, 2003, we stumbled into a small faire being put on by various park service, fire and rescue organizations. There were tents and booths set up and some ground-based vehicles and crews talking about their roles in the life of the park. Then some air unit displays were put on. One was a rescue helicopter that lowered a team down to pick up and air lift someone with simulated injuries, strapped to a stretcher. A big display involved this large fire bomber and a smaller spotting plane (first photo). With the spotter buzzing around like a large, loud hornet, the bomber made an initial run to scope out the target drop zone (second photo). Then the pilot pulled a big, sweeping turn and came back for the bombing run (third photo). The final display involved a team of smoke jumpers who roped down from a large helicopter to tackle a simulated fire (fourth photo). All in all, it was a pretty significant display of skill, teamwork and air power for a faire demonstration. Fighting a real forest fire or performing a serious rescue operation must be an incredible operation. Hats off to the teams who train for doing just that.
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Occasionally when I am out bird watching, I see an interesting plane fly overhead instead of a bird, and am able to snap a quick photo or two. Saturday August 23, 2003 I was out searching for some Black-crowned Night-Herons in north Calgary when this water bomber flew low overhead towards the area of the Calgary international airport. Having gotten a good snapshot, I was able to identify this airplane as one of several Bombardier Canadair 415 "Superscoopers" operated by the province of Québec. The Superscooper, and its predecessor the Canadair 215, apparently are the only purpose-built water bombers in the world, and are in use in several countries around the globe where fighting forest fires is an on-going situation. The aircraft also serves are marine / amphibious roles including search and rescue. In its water-bombing role, the Superscooper derives its name from its ability to draw in a full load (over 6100 liters) of water by skimming the surface of any suitable body of water for about 12 seconds at a speed of 130 km/h. We had a number of particularly bad forest fires in southern Alberta and British Columbia the summer of 2003, and so I suspect this particular Superscooper was out here on loan from Quebec to help fight those fires.
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The U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is a must-see for anyone interested in military aviation. The USAFA web site states that the Academy is closed to non-DoD visitors at the time of this writing, but I don't know what implications that has regarding access to the grounds or immediate surroundings. During a vacation in Colorado and New Mexico in November, 2002, we stopped off for a visit at the Academy. At that time we were able to tour the grounds and see the visitor center, as well as the inside of the renowned Cadet Chapel. The top picture is a partial shot of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress on display just inside the main entrance from the highway, with a more complete picture shown below. The "Buff" is one huge airplane! That's me standing below in the green hat, in the top picture. I have no idea what it is like to be nearby when one of these things takes off, but it has to be literally earth-shaking. The scale of this aircraft is completely staggering. The first B-52 prototype flew in 1952 (more than 50 years ago), and was in production only until 1962. However the aircraft continues in active service right up to today, supporting the greatest variety of weaponry of any aircraft. Current predictions indicate that the active service period may extend as far into the future as 2040, far longer than any other bomber has served.
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Here is another shot from the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The campus contains numerous aircraft displays. This F-4D Phantom II is one of four full-size (but presumably no longer functional) aircraft located at the four corners of the campus quad. This particular fighter evidently was flown by Col. Chuck de Bellevue in Southeast Asia, among others. The F-4 Phantom II was an incredibly versatile combat aircraft, originally design by McDonnell Aircraft for the U.S. Navy, with variants also developed for the Air Force and Marine Corps. Production of the F-4 ran from the first flight in 1958 to 1979, with over 5000 built. This is the largest production run of any supersonic fighter in the U.S., and the number of years in production has only been surpassed by the F-15 Eagle. The F-4E variant was the first aircraft selected by the Thunderbirds, the USAF demonstration flying team. The Navy Blue Angles demonstration team also flew the aircraft, using the F-4J variant. Both teams first flew the Phantom II in 1969, and this is the only fighter ever to be flown by both teams. Although the F-4 was retired from active U.S. service in 1996, several hundred still flown by 8 countries around the world. The other aircraft on display in the USAFA quad include an F-15 Eagle, an F-16 Fighting Falcon, and an F-105 Thunderchief.
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This is another display piece at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Near the study hall is an open area containing several bronze sculptures of WWII era combat aircraft, including this P40 Warhawk. The P40's precursor, the P36, was designed by Curtiss-Wright prior to the outbreak of WWII. The P40 version was designed for the U.S. Army Air Corps once the outbreak of war became more likely. Once in combat, it was considered by many to be outclassed by most of its contemporaries and opponents. However, this was a tough aircraft that developed an impressive ratio of kills to losses. It had the second or third largest production run of any Allied fighter used in the war. The P40 flew its first combat mission for the U.S. during the attack on Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941. Warhawks saw heavy service with the Allies in most theaters well into the war, gaining probably the most fame for the aircraft with the Flying Tigers volunteer unit (under General Claire Chennault) in the defense of China. Other sculptures in this USAFA display include a B17 Flying Fortress, a B24 Liberator, a B29 Superfortress, a P38 Lightning, a P47 Thunderbolt, and a P51 Mustang.
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While looking for birds in Fish Creek Provincial Park August 11, 2002, I saw this plane fly overhead. I quickly snapped off one shot on full automatic against the hazy sky, not knowing if it would turn out or simply be an over-exposed mess. Fortunately, modern digital cameras are pretty versatile and the shot didn't turn out too bad, all things considered. The high shutter speed captured the propellers in mid-rotation, giving an impression that the plane is somehow frozen in mid-air. The plane turned out to be a Lockheed L10A Electra, registration CF-TCC (which you can make out in the image). This is one of the first passenger planes in Canadian commercial aviation history. It is maintained today by Air Canada and flown as part of the Dreams Take Flight charitable program. Here is a brief history taken from the CF-TCC web site:
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Unless stated otherwise, all photos and other content on these pages is copyright © 2002 - 2004 by Royce Howland.
Please don't steal anything for your own purposes, in particular if you have a plan for making fabulous stacks of cash in so doing. If you would like to use a photo or other content you find here, or just want to contact us about something, please send email to royce@3ge.com.
