AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2019 - 100

DETAILS

2,000

News & Notes
MEMBERSHIP

The number of AOPA members after 1939, the first
year of the association.

A VERY SPECIAL
CELEBRATION

Ways to say
'Happy Anniversary, AOPA'
* Freedom to Fly: AOPA and
the History of General Aviation
in America. A 280-page coffee
table book commemorating the
anniversary written by AOPA Pilot
writers and replete with historic and
current photography. Just $39.95.
www.aopa.org/freedomtoflybook

A banner day

Behind the scenes at a photo shoot
B Y J U L I E S U M M E R S WA L K E R

WE GET THE CRAZIEST IDEAS-and often they
are the brainchild of a working relationship
between Senior Photographer Chris Rose
and Editor at Large Dave Hirschman. Artists
and pilots do a lot of what-iffing and, with
the help of art director Jill Benton, a plan
comes together. For our eightieth anniversary edition of AOPA Pilot,
Rose suggested photographing a classic aircraft flying
a banner commemorating the anniversary.
Hirschman got the
photo platform (an
AirCam courtesy
of Cortlandt Sener),
Benton ordered the banner (a 60-foot-by-20-foot
ripstop-nylon behemoth),
the team found the perfect banner-tow pilot (Chip Gnau and his 1940
Boeing Stearman), and a team traveled to
Essex Skypark outside of Baltimore on the
Chesapeake Bay for the air-to-air flight.
Fingers were crossed for perfect weather.
On a partly cloudy day with winds at 5 mph,
we got it. Gnau artfully showed us how he
picks up the banner using a grappling hook

100 | AOPA PILOT May 2019

attached to the belly of the Stearman; the
Stearman flew down the runway, snapping up
the banner that unfurled before us. But Rose
saw a problem: In order to get both Stearman
and banner in the frame, he asked to have the
tow rope shortened. But only 75 feet of the
300-foot line could be cut or the banner
would be damaged.
Rope surgery complete,
Hirschman fired up the
AirCam and with Rose
perched in that airplane's cat-bird front
seat, the two aircraft
took to the skies. On the
ground we could follow
their communication,
Rose asking Hirschman to
fly ever so much closer and
asking Gnau to release a smoke
trail. Out over the water, in over the
airfield, and around and around the two aircraft flew. Hirschman flying with precision
right on the tail of that banner. Even from
the ground you could see his focus.
"We got it," Rose finally said, and the
aircraft were back on the ground. In under
two hours we achieved the remarkable

* AOPA Eightieth Anniversary
Fly-In. Two-day event at Frederick,
Maryland, headquarters featuring
all the hallmarks of a successful AOPA Fly-In and including a
first-ever STOL Invitational, drone
nighttime airshow, D-Day Squadron
flyover, parachute jump, and flightline cookout.
www.aopa.org/fly-ins/fdk
* Fly-Ins and Events. Can't make it
to see AOPA on our home turf? Meet
us at AOPA Fly-Ins in Livermore,
California, or Tullahoma, Tennessee.
We'll also be at major aviation
events such as Sun 'n Fun and EAA
AirVenture.
www.aopa.org/events
* AOPA Headquarters Museum.
Collected archives from 80 years
of association advocacy, conventions, photography, memorabilia,
and more.
www.aopa.org/pilot/
AOPAmuseum
* 80th anniversary commemorative pilot's watch. The Aerosport by
Muhle Glashutte.
Stay tuned!
* Fly! A new Pilot Passport
feature of the AOPA App allows
pilots to check in at airports and
participate in the eightieth anniversary challenge.
Available on Google Play and the
App Store

photography seen on page 50. All in a (banner) day's work.
EMAIL julie.walker@aopa.org

www.aopa.org/pilot/80banner
http://www.aopa.org/freedomtoflybook http://www.aopa.org/fly-ins/fdk http://www.aopa.org/events http://www.aopa.org/pilot/ http://www.aopa.org/pilot/80banner
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2019
