Aviation

By Austin Bachand

May 4^th, 2021

Airplanes

I have been interested in aviation since I was young, as my grandfather once worked on top-secret airplanes as a member of Lockheed Martin's "Skunk Works" program.

When I became a photojournalist, I sought to combine my passion for photography with my interest in aviation whenever I could. I even studied to become one of the first people in Virginia to receive their remote pilot's license. But as useful as drones are, they hardly compare to the thrill of a full size airplane.

Geico Skytypers pilot Jim Record (left) from Long Island, NY, flies an SNJ-2, that was originally built during World War II, next to another piloted by Bob Johansen during one of their practice flights on Thursday, June 5, 2014.

A child closely inspects an airplane during the Vinton County Airshow, also known as Ohio’s largest free air show funded entirely by The Vinton County Pilots & Boosters Association..

A crowd inspects the underside of the Columbine II, a 1948 Lockheed C-121 Constellation and the first aircraft known as "Air Force One," after it landed at Dynamic Aviation on Wednesday, March 23.

Paul Schaffner, of Reisterstown, Maryland, works on putting together his 1/3-scale model of a Super Decathlon for the 32nd Annual Ray Gordon Memorial Jumbo Fly-In Giant Scale Model Airplane Show hosted by the Valley R.C. Flying Club.

Curt Arnspiger waves to the crowd while piloting his plane, “The Screaming Arrow” at the Vinton County Airshow on September 21, 2014. His plane gets its name from the high pitch “scream” that it emits while flying.

A World War II era SNJ-2 plane piloted by Bob Johansen of the GEICO Skytypers, flies directly above the same type of plane piloted by Jim Record during a practice flight for the Westmoreland County Air Show at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport.

Harry Sowers, a 36-year Flight Instructor, teaches his student, Roberta Donnenwirth, how to read the controls at the dashboard of his plane at Vinton County Airport on September 24, 2014. Donnenwirth had two students studying to get their pilot’s license.

The Columbine II, a 1948 Lockheed C-121 Constellation and the first aircraft known as "Air Force One," drives down the runway at Dynamic Aviation. The aircraft, used by Dwight Eisenhower, is going to be restored at Dynamic Aviation.

A helicopter starts controlled burns by dropping chemical-filled plastic spheres (colloquially called ping-pong balls) from the sky to control the path of the Rocky Mountain Fire on Sunday, April 24.

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh

The 2014 Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture event in Oshkosh, Wisconsin gave me an up-close and personal look at the aviation industry. During the event, the air traffic control tower at Wittman Regional Airport becomes the busiest in the world.