The story behind my favorite aviation photo…
We’ve all heard the saying: “a picture is worth a thousand words.” While surely true, sometimes you need a thousand words to describe a picture. That’s how I feel about the shot you see above. You’re looking at my all-time favorite aviation photograph. Now, by saying that, I mean my favorite that I have taken. The all-time favorite in the world would probably be a black-and-white frame from the North Carolina coast in 1903, since it made all other aviation photographs possible.
The circumstances surrounding this photograph were quite rare, made possible by some weather events that hopefully won’t occur again. It was taken on July 26, 2010, around sunset, on the general aviation terminal ramp at Oshkosh, Wisconsin. This was the week of EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2010. Many of you who were there, and many who were not, will remember the event that year. It was better known as Sloshkosh.
In the week preceding the annual event, several inches of rain fell on the Oshkosh area, drenching the grounds. Typically many smaller aircraft at the show park in the grass…for an easy example, see the banner photo at the top of this page. However, in 2010, this wasn’t to be. The few planes that did enter the sodden grass ended up with their wheels buried in mud. As a result, every square foot of hard-surface (paved) aircraft parking was utilized.
Every year, the aircraft parking ramp is quite packed with jets, turboprops, and other planes too heavy to ever park in the grass. But, in 2010, they were mixed in with countless light aircraft who were fortunate enough to have a parking space at Wittman Field.
And so, the jam of airplanes seen in the photograph came to be. The walking path between the aircraft was rather like a maze constructed of million-dollar flying machines. In the picture, you see parts of numerous planes, including an Embraer Legacy, a Falcon 2000, a Cessna Citation, a Learjet, two Grumman amphibians, and numerous other aircraft.
And the photograph doesn’t do justice to the parking situation that year.
Thoughts from Aloft 