Sabre Jet Restoration
Nikon D80 10-24mm @ 18mm ISO 800 1/20 f/8 (-2.0 0.0 +2.0) Lr3 HDR Efex Pro
Another angle on the F-86-E Sabre jet being restored at the Planes of Fame, Chino Airport, Chino, California. I gained more appreciation for the courage of the pilots of these aircraft after realizing how thin the skin is when the aircraft mechanic, with just a little upper body effort, was able to cause the aluminum of the top wing surface to vibrate (with that unique waffly twang that sheet metal makes when you hold it at one end and vibrate it). I don’t think pilots are impervious to machine gun bullets in that cockpit, let a lone a missile strike.
I did quite a bit of work adjusting the tones on the deck in the foreground and on the aircraft using the Nik control point tool.
Not Ready For The Shredder
Nikon D-80 10-24nn @ 24mm ISO 200 1/15 f/11 Lr3 HDR Efex Pro
Despite the distressed appearance of the back end of this fuselage, this aircraft is not ready for the metal shredder, it is just waiting for the attention of the aviation restoration team. On the tarmac at the Planes of Fame museum, Chino Airport, Chino, California.
The torn and twisted metal skin, and the angularity and strength conveyed by the aircraft fasterners, juxtaposed against the delicate spider web and the symmetry and smoothness of the internal baffle caught my eye.
Fighter & Bomber Restoration
Nikon D80 10-24mm @ 22mm ISO 800 1/20 f/8 (-2.0 0.0 +2.0) Lr3 HDR Efex Pro
This is the Friedkin restoration hanger at the Planes of Fame air museum, Chino Airport, Chino, California. In the foreground a Canadair F-86-E fighter is being restored, the aircraft behind it seems to be a North American B-25 undergoing restoration. Canadair was the Canadian licensee for the manufacture of the F-86, which was originally developed by North American Aviation. As with many of the other aircraft exhibited at the Planes of Fame, the F-86 is being restored to total airworthiness and will be part of the flying collection in the future.
There was quite a difference in contrast between the dark interior of the hanger and its outside walls which I ended up burning in using control points in Nik HDR Efex Pro.
Waiting For Re-unification
Nikon D80 10-24mm @24mm ISO 200 1/8 f/11 (-2.0 0.0 +2.0) Lr3 HDR Efex Pro
Jet engines stored on the tarmac at Planes of Fame, Chino Airport, Chino, California, waiting to be reunited with the airframes they were designed for. A significant amount of space at Planes of Fame is given over to storage of aircraft airframe and mechanical components collected for ultimate restoration. I was attracted to the lines, colors and textures of the various metallic elements and the patina that time out in elements has put on them. It seems almost sacrilegious to allow these instruments of advanced engineering technology from the hands of man to seemingly be discarded and allowed to be broken down by the potentially destructive powers of Mother Nature, but I am sure these particular objects will eventually be rehabilitated and possibly fly another day.
Walter The Warthog & General Sherman
Nikon D80 10-24mm @ 20mm IS0 200 1/45 f/11 (-2.0 0.0 +2.0) HDR Efex Pro Lr3
In addition to aircraft in varying states of repair, the Planes of Fame museum collection at the Chino Airport, Chino, California includes various mechanized vehicles of the ground hugging kind. Walter The Warthog appears to be an M3 /M5 (Stuart) Light Tank, on his starboard side is a verified M4 (Sherman) Tank that is still fully functional. The M3 was manufactured in the United States and used two Cadillac radial motors, it’s main gun was a 37mm cannon and it also had five Browning .30-06 machine guns. The Stuart tank was first used by the British in World War II and they nicknamed it “Stuart” after the U.S. Confederate General J.E.B. Stewart. The M3 was the first tank used by United States forces in World War II in tank to tank warfare. 22,743 of these tanks were produced by the United States.
A medium tank, the M4 (Sherman), so nicknamed by the British after Union General William Tecumseh Sherman, was the primary tank deployed by the United States during World War II, and was also distributed by the United States to its allies, the British and Russians. The M4 was equipped with a 75mm cannon as its main gun and the tank crew was able to fire this gun with reasonable accuracy while the tank was moving. 58,000 of these tanks were ultimately deployed.
I got more practice using my exposure correcting, color correcting and tone mapping skills with the Control Points in the Nik tool kit and in the case of this image also tested the effect of using a sharpening tool on the original raw images and then a sharpening tool on the final images prior to .JPG conversion from .TIF. Sharpness is one of my obsessions.
TLC In Blue
Nikon D80 10-24mm @ 24mm ISO 800 1/180 f/8 (-2.0 0.0 +2.0) Lr3 HDR Efex Pro
This is a Grumman F8F “Bearcat” receiving some tender loving care in the sunshine adjacent to the Fighter Rebuilders hanger at the Planes of Fame museum, Chino Airport, Chino, California. The Bearcat, one of the still flying aircraft exhibited at the museum, was developed in 1943/44 as a fighter interceptor designed specifically for carrier operations but was not deployed to the fleet by the United States Navy until after the end of the second world war in 1945. This aircraft is capable of lifting off the deck after a take off run of just 115 feet, and in 1972 a Bearcat broke its own record by achieving an altitude of 18,000 feet 91.9 seconds after take off; in 1989 a Bearcat set the World Speed Record for piston driven aircraft at 528.33 mph.
In post processing this image, I am again reminded of a bad habit I have of getting so excited about an image in my viewfinder, that I lose the benefit of approaching the subject in a slow, deliberative manner, and in the case of this image forgot to adjust the ISO setting down from what I was using inside of a hanger making the previous shots. The result is a bit of unwanted grainy effect in parts of the aircraft fuselage, elevator and tail.
Peashooter
Nikon D80 10-14mm @ 10mm ISO 800 1/4 f/8 3-Bkts Lr3 HDR Efex Pro Viveza
The aircraft in the foreground is a Boeing P26A “Peashooter”, this is a fully functional (and still flying) former military aircraft in the collection of the Planes of Fame (air) Museum located at the Chino Airport, Chino, California. The Peashooter was developed in 1932 and was the first all metal, monoplane pursuit fighter placed in to service by the United States Army Air Corps.
The thin red “line” that seems to be bisecting the fuselage at the mid-point in this image is actually an aircraft warning flag attached to the leading edge of the wing (not an aberration in the image file).
I am not actually happy with the sharpness of this image. I seemed to be having some focus issues while on this shoot, I believe I need to improve my skills with the autofocus function in the camera, insuring that I lock it on the correct focus points.
