PBY6A Catalina

[biggerry]

Parked out next to work, S/No. 46665, these are a sight to see, if you in the Bankstown area drop by the airport and you can check this big bad boy out.

Was looking for that classic BW and shot but did not quite get there, lesson learnt, polarizer is not that crash-hot when looking towards BW images.

I am looking forward to getting some shots of this beast once it goes again! CC welcome and suggestions on BW treatment more than welcome.

[gstark]

Gerry,

Nothing wrong with your conversion in #1.

It's a shame about where they've parked it, though. It would have been nice to be able to grab some images with a clear background.

What a beautiful beastie, and nicely captured.

[chrisk]

beautiful machine ! i love it.
agree with gary, there are quite a few distractions which would have been better avoided if possible but it looks like it would be difficult to get an angle where you could have.

when you say go to bankstown to check it out, can you actually get that close to it ? i thought you would have had top be behind a fence etc.

[biggerry]

clear background.

yeah, will need to get it when its taxiing out one day, even better I will try and work when it does it's next flight, however that could be awhile away

when you say go to bankstown to check it out, can you actually get that close to it ?

if you look at the last image, i had my back against the fence, behind that fence is the road which is public access, you can get the same shot but with a fence in the way from the road.

i thought you would have had top be behind a fence etc.

come and see me

[chrisk]

come and see me

how long is it there for ?

[biggerry]

how long is it there for ?

I suspect it will be there for quite some time (weeks + months), I believe it is getting a CoA (Certificate of Airworthiness), which could..ahh...take awhile, this is usually the case for some of the old girls...

The scottish Twin Pioneer was here previously and lived here for quite some months, occasionally getting taxied to kept things moving...

fyi, a Twin Pioneer is one of these;

[!~DeViNe~DaRkNeSs~!]

Pure sex, looks like she needs some TLC.
Takes effing ages for the rebuild etc, a DC3 at tulla was there for about 18months before it was back in the air!

[photohiker]

Talking of Catalinas, we drove past Lake Boga the other day on the way to/from the snow.

(Lake Boga was the WWII #1 Catalina repair facility)

It's absolutely bone dry...

Just thought you'd like to know. We must leave earlier ne trip so we can visit the flying boat museum there. They apparently have Catalina A24-30 on display along with other relics...

Michael

[biggerry]

Pure sex, looks like she needs some TLC.

and great sex at that....yeah this one needs some work by the looks of it, given its age and the time they spend in the water its amazing they are still in one one piece.

DC3 at tulla was there for about 18months before it was back in the air!

yeah and thats an aircraft that there is still quite a few spares kicking around for...

Talking of Catalinas, we drove past Lake Boga the other day on the way to/from the snow.
(Lake Boga was the WWII #1 Catalina repair facility)

Now thats interesting, I will be down that way in late August, I must drop in and have a look, ta for the heads up.

[aim54x]

A beautiful old girl she is! I will have to pay you a visit at work one day to have a look at her. Great pics, I actually like the first the best out of the lot! BTW do you know/can you find out about her history?

[biggerry]

BTW do you know/can you find out about her history?

The best way is to get out there on a saturday and chat to teh guys doing the work, I believe they are out there most saturdays since they work on it in their own time.... otherwise keep an eye on the webbie..

http://www.catalinaflying.org.au/restoration.htm

[jaff]

All four photos give way different perspectives, image 4 does it for me, as Gary said the background is like photographing a bird in a cage, weellllllll thats my interpretation on his post!

Cheers Rob

[colin_12]

I like the angle of #1 Gerry.
I will wait patiently for a follow up on this with out the clutter around it.

[Greg B]

What a magnificent aircraft, thanks Gerry. I like your shots (including the BW which I think works well).

Tip for the guys - tell them to remove that tarp before they take off.

[whitey]

Very nice Gerry, when I look at the last one I am reminded of a Joe McNally hero shot of a plane lit with speedlights. Maybe we need to gather a bunch of strobes one evening.

I have SB-900 and SB600. Could potentially borrow up to three SB800's

brb will try to find the shot.

Ok here it is. mmm, strobes + gels plus a good sunset might be interesting:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Bf48JKOl5HQ/S ... /plane.jpg

[aim54x]

Very nice Gerry, when I look at the last one I am reminded of a Joe McNally hero shot of a plane lit with speedlights. Maybe we need to gather a bunch of strobes one evening.

I have SB-900 and SB600. Could potentially borrow up to three SB800's

I can provide a SB-800 and a SB-600 and with a bit of luck may be able to get 4 more SB-600's off a mate!

[surenj]

Nice photos indeed Gerry. Instead of using so many SB's you could try light painting the beast with a torch or something depending on the ambient around the Catalina at night. [Do you have access to this area at night? ]

My fav is #4 for it's symmetry and angle. It could be dropped in to a buildingless background however.... ...

[biggerry]

I will wait patiently for a follow up on this with out the clutter around it.

standby!

Tip for the guys - tell them to remove that tarp before they take off.

nah better not, it could be holding the windscreen on! plus gives those lazy pilots some practice at instrument flying...

Very nice Gerry, when I look at the last one I am reminded of a Joe McNally hero shot of a plane lit with speedlights. Maybe we need to gather a bunch of strobes one evening.

ta whitey, now thats an idea, getting the sunset and the aircraft in the right position might be hard work, however not impossible...

I can provide a SB-800 and a SB-600 and with a bit of luck may be able to get 4 more SB-600's off a mate!

lol, i am gonna have to let the tower know about this! all these strobes going off will spin them out!

Nice photos indeed Gerry. Instead of using so many SB's you could try light painting the beast with a torch or something depending on the ambient around the Catalina at night. [Do you have access to this area at night? ]

My fav is #4 for it's symmetry and angle. It could be dropped in to a buildingless background however.... ...

hmmm, definitely have access at night at its current position, will see how things shuffle aorund out there in the coming weeks and see if there is a bit more space kicking around.

[Tiberius]

Always loved the cats! Nice shots.

[Geoff]

Excellent series Gerry, yet again.
My preference is the last one, but like others I would just LOVE to see this out in the open. Somehow I see the plane has a face/character that evokes a cheeky feeling to it. Imagine this same perspective with a runway and just grass on either side..sublime.
I'm up for a strobist type experimentation event in the future. I can offer another SB800 to the equation.