I’m always on the lookout for new subjects, and this one came out of a rained-out anniversary trip. My wife and I were out near Springfield, Massachusetts, and the forecast wasn’t cooperating – New England spring weather being what it is. We needed something indoors.
On the way through the hotel lobby for coffee, I spotted a flyer for the New England Air Museum, a short drive away at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. I knew right away where we were headed.
I’ve loved aircraft since I was a kid building scale models in the basement, and I spent nine years in the military working on C-130s as an adult. My wife – it was our anniversary, after all – was a good sport about it and agreed the air museum sounded like a great idea.
The centerpiece of the museum is a fully restored B-29 Superfortress, nicknamed “Jack’s Hack.” It has its own hangar, and it is enormous – I stopped dead in the doorway and just stood there for a minute taking it in. It felt wrong to just start shooting, so I spent close to an hour walking around reading up on the aircraft and the history of the B-29 in general before I ever picked up my camera.
Of everything I shot that day, this is my favorite – it gets across the sheer size of the aircraft while still holding onto the detail in the paint and the texture of the fuselage skin.
The B-29 was only one of many vintage aircraft I photographed that day at the New England Air Museum, and they’re all worth seeing. If you’re ever in the area, it’s worth the trip.
You can find this print, and others, over in the shop.