VIEWFINDER
Dean E. Ritola ([email protected]) sent us this photo of his friend Jonathan Festus ([email protected]) of a foamie, electric Habu jet. Dean writes:
"I photograph it quite often because it presents quite the challenge of trying to take a good picture of a very fast-moving plane. Jonathan has been flying model airplanes since he was old enough to hold the transmitter, according to his dad. Jonathan is now about 33 years old, the pride and joy of his mom and dad, and soon to be married.
"As I was following this Habu with my camera, I would snap a picture every so often. On one of the times when I snapped the picture, I heard Jonathan say, 'Nuts!' quite loudly. I pulled my camera down from my face and asked what was wrong. He said, 'The canopy just came off!' I looked up where he was looking and saw it floating to the ground.
"Jonathan landed without mishap, and we crossed the runway to retrieve the canopy. When we got within about 10 to 15 feet, I told Jonathan to wait; I'd take a picture of it.
"He said, 'Don't bother — that would not be a very interesting picture.' I said, 'What if, when I took the last picture, the canopy was in the frame with the jet?' He replied, 'Yep! That would be interesting!'
"No damage was done to either the canopy or the plane. Jonathan said that he was considering some stronger magnets to hold his canopy in place. Wonder why?
"After retrieving the canopy and returning to the pit area, I looked at the pictures and saw that I had captured the canopy and plane in the same frame. It's a once-in-a-lifetime type of shot."
Camera settings
Dean used a Nikon D7000 to take the photos:
- Focal length: 200 mm
- Aperture: f/8
- ISO: 200
- Exposures: 1/640, 1/1000, 1/1250 seconds
How to submit
Email your high-resolution "Viewfinder" photo and a short note telling the airplane or helicopter story to [email protected].
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
