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Ron Kaplan's Most Memorable Photo Shoot

50th Anniversary of D-Day

50th anniversary of D-Day
Photo courtesy of AllThingsAero.com

At All Things Aero Ron Kaplan, Aviation Historian & Film Festival Director, recaps his favorite photo shoot. Ron’s entrepreneurial career started as a graphic designer and trade journalist. In 1994 he became a full-time aviation artist, soon noted for his hand-painted nose-art and aircraft illustrations. From AllThingsAero.com:

Hard to fathom now that it was twenty years ago today, April 26, 1994, that I participated in one of both the earliest and most uniquely memorable photo shoots of my career. In the spring of '94, I was still months from finalizing the sale of the imprinted sportswear company I founded in 1981 in Columbus, Ohio, a key step in the transition to being a fulltime aviation artist, journalist and photographer. However, as a “hobby,” I had spent several years building up a client base for my hand-painted flight jackets that included many prominent midwest warbird owner/operators. One of those was Louisville-based Charles Osborn, whose Vintage Fighters collection included the P-51D "Hurry Home Honey" and P-47D "Big Ass Bird II," a Corsair, T-33 and assorted projects (eventually including a second P-51D).

With the aid of Vintage Fighters staff led by personal assistant Andrea Lampen and chief pilot Brad Hood, Charles had been hosting annual warbird air shows at his home airport at Clark County, Indiana. Those Labor Day weekend shows, always highlighting both WWII events and participants, remain legendary to this day despite ceasing after 1996. I was fortunate to have been an official show photographer, as well having been commissioned by Charles to paint three A-2 jackets depicting identically both his Mustang and Jug together in flight.

It was probably late 1993 when Andrea called to share that Charles and Brad submitted a proposal to the Air Force to uniquely mark the upcoming 50th anniversary of D-Day in 1994. How about painting an A-10 Thunderbolt II (aka Warthog) in the distinctive D-Day stripes similar to those on Charles' P-47 Thunderbolt, and get them in the air for a photo shoot? Even better, stage them over the Air Force Museum? My instant response was to request that I be included, when and if such an event came to pass, even if to just shoot the aircraft on and from the ground. Meanwhile, the DOD response to Charles' proposal was along the lines of "no, wait, maybe, not my call, stand by."

Read the entire article here »

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