Since I can't decide, I'll use these four - all taken by me.
1) The STS-Enterprise - though it never flew in space. This photo came from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. I think I took the shot in May 1985. They had the Enterprise on site for a test fit for SLC-6 from which the Air Force planned to launch the shuttle. That was before the Challenger blew up in January 1986. Whether you're a fan of the shuttle or not, the vehicle is amazing. I used a Kodak Disc Camera.
2) B1B Lancer - I took this photo at Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio, TX (where I also took refuge underneath for some shade!). I actually first saw this type at Vandenberg when they took her up for some record setting flights. First I saw it doing some terrain following in the mountains of the South Base of Vandenberg. I didn't know what it was, and down in the Valley I had no concept of its size. Then they told us where it would overfly the base on its way to the test area over the Pacific so several dozens of us saw it fly over Minute Man Beach on July 4th, 1987. This time I had a good visual on its size because of the T38 chase planes (I can't remember if it was one or two chase planes). I wrote in my Journal they set 14 records that day. A reference to this is at:
http://www.afa.org/magazine/KittyHawkNew/1984_1993.aspThis picture came from a Pentax K-1000 35mm camera.
3) The SR71. I've seen it on static display several times. This photo is from Oshkosh Airventure 1997. We were supposed to hear a sonic boom as it left the show, but the vehicle had fuel flow issues and they aborted. According to Radio Oshkosh this year, they SR71 over flew Wittman Airport a bit over a week later and produced a boom for them then. I was already home (San Antonio) by that time. This picture was also with the Pentax K-1000 35mm camera.
4) The December 17, 1903 flyer hangs in the Smithsonian in Washington DC. I took this picture Jun 11th, 1998 at the museum. I used a panorama single use camera with Daylight Film (the only camera I had with me). It took a lot of image work in ArcSoft PhotoStudio to get a usable image for this grouping. Because the film was for daylight and I was indoors with the window behind the aircraft the actual image is horribly underexposed.
jbs
