CAN YOU GIVE US SOME insight into how Tyson V. Rininger got that stunning photo on the cover of the Winter 2005 issue?
The editors reply: The photograph, of Scan D. Tucker in his custom-built Challenger II, in which he often performs at Oshkosh, was shot over Salinas, California. The photographer, Tyson Rininger, rode in a Robinson R44 Newscopter piloted by Jim Cheatham, head of the Showcopters acrobatic team. They started on the right side of the plane and flew in front of it and around to the other side, traveling just a little faster than the plane. Rininger used a Canon 10D digital camera with a 28-to-135-mm zoom lens. He says, “Scan Tucker is probably the world’s best acrobatic pilot, and Jim Cheatham probably has the most hours piloting a helicopter of anyone in the country. So all I had to do was push a button. The fun part was my parents. They kind of know what I do, but they had never seen me on a shoot before, hanging out of the helicopter or airplane. Scan was flying in a Harrier pass, and when he was done with it, he put the nose down to gain airspeed and let the engine cool off. Jim swung the helicopter around. I was sitting sideways, with my feet dangling out the door of the helicopter and only a seat belt holding me. I completely lost my balance and started grabbing at things. My parents saw everything. They will never come see me again.”
Mike Agranoff
BOONTON TOWNSHlP, N.J.
