A Great Day with Big Tex Aviation.   04/14/06

The Thompson's and JD McCoy invited me to spend a day with them in Mt Pleasant and take picture of the Big Tex aircraft in flight.  JD pilots the Citation jet.  The photos below will show how it turned out.  This event turned into quite a production.  A little formation flying and maneuvering.   Mark Thompson and I were in a 182 taking the pictures and the lead aircraft  in the formation.  The Citation, piloted by JD McCoy. Right seat, Rod Keng.  The Twin Beech, piloted by David, right seat, Jesse Thompson.  Rick Zappolo, owner of the 182, was passenger in the Citation.  It was a great bunch of people coming together to pull this off.  And yes, the Citation was able to keep up with the 182 which the pictures reveal.  This was a fun day.  The day ended well with 150 pictures to choose from.  One of these pictures maybe on the cover of TradeAPlane.  A popular aircraft catalog.  I believe Rod was also going the have them in some of Mt Pleasants Chamber of Commerce adds.  I got to meet some more people and enjoyed every bit of it.       The photos have been down sized in memory to aid in the loading of the page.


The Big Tex Citation with the Mt. Pleasant Plant in the background.


Big Tex Citation I at the hanger.  Pilgrim's hangers are next door.

David and Jesse are in the Beech.  This is a mid-50's vintage.  Beautiful aircraft.  A little photography talk, this photo was shot at 400ASA (Shutter speed).  It would have been an unusual photo if I had shot it at 800ASA.  That would have stopped action on the props.  Aircraft in the air and dead stick.  I'll do that one another day.

Notice the nose of the Citation pulled up a little.  It is coming up to position.

They're getting closer.  The Cessna Citation (Jet) is a mid-70's vintage aircraft.  It looked like new.  Age isn't an issue with aircraft if they are well maintained.

There are no lines to follow, just depth perception and skill to maintain this pose.

We are all in a slight bank to the left.

You can just about see Rod and JD.

This was an attempt to capture the Citation and the Big Tex plant in the background.

This is one of two plants.  This one in Mt Pleasant.  The other in West Texas.  But they have distribution all over the US.

Front of the complex.

THE END