GA in Sweden – Gothenburg Säve

Many thanks. Melv, I expected a flea in my ear from you but instead received excellent advice.
My idea was mainly to make contact with the people there by giving out good quality A4 prints to any who would be interested, and perhaps get access to the ramp to take further pix of their pride and joy.
My most recent flight was aerobatic over Stockholm in a brand new Giles for which I paid around 150 quid, for 45 minutes, so I know the going rate and would not dream of blagging a free flight. However if offered a trip at a reasonable cost I wouldn’t turn it down!
This started as a spin-off from camera practice for my forthcoming visit to Cleveland and Reno, I just happen to have the photos and thought it might ne nice to let the owners/pilots of the aircraft concerned have copies. If it leads to more, so much the better, but you could say that my motives are mainly altruistic.
Finally, thank you very much for letting me sit in the Rearwin at La Ferte and it was a great pleasure to meet you and savour some of your pithy replies!

520 kg take-off weight! I thought that biplane was pretty small! A Tiger Moth it is not!
I must try to get a closer picture of it, time to visit the flying club, methinks.
What would the reaction there be if I just turned up with a bundle of photos of their aircraft? (Don’t answer this, Melv!!!!)

I shall answer because it happens to me reasonably often, adn this is not just aimed at PL but at all photographers.

Basically there are different types of pilot who may, or may, not be that interested but since most are egotistical gits like me they may well take it as a compliment

However,

There are thousands of people out there taking pictures of aeroplanes and with the greatest respect to them, many are not as good as they think. I have been handed any number of out of focus, pixellated (ooh, it’s a bit small, I’ll Photoshop it . . .) and garishly printed pictures and I have also been given some good ones (one is on my hanger cupboard door).

It also depends on what you (generally, not just PL) want from it, and from the liks of me. If you just want the warm and fuzzy feeling of doing a good turn then fine. If you want to set the ground for your expanding photo business (as ‘Oh so many’ people seem to) then good luck, you are up against a lot of other people and 99.9% of them take approach shots. If you want to barter for a ride then stop and think.

Use of camera = minimal.
Space on memory card = minimal.
Time = you were there anyway, minimal.
Photographic paper = 1 sheet A4 maximum £1.00

Therefore photo cost = about a quid

The absolute MINIMUM it costs to fly my aeroplane, ignoring depreciation and engine fund, is about £110.00 per hour.

Most jollies are about twenty minutes which is £36.33.

So, I have had people that have spent a total of £1 EXPECTING me to take them flying which will cost me over thirty quid. That just ain’t going to happen. Sorry.

However, I have also had people give me photos that have subsequently been taken flying and not had to pay a bean. It is my choice and in some cases I am happy to do, it but you can bet those that ‘expect’ it generally don’t get it.

For people that are not lucky enough to have an interesting vintage aeroplane then there may not be that many people taking pictures but I fly from Popham and I generally get offered more or less the same photo.

Just some thought but, and this is very important, if you take photos and offer then back then at least you are showing that you are willing to put something, no matter how small, back into an activity that costs some of us a lot of money.

I have mentioned on at least one forum that I have climbed from my aeroplane and within thirty seconds been asked to move out of the way so that someone could take a photo. That person then took that photo home and looked at it, happy that he had ‘got’ a photo of the Rearwin Cloudster.

“HE” got ‘”HIS” photo and I got told to get out of the way of an aeroplane that cost me a lot of money to buy, seven years to find an engine, a stupid amount of money to restore, four years of my life to rebuild, a sackload of money every month just to hanger it, operating costs, insurance, oil, tools, spare parts, the list goes on and “HE” got “HIS” photo that he sits in his room at his mum’s house and looks at.

You can’t blame me for seeing the irony in that can you?!

PL, yes, offer them photos, the very least you will be doing is being seen to not just be taking from your hobby and that IS appreciated.

MH

….What would the reaction there be if I just turned up with a bundle of photos of their aircraft? (Don’t answer this, Melv!!!!)

Wouldn’t hurt to try. I get the impression pilots like photos of their aircraft. 😀

520 kg take-off weight! I thought that biplane was pretty small! A Tiger Moth it is not!
I must try to get a closer picture of it, time to visit the flying club, methinks.
What would the reaction there be if I just turned up with a bundle of photos of their aircraft? (Don’t answer this, Melv!!!!)

This maybe helpful for you – just found it.
http://www.luftfartsstyrelsen.se/templates/LS_LuftFartyg_Sok____35109.aspx
According to that XGN is and EAA Biplane (which I thought but wasn’t going to commit to)

Nice shots there PL.
‘KGS is a member of the PA.28 family and I think ‘XGN is a familiar shape but escapes me at the moment 😀