Sunday, April 29, 2012

In Memoriam




It is with great sadness that I learned of the tragic death of Larry Newby, the veteran chief pilot for Redtail Aviation out of Price, Utah. Larry was killed along with a father and son from Texas when his single-engine Cessna crashed on Wednesday, April 25 in a remote district of the Four Corners region.

Geologist Wayne Ranney and I spent only one day with Larry back in May 2011, but it was both wonderful and unforgetable, touring and photographing an expansive region of south-central Utah by air. From the moment we lifted off, Larry’s love of flying and knowledge of the desert and canyons of the Southwest became readily apparent. He filled our flight with history, stories and anecdotes about the region as we conversed by headsets throughout the flight. The fruits of that day included over 500 incredible aerial photos, three posts on this blog and some great memories.  

Reports of the flight are available on KSL TV’s website for as long as they are available. Here’s the link: http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=20153136&title=plane-crash-kills-3-people-including-father-and-son&s_cid=queue-19.

My sincere condolences go to Larry’s family, friends and colleagues at Redtail Aviation. My heartfelt sympathy also goes out to the Texas family and friends that lost a father and son in this terrible accident.




Posted by Dr. Jack Share at 10:08 PM

2 comments:

  1. Chaparral EarthApril 30, 2012 at 5:22 AM

    So sorry to hear about your friends and some of his family members fate. I read the link you had and the circumstance appear extremely mysterious. I hope they find out further answers.

    I'm curious about how you took photos from the plane. Was it looking out through the windows or perhaps cameras mounted on the belly of the main frame of the plane or under it's wings.

    I flew back and forth to Poland last week and wanted some shots of the massive scale of industrial forestry taking place there as it does in Sweden, Germany and elsewhere in the EU. But it was impossible.

    Once again though, sorry for your personal loss.

    Kevin

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dr. Jack ShareApril 30, 2012 at 6:47 AM

    Larry was experienced, skilled and very accommodating. He kept the plane out of any turbulents and made sure the scenery being photographed was right out the window and at the right angle of view. He banked the plane when needed to get the wing-strut out of the field of view. Shooting on manual I found works best so as not to confuse the auto-focus and at a shutter speed high enough to dampen any vibration. Of course use no flash and keep the lens off the glass to not pick up any vibration. We did open the window a few times, but even at the Cessna's low air speed, it was too windy for rear-plane passengers. Jack

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)