Vought F4U-5

Less is more - impressive crop!

Really nice shot. I like the contrasting blues and that the propellor isn't quite centered. elisabeth

Thank you Elisabeth. Although I like it okay, this photo doesn't quite succeed for me in recapturing the beauty of this gleaming aircraft on a summer morning. I shot a roll of it, both overall and detail, and although no single photo really conveys the mood, I think I might be able to put together a decent mini photo essay that does, kind of like your hood ornaments.

 

After I worked over this plane for about half an hour, a young punk aged about 20 walked up to it. At first I hoped he appreciated what he was looking at. Then he climbed onto it, opened the canopy, and matter-of-factly started preparing it for flight. My first thought was -- lucky punk! But then I thought, really, these fighters were built for young punks to fly and that's who should be flying them. To this day I regret not taking a few pictures of the kid getting ready to fly this plane.

 

fantastic plane, great shot :)

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The sky greatly compliments the deep blue of the paint job. Not sure if the slight inclusion of the "5" on the extreme right helps, obscuring it with my finger seems to make the contrast more striking.