Where to get a jet for a photo

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ChicagoJohn

Filing Flight Plan
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John Abbott
This is a long shot, but I'm hoping that someone here might have an idea for me.
I need a jet for a photo.

I'm a Chicago-based photographer who specializes in portraits and headshots. I'm also starting to study the ground rules with the hope that some day, I can afford pilot lessons and get to fly.

Currently, I perform with an improv group called Wing Night that's performed at the same theater for 6 years. Our Theater has been harassing us for a group photo for some time.
You can probably guess where this is going.
The photo idea is to dress our group up like a flight crew, and photograph us in front of a jet.
We would not touch the plane, nor get anywhere near the plane.

In pre-TSA days, this shot would be a lot less complicated. We could go to an airport, stand near a window, and have the plane in the background. But now, dressing up as a flight crew and getting anywhere near a plane can get a guy tazed. And I can't even imagine what would happen if someone tried to walk onto a tarmac with a bunch of photo equipment, without prior permission.

Someone help me out?
Where do I start?
I don't have the resources to rent a jet.
Is there a place where an owner might want a few images of a plane that he/she is putting up for sale? Anywhere that someone might be up for a trade of images in exchange for letting me put their plane in the background?
Or should we just shoot this at a local airport? In which case, who does one ask?

Any ideas, links, resources, contacts, and anything short of complete ridicule would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
 
I would suggest calling the FBO's at your local airport and talk to them. The charter co that was based at the FBO I used to work at would do this on a semi-regular basis it seemed. Even some movie shots in the hangar. There will likely be a fee for their labor (someone has to go open the hangar, pull the plane out, supervise while you are out there, put it back up, etc) but it's not the same as 'renting' the jet.
 
I would also suggest calling an FBO or charter company. We have photographers out here often who use the airplanes for that purpose. We are not in Chicago, however.
 
Thanks for your suggestion, Speed.
Unfortunately, its a theater group, so the budget is somewhere around $0 for the shoot.

I have all of the equipment (strobes, soft boxes, etc.), and could even light up a small jet and hangar.
Its the actual plane that's the sticking point. Which - I grasp - is not a small point to get stuck on.

Thanks for your suggestion, iNdigo. I'd already sent out one request through a smaller airport's website, but never heard back from them. But it might not have been the FBO... so I'll try that.
 
How close can you get to a plane without getting on the airport property? A drive by shooting and Photoshop could make things easier.
 
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ChicagoJohn said:
Thanks for your suggestion, iNdigo. I'd already sent out one request through a smaller airport's website, but never heard back from them. But it might not have been the FBO... so I'll try that.
Click to expand...
There are probably a lot of choices around Chicago. Someone may want to do it for the free publicity (you're going to credit them, right?) or community relations. I always figured that's why we do it.
 
Try calling the commander of the Illinois Air National Guard and offering him some tickets and a publicity byline in your program....

-Skip
 
Chicago huh ??? :dunno:

Lets see...

Head down to Meigs field and just take a pic of any jet on the ramp..:yesnod::nonod:..


Awww .. Never mind... That won't work anymore.:nonod::nonod::D:rofl:
 
Probably the best airports for your purposes would be Palwaukee (Chicago Executive), DuPage, or Lewis University (Romeoville). As others have suggested, call FBOs or charter operations at those airports.
 
There are still FBO left who know that the TSA/HSA is pure theater - not even a smidgen of reality in it...
SO, offering to do a portrait shot of the FBO owner/wife/daughter/etc. with a couple of 8X10 glossies, in return for having a jet put out on the ramp for an hour for your photos, just might do the trick...
Try to get some nice red sunset clouds in the background over the jet... Remember the principle of the 5 P's and an R...

denny-o
 
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If you had been here this morning you could have just gone and taken the pictures by a very nice G-IV. I got to stand in it and watch the start up, move it to the ramp area and shut down.... Lots of gizmos in that jet.
I bet you will be able to make a deal with some FBO as has been suggested.
 
Actually, I was presuming you were looking for a private business jet. If you're more open, you can do fighters or even commercial jets at museums. Bolingbrook Clow has a T-2 and a T-33. http://www.illinoisaviationmuseum.org/projects.htm

Lewis has a 737 that was donated to them that you might convince them to let you use for a picture.

And over at Rockford's Courtesy Aircraft Sales they have a variety of warbird jets they may let you photograph.
 
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Here's a thought - CAF (commemorative air force) - I convinced my local squadron to let my wife and I shoot our engagement photos with all their aircraft for the cost of half a dozen cold watermelons delivered on a 90-degree day.... :yesnod:
 
As one mentioned, just call the local FBOs or jet charter places and arrange for a photo shoot. It's no big deal. The TSA pretty much has nothing to say about it as long as you're escorted by an FBO employee. In the LA area it's done all the time and nobody gives it a second thought. You won't get tazed, questioned, or any of that other stuff that you're paranoid about.
 
Can't you just get a photo of a jet (in your regular clothes) then photoshop your group in front of it later?
 
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