Jont --
I'm going to split this answer into three parts:
* where to find stock photos
* sources for posters
* other likely sources for photographs
I run several of the popular websites related to Mooney Aircraft, so
have had occasion to use the pilots' associations, AOPA and Avweb as
sources. Generally all three are very helpful when you're trying to
get material for non-commercial use.
That said -- I think that there's a market for posters of aircraft
over well-known destinations. MAPA Log, the monthly publication of
the Mooney Aircraft Pilots Association, has run hundreds of pictures
of Mooneys over popular locations on its cover, most of them coming
from pilots (as opposed to the Kerrville, TX manufacturer):
Mooney Aircraft Pilots Association
Home Page
http://www.mooneypilots.com/
Researcher Bobbie7-GA was very helpful in highlighting sources,
particularly for posters.
STOCK PHOTO SOURCES
---------------------
There are three likely sources of stock photos:
1. Corbis
Home Page
http://pro.corbis.com/default.asp
Corbis is a commercial service owned by Bill Gates (not Microsoft)
that licenses photos for a variety of uses. You'll have to sign up
for a free account to access the database but there are almost 1,000
pictures that come up when you do the following search. Some are
quite dramatic:
"New York" AND airplane
I'd recommend starting with the search above to go through groups of
photos. However, here are the ID numbers for a number of interesting
shots. You can search using these in the Corbis' search routine (and
don't need the brief description I've added below):
RR013181 -- landing lights at dusk
KD001176 -- PanAm flight over World's Fair
U849825INP -- Hughes twin over Manhattan
T-021-0127 -- plane over skyscrapers
F4646 -- Bert Acosta and Clarence Chamberlain flying over New York as
part of the record-breaking endurance flight.
U584173INP -- Charles Lindbergh flying over New York City
U797454ACME -- First Swedish Airline DC-4 flies over the financial
district of downtown New York
US003212 -- Seaplane Flying by Statue of Liberty
LW001325 -- 165 Formation-Boeing B-17's "Flying Fortresses" over East
River, New York City
U1872801 -- helicopter over NY harbor during Operation Sail
2. Getty Images
Getty Images is another supplier of photographs and their collection
includes Time-Life photos. Their search facility allows you to
specify location on the form, so we searched for the following and
turned up more than 200 images:
Airplane (city = New York)
Getty Images
Advanced Search Facility
http://editorial.gettyimages.com/ms_gins/CFW/home.aspx?pg=1
3. The New York Times
The NY Times also makes photographs available for sale online. The
"Transportation" section has several dozen photos, several of which
are aircraft in-flight over the city:
http://www.nytimes.com/nytstore/photos/index.html
Surprisingly, they don't have the September 29, 1909 flight of Wilbur
Wright over Manhattan. This website has a picture from The New York
Globe:
Paperless Archives
"Wright Brothers Newspaper Articles, 1902-1914"
http://www.paperlessarchives.com/wbscrapbooks.html
I checked the NY Times archive and there apparently were no pictures
taken, as none appear in the newspaper on September 30. (A side note:
different color flags were flown from the top of the NY Times Building
to indicate to the public whether or not Glenn Curtiss or the Wrights
were flying that particular day.)
Of course the pictures of the Wrights flying are of interest because
we're approaching the Centennial of their first flight, made on
December 17, 1903:
National Park Service
"Wright Brothers"
http://www.nps.gov/wrbr/
POSTERS
-------------
The best single source for posters is probably Historic Aviation, a
catalog and online site for just about anything aviation. (Several
Christmases ago I'd even purchased a B-25 training video for the
father of a friend who had flown B-25s during World War II.) You'll
find about a dozen posters on their site if you use the search term.
I limited the search to the category for "Art":
"New York"
Historic Aviation
Home Page
http://www.historicaviation.com/historicaviation/index.po
There are three other possibilities:
Here are 3 posters:
New York by Clipper
http://www.allposters.com/gallery.asp?aid=381287&item=382216&cat=1039
Braniff Airways - Manhattan, NY
http://www.allposters.com/gallery.asp?aid=381287&item=382269&cat=1039
'Flying Over Manhattan, New York City 1946, Douglas DC-4' poster print
http://www.1stoppostershop.com/products/ta/cityscapes/ta_FlyingOverManhattanNYC1946.asp
PILOTS ASSOCIATIONS
---------------------
Owners associations like MAPA, American Bonanza Society, Cessna Pilots
Association and Cherokee Pilots Association keep archives of
air-to-air photos that they use for their magazines and other
publications. I'd suggest CALLING them, as the staff is much more
responsive to phone calls than e-mail -- and they may be aware of
other resources, such as pilots web pages. Some contacts for you:
American Bonanza Society
Archives
http://www.bonanza.org/archives.cfm
Cessna Pilots Association
http://www.cessna.org/
Cherokee Pilots Association
http://www.piperowner.com/
At MAPA, make sure that you talk with Lela Hughes, who knows more
about what's available as a resource than anyone else:
MAPA
(210) 525-8008
http://www.mooneypilots.com/
OTHER RESOURCES
----------------
One site collects hundreds of DIGITAL photos each week -- 99% of which
remain unpublished. Avweb runs a photo-of-the-week contest and has
published dozens of photos but receives many more:
Avweb
"Photo of the Week"
http://www.avweb.com/cgi-bin/texis/scripts/avweb-search/search.html?query=picture&publication=avflash&category=potw
Here's one that appeared earlier this year of a plane on approach into
New York's LaGuardia Airport:
Avweb
"Picture of the Week" (February 13, 2003)
http://www.avweb.com/newspics/week0307.jpg
My final recommendation would be AOPA Pilot magazine (Aircraft Owners
& Pilots Association). I've used pictures from the AOPA Airport
Directory on my own website and found the AOPA staff to be very
cooperative, particularly if you're a member:
AOPA
Home Page
http://www.aopa.org
Google search strategy:
"New York" + airplanes + posters
"New York" + airplanes + photos
Best regards,
Omnivorous-GA |
