The shadow of Wolfe Air’s Learjet 25 camera plane on Air Canada’s Boeing 787-8 during a photo shoot over the Pacific Northwest. Photo: Air Canada
Written for the Airline Passenger Experience Association
APEX Experience Magazine – Issue 5.5 – September/October 2015
Brian Losito might just have the best airline job, ever. For the past 26 years, Losito has been Air Canada’s Corporate Photographer. He’s travelled throughout the airline’s network, taking photos of people, places and planes in support of Air Canada’s publicity, marketing and advertising efforts.
Without a doubt, Losito’s favorite assignment is being airborne, getting amazing air-to-air photos and video of Air Canada’s newest airliners. “We’ve done shoots of the Airbus A340 and the Boeing 777. Then last June, Air Canada took delivery of its first Boeing 787-8,” says Losito.
The airline’s Dreamliners were busy with training and revenue flights, and Losito couldn’t get access to an aircraft until the fall. “You need at least two days, because it’s very weather dependent. We planned the shoot for the West Coast to get the great scenery, with mountains and oceans,” says Losito. Hawthorne, California-based Wolfe Air Aviation Ltd., was Losito’s choice to provide the camera plane and air-to-air expertise. Wolfe Air has been providing aerial imagery services to the film, television and aviation industries for decades.
Losito might have the best airline job, but Kevin LaRosa Jr. has an equally remarkable role in aviation. As Wolfe Air’s Aerial Coordinator and Lead Captain, LaRosa flies the specially-outfitted Learjet 25 camera plane. A third-generation pilot, LaRosa learned the skills of air-to-air photography from his father. “It’s all about the light, and camera angles. You’re less of a Learjet captain, and more of a cameraman flying the airplane,” says LaRosa. The Learjet is equipped with Nettman Systems’ “Vectorvision,” with lens ports on the top and bottom of the fuselage, and a still camera pod under the wing.
He explains that the performance and manoeuverability of the 40-year-old Learjet makes it an ideal camera plane. “It’s a pure turbojet airplane with no engine spool up time, and with its shortened wing, it’s a very snappy aircraft,” says LaRosa. “The airliners are big, so to get the nose and tail framed in the shot, we usually fly about 50 to 75 feet away.”
LaRosa says the mission was extremely successful, thanks to the creative direction of Air Canada’s Losito, and the flying skills of the 787’s crew, Captains Mark Watt and Chris Pulley. “Captain Watt is one of the best formation pilots I’ve ever flown with. He put that airplane exactly where we needed it, every time” he says. Losito adds, “This air-to-air shoot was one of the highlights of my career”
Air Canada has already made wide use of the stills and video from the air-to-air shoot, enticing passengers to fly on this latest addition to its fleet. Images of the beautifully-photogenic 787 have appeared in Canada and internationally on billboards, in print ads, at the airline’s offices, and in its EnRoute inflight magazine, among others. Video of the Dreamliner has been used in television commercials, on the airline’s website, and has been seen by hundreds of thousands of viewers through social media.
Read the original story in APEX Experience Magazine – Issue 5.5