Ques- Photocall on a Carrier

[Phil Myers]

Has anyone ever tried to get a Photocall on an aircraft carrier, maybe during a Tiger Cruise or press tour??

 

[tonyosborne]

Although I am not an FC Photocall organiser, I would say its rather unlikely.

It's difficult enough getting one person one, let alone multiples...

[KevinJackson]

As Tony Say's, positions for press on carriers are very limited and usually mean having proof of publication with a max of two persons per media outlet. Getting a larger group on board representing just one publication/organisation is just about impossible. Same with Tiger cruises, it is for families and friends of embarked sailors but even then they are limited to how many they can invite aboard.

A photographers best bet is to call around some publications and get a letter of commission for an article, then you can contact the appropriate PAO and request media support. Or get to know someone on one of the embarked units, that can help but is not guaranteed. If you can get the Navy some good press then you will generally find they will help you.

I'd love to organise a photocall to a carrier but it just couldn't be done like that. Unless someone wants to prove me wrong! 

[M.M.]

Another reason why a carrier photocall is unlikley:  To host a group of photographers on a land base, the Navy's involvement is limited to supplying a couple of escorts.  If the escorts are from the PA shop, hosting tours to educate the public is one of their roles so there's no real cost.  Take those photographers aboard a carrier, though, and suddenly the Navy has to provide transportation to and from the ship, possibly accommodation, possibly food, etc. etc.  There's also a host of safety concerns in the confines of a carrier that weren't present on land.  With no tangible return for the extra cost and increased risk, there's little incentive for the Navy to play host.

The one circumstance in which I can see a group going aboard ship would be a day cruise out of the carrier's home port.  I've been on a couple of these in the distant past, while TonyZ's been on one more recently.  (Anybody have a link to his pics? ) There are few aircraft on board and flight operations are limited if they happen at all.  But if that qualifies to you as being aboard a carrier, there may be hope.... 

-M.M.

P.S.: Ever been on a carrier yourself, Tony O? 

[thenewarea51]

Back in the good ole' days, they used to hand out free tickets to ride a carrier from Naval Station Everett in Washington state and would sail down the Puget Sound and park in Elliott Bay and perform flight ops. I was fortunate to go on the Vinson and sit on the deck while 2 S-3s and 2 EA-6s did cat and traps for about an hour with the Seattle Skyline in the backround. Probably the coolest thing I have ever done. I cannot begin to describe what it's like standing next to the blast deflector as a plane gets launched. In the hangar bay they had a big screen setup showing  Top Gun and passed out free doughnuts!

I'll have to dig up my pics one of these days and post them.

Franz

[Tonyz]

Escorting people on the deck of a working carrier is a serious pain.  Doing it for full time pro photographers is hard, for a gaggle of amateurs like me...nuts.

I did get to go on Nimitz a couple years ago thanks to a former FC member...

[M.M.]

Back in the good ole' days, they used to hand out free tickets to ride a carrier from Naval Station Everett in Washington state and would sail down the Puget Sound and park in Elliott Bay and perform flight ops.

That's how I got to see flight ops, too -- on Kitty Hawk in 1995 and Connie in '96.  But it wasn't free -- I had to pay the Seafair organizers something like $100 each time.  Some secret scheme to fleece out-of-towners, perhaps?

-M.M.

[Tonyz]

Yeah, but it was in Cdn.  Which means then it was worth about 4.99 US?   (Yeah, and today the Canadian dollar is worth more than the USD...)

[Vikingnav]

This answered a lot of questions I had about a trip to a carrier.  We could do a mass enlistment but would probably end up in a submarine.
Gary
Cottage Grove, MN, USA

[tonyosborne]

P.S.: Ever been on a carrier yourself, Tony O? 

No, never Mr Munzel, not been lucky enough...

[Erik]

Tony, you're such a bad liar 

How was that with the Tomcat Farewell Press thing in Mid 2006? That was a large group of photographers right?

I always wondered about that - because even with just Kev and myself, it was already getting "busy" as we were shooting among the cat crew on the TR and Nimitz. Also with the two of us, we had enough space on the LSO platform but with any more people, it would just get far too dangeous I think?



That shot was taken among the cat crew, kneeling between them while they were doing their stuff. But I can't imagine that to be possible with 10 people or so?

[KevinJackson]

How was that with the Tomcat Farewell Press thing in Mid 2006? That was a large group of photographers right?

That shot was taken among the cat crew, kneeling between them while they were doing their stuff. But I can't imagine that to be possible with 10 people or so?

Erik, the large press group on the final Tomcat carrier ops was a one-off because of the historical nature of the event. The TR's media team were already increased to cover the event so they had enough people to escort everyone. They way they did it was to have one escort per four people max, who then spread out over the ship. Some requested the Cat, others the LSO platform, others Vultures Row so there was never 20 people in the same place, you found a group going where you wanted and tagged along or four of us agreed on a location then grabbed an escort. The logistics of all this were huge for the 25 or so press but the occasion warranted it, plus Public Affairs were very strict on numbers per publication so you could never get more than 2 aboard representing one media outlet. So it is easily doable for the right reasons, but trying to justify a photocall group to the Navy would be near impossible, they would want to see results for getting us on board and ten people shooting for the same mag just wouldn't cut it.

[Liza]

To add to Kev's comment...

The bulk of the media on the TR were covering the last operational tomcats, but also the joint carrier exercise. There were quite a few media on the Eisenhower which was out there with us. So, two items were being covered, last operational tomcats and the first joint carrier exercise.

[Jason-Fight2FlyPhoto]

That's how I got to see flight ops, too -- on Kitty Hawk in 1995 and Connie in '96.  But it wasn't free -- I had to pay the Seafair organizers something like $100 each time.  Some secret scheme to fleece out-of-towners, perhaps?

-M.M.

I went on the Lincoln in '97 and watched three Hornets, two Prowers, and two Vikings launching and recovering.  We got to go free because my dad was a principal at a local high school at the time and was invited by the recruiters, and I was able to come along.  I was just 13 at the time and only had a disposable camera.  If I had that same experience now I don't think I'd even be able to hold my camera.  He also went down to California to visit where they train Navy Seals and was offered two trips to visit Miramar for like a week!!!  I was depressed for months after he had to turn them both down!  Even though I wouldn't have been able to go with him! lol


So now I've decided to go into education!  I'm working at a middle school now!  (I'm actually serious, too.)

[thenewarea51]

I see a fencechecker went on one recently

http://www.airliners.net/open.file?id=1310774&size=L

Maybe he'll tell us about his trip?

Franz