Shutterspeed: Citabria

"Let's go."

Click here to see the Citabria Air-to-Air Gallery

Despite my last name, I count myself amongst the ranks of those who don't know that much about Norse Mythology (I've also never tried Lutefisk). Consequently, I didn't know much about Loki, one of the gods the Vikings used to sit around coastal campfires and tell stories about while the village they'd just plundered burned in the distance. Loki is well known for his mischievous antics and is one of the gods which the tricky Vikings probably identified closely with while casually marauding. All of this discussion about this particular deity is to illustrate the following: Loki is a most ironic name to apply to an airplane with as much integrity as the timeless Citabria.

"Loki" is a 7KCAB Citabria belonging to Marijke Unger. Marijke is like a proud parent to the airplane and treats Loki as though he has his own mischievous personality. Most pilots assign similar traits to airplanes they fly. I've known airplanes which have been lazy, gentle, steadfast, energetic, schizophrenic, and near suicidal. The Champ has all of the qualities you'll find in old friends; she's honest, stable, and dependable, even if it's not always the most exciting of airplanes. The Citabria is the Champ's younger and more athletic sibling. Both sharing lineage back to the near-comical Aeronca C-2, the Citabria is a more modern incarnation of the Champ, straightening out a few lines, adding more horsepower, and the ability to fly upside down should the desire arise. It has a "Let's go" attitude. It is also the plane I learned to fly in and one I have some of my most enduring memories trying to master the tailwheel at the controls of a Citabria. Finally shooting a Citabria air-to-air has been a long time coming.

My photo pilot for this flight was Doedo Schipper. Doedo and his wife Gail fly an exceptional Bucker Jungmann and they're both well-versed in rag-wing taildraggers. We met up on a recent summer evening in Longmont where Marijke houses Loki and decided to work the foothills. The light was questionable with lots of scattered cumulus blocking the sun in the immediate vicinity, but it looked as though there would be options to the north. I sat in the front of the Champ with Doedo flying from the rear. We departed first and turned to the north, paralleling the hogback ridges where the Great Plains meet the Rocky Mountains. Marijke and Loki quickly caught up to us, the Citabria's 150 horse Lycoming and generally cleaner airframe yielding a higher speed than the Champ. The light remained a no-go as the clouds blocked the sun for miles. A few tempting patches of golden evening speckled the plains, but they were the type that would mischievously lure the flight towards them, only to vanish upon arrival. Such areas are to be avoided. Carter Lake, a favorite reservoir to shoot over, was bathed in shadow. To the north, there was hope. A broad canyon between two hogbacks was reflecting the golden evening light. "Let's go there," I told Doedo as I opened up the Champ's door and got ready to shoot.

Searching out the light

As we neared the light, I directed Marijke into position as Doedo relayed my commands over the radio. Altitude often allows airplanes to be lit in areas where the ground below is in shadow, and that is what happened as we approached our canyon. Loki's paint began to glow as we reached the first rays of sunlight. The relatively subdued evening light compared to the harsher morning light makes for more optimum conditions to shoot pure white airplanes like Loki. White will often range from a creme color to brilliant gold. These colors over a dark background make for impressive contrast.

Contrast

Before long, the background emerged from darkness and we were flying up the canyon awash in the brilliant evening. I positioned Marijke in several angles as we flew up the canyon along its east side. Doedo was conscious of our position and the demands of flying in relative proximity to the surrounding rocks. I would make a direction to which he would reply unable due to terrain. It's good to have somebody watching over things as my situational awareness is limited to the viewfinder at these times.

The Citabria looked fantastic over the mountainous terrain. Nearly all of my time in the Citabria has been over the Coastal Plain of Texas. Despite the change of scenery, I couldn't help but be taken back to those formative years of my flying while shooting the Citabria over Colorado. Loki is a joyful looking airplane, a picture of confidence and ability. It's hard not to smile while looking at a Citabria flying along the ridge lines on such a beautiful evening. I learned all of the basics in this airplane. It represents my first solo, my first landing on grass, and my first spin. I learned so much about the craft of flying with my instructor Melanie repeating things so many times in my headset that I still hear them today.

"Feel the sink, pull. Feel the sink, pull."

"Look at the trees, look at the trees, hold it off... hold it off... now stick forward."

Beyond learning the mechanics of flying, the Citabria with its excellent visibility taught me to look outside, to see the world from the air. The lack of instruments compared to other trainers meant the student would often find himself gazing out as the countryside passed by. The Citabria taught me to love flying.

Turning in the canyon

We completed a course reversal near the end of the canyon. The canyon was easily wide enough to maneuver in without drama. In the turn I slowed the shutter down to get a full prop arc and hopefully capture some background motion which is apparent when turning with the subject plane on the outside. Flying back south, we positioned Loki for the tricky silhouette shot. Marijke had to fish a bit, but once she was there, she did a perfect job of keeping her shadow on the Champ. I'd never gotten a silhouette so close to terrain and the individual Ponderosa pines visible on the ridge lines added a nice bit of texture.

Back-lit

A beautiful and colossal thunderstorm was plundering the plains far to the southeast. Its towering structure was lit in pinks and peaches as it matured to its greatest height in the last of the day's heat. Gargantuan plains thunderstorms are different than the coastal Texas thunderstorms that dotted the skies when I was learning to fly. Summer sea breezes would bring moist air ashore which was warmed over the flat coastal plain. As the air would rise and condense, patchy isolated thunderstorms formed. They were easy to fly around and seldom were a problem, but they were to be avoided. One hot afternoon, I remember looking up through the Citabria's skylight at one of these localized thunderstorms towering above me and saw the unmistakable profile of a DC-3 fly directly into the top of the anvil and disappear. I had just read Ernie Gann's first account of flying into a thunderstorm and if I've ever seen a Flying Dutchman, that was it.

Thunderstorm Backdrop

We positioned Marijke for an outside turn with the intention of shooting Loki banked in front of the cumulonimbus beast which was raising hell sixty miles to the southeast. Loki's namesake would approve. I suppose Thor would as well. After two orbits in a steep bank which I requested, I had lots of quality material in the last of the day's light and for the first time felt that I was just a bit queezy after spending so much time focusing on my camera during some g-inducing maneuvers. I found this unusual as I haven't felt this feeling except occasionally during repeated aerobatics. With the sun below the horizon, it was a good time to head back to Longmont. Marijke couldn't resist making a joyful pass by some friends who live on their own airstrip and we followed before heading back to Longmont. Doedo is a pro at landing from the rear, seeing as that is standard practice in a Bucker and he set the Champ down with authority.

We put Loki away in his hangar and discussed the flight a bit. We were all happy with the quality and quantity of work. My queeziness began to wane and I decided to get back home before it got too dark. Doedo propped me, I turned on the lights and taxied out, pausing on the runway to take some photos of the runway lights before departing. On the flight home, the thunderstorm we'd shot Loki in front of was dying a dramatic death as it no longer had the radiant heat from the earth to fuel it. In the darkness, it's lightning flickered constantly within its cloudy towers. It was good to know the storm was much further away than my destination and moving away.

Runway Lights

Mischievous? Full of trickery? Perhaps when compared to a Piper Cherokee, but I would contend that it's one of the most likeable airplanes out there. Perhaps it's mischievous when it approaches out of the sun and makes a quick pass overhead before you know what happened. It definitely has a few tricks up its sleeve, being competent as a trainer, aerobat, and back-country plane. However you see it, the Citabria is one of my all-time favorites and I'll always carry what it taught me in any airplane I fly.

Loki sneaking underneath us