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SPECIAL FEATURE

Art of the flying selfie

Pilots know there’s a true beauty to flight – those perfect moments of aeroplane, sky and landscape. Capturing them can be hard and something that does all that and looks new and exciting more so.  So it’s no surprise Piper Cub pilot Joe Costanza has been creating a stir on social media with some photography that does all that. Joe tells FLYER about some of his favourite shots…

17 February 2021

“I mount the cameras using FlightFix slim strut mounts that attach to the struts and hold an adjustable carbon fibre boom that is either attached to a GoPro MAX 360 or Insta360 oneX 2 360 Camera. What’s great about these small, lightweight camera is they edit out the pole and because they capture everything, you can reframe the shot in post-production while safely on the ground.
“Every morning when I go flying enroute to one of my favourite grass strips, I like to overfly one particular old farmhouse. It’s an old brick house that looks to be at least 100 years old. There is a long dirt road leading up to it and no other houses for miles. It would be the perfect place for me and the Cub to live happily ever after. I know I can’t live there but I like to buzz it often, saying hello.”
“With the Cub, the type of flying I do is usually low and slow on calm days. That’s the beauty of aircraft ownership, you can go flying whenever you want, or can cancel flying last minute without feeling guilty. I like to fly early morning or late afternoon while the winds are calm and the traffic is light. My favourite thing about the Cub is its simplicity. I fly an Airbus for work, so to go from that to an aeroplane with a wooden prop, no electric system and only 65hp is something else. The basic Cub is the most true form of flying you can do. Pitch and power and you need to use your feet! I also like the fact that with only 65hp, you don’t have much power to get you out of trouble so you need to plan ahead. Also, because there is so little to look at on the panel, it means you are always looking outside enjoying the view.”
“Pemberton is an old grass strip I often visit. It has tall trees on both ends and is a challenge to get in and out of with only 2,000ft of runway. It is adjacent to a large cornfield that always has deer running through. It can definitely make it interesting if they leap up out of the crop. If you look carefully, you’ll spot where the camera’s software has removed the boom attachment from the top of the right strut.”
“The 360 camera on the end of the boom makes it look like the camera is a long way away from the Cub, but it’s really not too bad. The boom is very firmly mounted, and while it wobbles a little when you taxy, it’s a strong setup. The golden hour, that’s the hour around sunrise, or before sunset, makes for beautiful light and I think is one of the most amazing time of the day to fly with that door open.”
“The pandemic has created a lull in air traffic in New York’s Hudson River corridor. It is usually busy with helicopters and traffic watch planes but this particular day, I had the complete corridor to myself and took advantage of it. I cruised up to the Tapan Zee bridge and circled the Statue of Liberty for almost 15 minutes before heading home, getting some pretty incredible shots.”
“Approach to runway 22 into Pemberton – the first place I landed on the first flight in my Cub. It’s a sleepy old airport.”
“On short final into my home airport of Flying W you cross a huge soya field. It’s a beautiful shade of green in the summer and makes it easy to spot the airport from miles away.”

Follow Joe’s adventures in the Cub on Instagram @bananasssssssss

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