Rob Holland Retrospective: Part 1

With the tragic and untimely death of aerobatic legend Rob Holland, I plan to make several posts throughout 2025 looking back at photoshoots I did with Rob over the years. I still maintain that, of all the truly remarkable things Rob did in aviation, watching him roll inverted during air-to-air photoshoots was the most incredible thing I ever saw him do. It was just one more confirmation of his rare talents, albeit one only a few ever got to witness. For Rob, that MXS-RH was an extension of himself. He put that plane wherever he wanted to in the sky and it was just an honor to capture those moments. With his passing, it falls to those of us who were lucky enough to chronicle his brilliance to keep his spirit alive. It’s impossible to think anyone who ever saw Rob fly or knew him as a person would ever forget him, but even the best memories fade in time. My aim is to keep those memories as fresh and present as they were when they happened.

So let’s begin with with a particularly special photoshoot in July 2014 in Geneseo, New York. There was a spectacular lineup of airplanes joining Rob in formation, including the Fagan Museum’s P-38 Lightning “Ruff Stuff, ” Mark Murphy’s beautiful P-51D “Never Miss,” and Charlie Lynch’s TBM Avenger “She’s The Boss.” Additionally, the flight occurred on my wife’s and my anniversary, so Rob put her in the backseat of Charlie’s TBM. All my photoshoots with Rob were special, but having my wife in one of the planes was beyond truly amazing. And it was all thanks to Rob.