Rob Holland Retrospective: Part 3

Back in 2017, Rob set up a photoshoot with the two “CAG Birds” of VF-106 “Gladiators.” A “CAG Birds” are the aircraft that bear the name of the squadron commander and executive officer and usually have full color markings, instead of the dull grey markings typically used on squadron aircraft. The “Gladiators” are the East Coast RAG (replacement air group) for the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, the squadron that trains up new fighter pilots and sends them out to the fleet to serve as front line naval aviators. The squadron also typically provides a few jets and pilots each year to fly as the Super Hornet demo team at airshows.

So we planned to do the shoot with the two VF-106 CAG Super Hornets at the Quonset Point Airshow in Rhode Island. Rob and the my photo plane took off from Quonset Point and met up with the Rhinos over the bay (note: the “F” model Super Hornet is nicknamed the “Rhino,” despite many older aviation heads — like my Dad — taking issue as that was the nickname of the F-4J Phantom). The sky had some nice puffy clouds that added texture to the pictures, which turned out pretty well. The highlight of the weekend was Rob’s e-mail to all involved in the shoot with exceptionally detailed instructions on how the shoot would proceed. Because we were joining the Rhinos airborne, we weren’t able to brief the flight prior to doing the shoot, so Rob made sure to cover everything in his e-mail. One of his instructions related to him rolling inverted before setting up the shot. He told the two Rhino pilots to hold station while he rolled inverted and to not push loosen up the formation in anticipation of Rob moving during the roll to inverted. He didn’t want anyone flinching in formation upon seeing him rapidly roll inverted.

It was a fun shoot and produced some great shots.