Behind the Scenes of United's New Air-to-Air Livery Shoot
Last month, United unveiled its brand-new aircraft livery. While it could take up to seven years to repaint the entire fleet, at least one repainted aircraft — N37267, a Boeing 737-800 — is flying passengers around the US. Just before it re-entered service, though, United flew the plane out to Los Angeles (LAX) for a spectacular air-to-air photo shoot.
United enlisted the help of Wolfe Air Photography and the company's special Learjet 25B aerial photography jet, which served as the "chase plane" and met the United 737 some 17,000 feet above the West Coast.
United posted a special video detailing the shoot, which includes a variety of formation-flying maneuvers, with the planes flying as close as 10 feet apart.
Los Angeles-based Roger Tonry served as the photographer for United's shoot, but we had a chance to chat with one of his colleagues, Chad Slattery, another top aerial photography pro. Slattery gave us an inside look at the process, which requires a tremendous amount of skill and coordination. Don't miss our detailed post, How Corporate Aviation Photographers Get Their Amazing Shots, for more on how a shoot like this works.