"Hey Jeff, got a tip that they are moving Shanks plane out of the woods today with a backhoe, on my way to check it out."  Me to my editor one July morning.  Moving planes with backhoes?  Why not.  The best part of working in a newsroom is the diversity of assignments.

On June 23rd, Von Roger Shanks was in a single-engine plane crash trying to take off from his private air strip on the 10000 block of NC 43.  Thankfully, he was released from the hospital within two weeks and is on his way to making a full recovery.  His plane, on the other hand, was still stuck in the trees waiting to be rescued.  On July 6th, Brie Handgraaf and I went to the site to see the plane moved back home.  First, a backhoe  carved a path through the trees to get to the plane.  The plane was then suspended from a series of chains and moved onto a trailer to be taken to its final destination.

This was an unusual experience for everyone involved, and as a photographer there is nothing we like more than an out of the ordinary assignment.  Brie and I stayed on site for over an hour watching as they inched the plane out of the woods.  The team, a mixture of Shanks' friends and S.A.C Enterprise Inc., remained in good spirits through the experience, even through the sudden rainstorm that occurred halfway through the extraction.

Things were starting to get moving as a light rain came down. They had gotten the rigging to their satisfaction and were ready to make the big lift out of the trees.  The shot I'm looking for is the plane in midair and at this point it seemed only moments away. My rain gear was in the trunk of my car, which would require leaving the scene.  Would've taken no more than ten minutes, it's true.  I normally keep a camera rainsleeve in my bag at all times, but for some reason did not at that moment.  But hey, the rain was light and this was sure to move faster now that they were ready to move the plane.  As it turns out, not so much.  Slowly and surely they inched their way to the waiting trailer bed.  I was still waiting for the plane to get to into the clearing in the woods and a visible separation between the ground and plane.  The rain began to fall harder and I ducked into the tree line hoping for some shelter while continuing to shoot.  Long story short, it was pouring right as they got the plane out in the open and onto the trailer and within minutes I was drenched head to toe and trying to protect my camera while longing thinking of the raincoat and camera rainsleeve, in the trunk of my car.  Did I get the shots I wanted? Yes.  If I had left and come back would I still have gotten the shots? Can't say for certain.  Was I asked repeatedly if I had climbed out of a swimming pool upon arriving back in the newsroom? You bet.