Combat Aircraft Magazine Editor Tracks Down Men Who Shot Now-Famous F-117 Videos.
Noted aviation journalist Jamie Hunter recently traveled to the western United States to track down two of the witnesses to last month’s sensational F-117 Nighthawk sightings. His new video report provides detailed background on one of this year’s biggest stories so far.
Hunter, whose home base is in London, England, founded the Aviacom media outlet in 2001. Aviacom provides exclusive air-to-air imagery and media to a host of outlets. Hunter has emerged as one of the most prolific and credible military aviation reporters and editors in the field today. He is also well known for his work as editor of the glossy monthly print publication, Combat Aircraft, from Key Publishing.
A number of things stand out about Hunter’s report. He managed to locate and interview two of the men who got video and photos of the F-117 sightings on February 26 and 27, 2019. Richard Vandermeulen and Dan Stijovich were two of the photographers who got still photos and video of the Nighthawks flying in the western U.S. on two successive days.
Another notable feature of Hunter’s report is his combination of “reporter on the scene” video with print and internet media. This trend in military aviation reporting is on the rise with more compact and easier to use video, sound and editing resources. The promise of this style of reporting is faster time to publication and near real-time stories about fast-breaking aviation news.
Viewers around the world are seeing new video reports on military aviation stories from reporters like Ryan Sundheimer and David Jacobson of AirShowStuff.com within hours of the stories happening. Sundheimer and Jacobsen recently completed a grueling 2,000+ mile marathon media reporting trip across the western United States to cover the F-35 Demo Team, Heritage Flight Conference, visit popular low flying training areas and the Blue Angels at Naval Air Facility El Centro, California. Sundheimer and Jacobson posted photos, video and stories to AirShowStuff.com and YouTube almost as it was happening.
TheAviationist.com used a writer, photographer and videographer/editor to cover the story of the first F-35 Demo Team public aerobatic certification flights at Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson, Arizona earlier this year. The reporting team was on-site, capturing and editing video within hours of events happening.
There may be a downside to increased media about some aviation events however. Following the sensation about the F-117 sightings and the increased specialty and mainstream media reporting on the event, concerns about responsible use and conservation of low-flying viewing areas around the world have escalated.
Concerns about responsible use and potential overuse of the low flying viewing areas are valid. These areas are often protected by National Park Services and remain under their appropriate use guidelines and enforcement. But as the popularity of these areas escalate due to higher visibility in aviation specialty media and social media, the responsibility for maintaining the valuable low-flying viewing resources remains predominantly on the photographers and spotters who visit the area. That means it is up to the aviation enthusiast to police their own conduct in these areas and use them responsibly.
Many thanks to Jamie Hunter and Combat Aircraft for allowing us to use some screengrabs from their exclusive video!
