Light Painting The Howard 500 N500LN
Joannie and I have just had the privilege of light painting one of the coolest, and rarest aircraft in the world, The Howard 500 N500LN. There were only 17 Howard 500s ever built, and just two of them are flight-worthy today. And this beauty is one of them!
The Howard 500 N500LN, is in place and waiting to be light painted.
This wonderful aircraft is owned by Tony Phillippi. And, until recently, he owned both of the remaining Howard 500s that can still fly today. I met Tony a few weeks ago. I knew beforehand, and I certainly felt it that afternoon, that he truly loves this airplane and its place in aviation history!
When I asked Tony what was his favorite thing about the Howard 500, he quickly replied that the twin 2,500-horsepower Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engines were his favorite feature. I pretty much knew then and there that I would be doing a second light painting that emphasized those beauties too! That one will be coming soon.
A Brief History Lesson About Howard 500s
Dee Howard and his mechanic, Ed Swearingen, began converting retired military bombers into executive transportation in the late 1950’s. Their creation, the Howard 500, was put into service in 1963. Dee built the Howard 500s for a very select group of individuals in major industry and entertainment. The Howard 500 was the last radial engine passenger transport ever built.
Unfortunately, the Howard 500 had very bad timing when it comes to its place in the history of aviation. It was essentially out-of-date on the day of its maiden flight.
Only 17 of the exceptionally luxurious, ultra-high-performance, stylish piston twins were ever built. All 17 of the planes were assembled in San Antonio, Texas. However, the Howard 500 never took hold. Another of its unique facts in aviation history is that the Howard 500 was the last FAA transport-category airplane ever certified with radial engines.
Today, pilots and mechanics view this plane with awe and respect, and rightfully so. This plane is part of the romantic past of the aviation industry. So much so that this amazing aircraft was awarded the Contemporary Grand Champion Lindy Award back at the 1997 Oshkosh Airshow.
Light Painting The Howard 500 N500LN
We began creating light painting photography back in 2017. Since then, we’ve created light-painted art of some pretty cool subjects! However, this project takes it to a whole new level! To have the opportunity to create a one-of-a-kind work of art of something so rare is not something that I took lightly.
I’ve been very excited about the possibility of creating this project since I found out about it at EAA AirVenture in July! I just kept hoping the stars would align and that the light painting project would come to fruition.
So, you can imagine my disappointment when I had to cancel our first two attempts due to high winds on both nights. The logistics of having to select a new date that would work with everyone’s schedules made both of those calls very difficult decisions. But it was necessary to get it done right. Thankfully, we were able to reschedule and Mother Nature cooperated this time. She even supplied an amazing sunset for us too!
Our completed light painting of the Howard 500 N500LN along with Mother Nature’s stunning sunset!
The Howard’s Build Video
As I do for every one of our light painting projects, I’ve put together a short video that contains the images used to create the project, as well as the build video showing the one-of-a-kind final artwork coming together. It can be found on our YouTube channel at the link below.
All told we took 456 images that night for both light paintings, and 252 of them for this version. Of those 252, 71 of those were used to create this final artwork.
I’ll be working on the second light painting featuring those twin Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engines in the coming days. I’ll write another story and share it upon its completion.
In the meantime, thank you for taking time out of your day to read our post. Have a great day! – M&J