After a year of working with the great people at the 445th Airlift Wing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, I was able to get on base to photograph the C-17 Globemaster III. We worked around their “locals” schedule to ensure I would get to photograph at least one takeoff from the west side of the runway. Our plan worked perfectly as there were several C-17 aircraft were parked on the tarmac. Just before the top of the hour, one of the C-17s taxied to the south end of the runway. A few minutes later, this giant transport plane lifted off directly in front of me. This was an awesome experience!