Fly along

“David, we’re not gonna get it, David. Slow down. He’s gotta get closer. We’re not gonna get the shot. Gah! Let’s circle back around.”

That was acclaimed aerial photographer Mark Greenberg being a back-seat driver. Or back-seat flyer, in this case, barking directions to pilot David Mendal, who was maneuvering a nimble Cirrus SR22 a quarter to half a mile above the western Lamoille valley.

Greenberg was trying to get just the right shot of Harrison Barr, a local 19 year-old wunderkind pilot, in his own SR22, doing a flyover of the new runway at the Morrisville-Stowe airport.

The plan was to have Barr ride just off Mendal’s wing, within 100 feet, at a slightly lower altitude, so Greenberg could get a photo that included both airplane and brand-new runway beneath. Mendal would respond with a little less thrust, a little more elevation, a bank.

I’m up front, my first time in such a small aircraft, a high-tech beauty that Greenberg referred to as the BMW 6 Series of the skies. It was like being in a zippy little sports car with wings.

The photo-op was an impressive dance between two skilled pilots — Mendal is Barr’s mentor — and a conversation among the two of them, the photographer, and a spotter on the ground moderating the whole thing via walkie-talkie.

After Greenberg got what he wanted, we headed over to Stowe, dipping into the Nebraska Valley so Greenberg could get some photos of Barr in front of Mount Mansfield. We buzzed the downtown, and a computerized woman’s voice warned we were a little too low for her comfort.

“Anywhere else you want to go?” asked Mendal. “We go to Boston, get some lobsters?”