The sky’s no limit
Photo by Joe Oliva
At six miles high, Joe Oliva has seen a lot of interesting things, but none quite as thrilling as his first glimpse of a B-2 Stealth bomber.
“It approached us from four or five miles out,” recalls Oliva, who was aboard an airborne fuel tanker ready to rendezvous with the $1.2 billion B-2, which is designed as a flying wing so it can hide from radar. “Edge on, it looked like a flying saucer. I thought, ‘How I am going to show this?'”
  Top photo by Joe Oliva; bottom photo by Skip Ellinger Joe Oliva, a senior instrumentation specialist for the Department of Biomolecular Chemistry, photographs military jets in action. Top of page: A B-52 bomber takes on fuel in mid-air in this crew’s eye view of the process. Above, top: Oliva, in full gear, prepares for a flight with F-16 fighter pilots. Above, bottom: Two U.S. Navy jets, part of the Blue Angels flying team, pass closely at 800 mph. |
Oliva is always thinking about how he’ll capture things on film when he’s in the air. He shoots pictures gratis for the Air National Guard and NASA, trading on his photography skills to fly high with military jet jockeys.
Oliva’s day job is senior instrumentation specialist in biomolecular chemistry, but his pastimes – and passions – are flying and photography.
During the past 20 years, Oliva has gained unparalleled civilian access to military maneuvers. He got his start after showing local Air Guard leaders some of the aircraft photos he’d shot from the ground outside the fenced perimeter of Truax Field.
Once inside the fence, Oliva made the most of it. He and his camera have been at the controls of an F-16 fighter. He’s squeezed shoulder-to-shoulder with aircrews to record potentially dangerous maneuvers like mid-air refueling. When legendary test pilot Chuck Yeager took his final jet flight at Edwards Air Force Base last year, Oliva and his equipment were there to record it. Yeah, it’s a kick, Oliva says: “All the things I read about and dreamed about as a kid, I get to do.”
It’s an expensive kick, though. Oliva says he spends $10,000 to $15,000 a year on travel and supplies needed to sustain his high-flying habit. The military reimburses some expenses, but Oliva isn’t on the payroll. He’s just happy to be on the scene.
Oliva’s work appears in Air Guard recruiting materials as well as Department of Defense publications.
Oliva credits an inspiring university art professor, Cavalliere Ketchum, for getting him aloft. Oliva, who graduated in 1986 with a B.S. in electrical engineering, took art classes with Ketchum. He says Ketchum taught him how to think about being a “picture maker,” not just a picture taker, and how to think about how to do things better – not just differently. Oliva says Ketchum’s guidance is never far from mind as he snaps each soaring frame.
With the B-2 photos in the can, Oliva is next scheduled to photograph preparations for a space shuttle mission. “After the space shuttle, I don’t know what else is left.”