Photo Shoot: Celebrating National Aviation Day with a look at Falmouth Road Race aerials

August is half over as another Cape Cod summer slowly melts towards Labor Day. The Falmouth Road Race is the last big sporting event before football season. This year’s race Sunday, Aug. 18 backs right up to a Monday holiday on the 19 ^th , National Aviation Day . Never heard of it you say?

It wasn’t on my calendar either, but then it was. Looking over the final weeks of August on the wall calendar in the den, actively planning a September vacation, it was listed on 8/19/24. Time for some research, and yes it has its own webpage, nationalaviationday.org . Franklin Roosevelt established the day with a proclamation on August 19, 1939 to honor the birthday of Orville Wright , who was born in 1871 and still alive at the time. The purpose of the observance was to promote aviation.

My newfound knowledge of this day coincided with a trip into the photo archives for old Falmouth Road Race images. A photo journey into the past used to involve a trip to the basement to pull out sleeves of negatives from packing boxes, always hopeful they had been filed in order, usually not the case. Now just a few keywords are needed, and the digital archive quickly fills the screen with images. But still with all the serendipity of finding an old envelope of snapshots from 30 years ago.

Covering the “road race” back in the day was a full court press for reporters and photographers. There would be photo positions on both chase trucks for men’s and women’s races, a person at Nobska Light, and a backup person at the finish line. Many years there was also an aerial opportunity, either small plane or preferably a helicopter. Shooting the aerials was a wonderful gig. First it made for amazing images following along the coastline into the finish line at Falmouth Heights. Second, instead of having to be down at race headquarters by 6 am, before the roads all closed, it was an easy drive to the airport in Hyannis, fly down to Woods Hole, follow the race, then be back on the ground by 11:30. Process film and edit, be at the beach by early afternoon.

I was surprised to see the last time I pulled that gig was way back in 2000. The photo gods were happy that day, clear weather, wind from the right direction for the American flag finish. A good reason to celebrate National Aviation Day, even 24 years later.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Photo Shoot: Celebrating National Aviation Day with a look at Falmouth Road Race aerials