Alpine, Texas - 2025
In early 2025, I stumbled across a 1942 Sinclair Oil advert featuring a photograph of a cowboy on a horse racing against a low flying American Airlines Douglas DC7. Sinclair supplied American Airlines with engine lubricant and the advert was a simple play on horsepower. Like many of the commercial adverts of that period, the message lent on the contribution to the war effort.
The connectivity between horse and flying machine in the image was visually arresting and told a wonderful story. The creatives behind this piece of advertising art will no longer be with us but deserve great recognition.
We started to spitball a few ideas to make our own version of this photograph. Camera capability may have come a long way in the last 80 years, but the nerve to fly 50 feet off the ground in a decent size plane is still not for everyone and we needed to find a pilot who embraced our ambition and would be game enough to join us in this homage to a piece of World War II history.
We chose Alpine Airport in West Texas as our location for three reasons. Firstly, the airport sits in a stunning amphitheater with mountains to the west and south of the main runway. Secondly, the owners of the airport seemed to be our kind of people, who want to make things happen rather than find reasons why they should not. Thirdly, there would be no shortage of skilled cowboys in the area who could navigate their way through the horse part of the story.
Our pilot - Roger Woolsey - is a gem of a guy and used to low flying. His fabulous 1944 A-26 Invader that we used that day was active in The Battle of the Bulge in World War II, so the story came full circle.
This project would not have been possible without the help of the decorated Vietnam veteran - General Ron Fogleman - who introduced us to Roger and his team.