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Like father like son
by 8DonCo Fri Dec 01, 2023 3:15 pm
He posed by an airplane as a kid in 1976. 40 years later he recreated the photo with his son
By Francesca Street, CNN
4 minute read
Published 9:31 AM EST, Fri December 1, 2023
Brian Aerni loves this photograph of himself posing infront of an airplane when he was aged three -- so much so that years later, he decided to track down the aircraft in the photo.
Brian Aerni’s favorite photo of himself was taken when he was just three years old.
It was 1976. Aerni was living in Denver, Colorado, where his father worked as a station agent at Stapleton International Airport – then Denver’s aviation hub. Young Aerni was obsessed with airplanes and in awe of his father’s airport job. Even as a small kid, he loved tagging along with his dad to work and watching aircraft take off and land.
On one of these airport excursions, Aerni’s father took a photo of his son. In the picture, young Aerni – in the forefront, dressed in a white t-shirt and plaid plants – is smiling widely. Behind him is a Convair 580 propeller aircraft, painted in white and blue Frontier Airlines livery.
As Aerni grew up, his interest in aviation grew with him. While he didn’t end up working in the industry, later in life he got his pilot’s license. Now aged 50, Aerni has a small private plane. A framed version of the 1976 airport photo has pride of place on a wall in his home.
Some years ago, in 2015, Aerni found himself wondering what had happened to the aircraft featured in the photo. He did some Googling, trawling the FAA database and eventually discovering the aircraft had ended up in Canada. More research led Aerni to learn the aircraft was owned by Conair, an aerial firefighting company, which had repurposed it into a firefighting aircraft.
An idea started formulating in Aerni’s mind. He was now a father, with a three-year-old son and a toddler daughter. Not only was Aerni’s son the same age as he’d been back in the 1976 photo, he looked a lot like young Aerni. Maybe, Aerni wondered, they could try and recreate the photo.
Aerni tracked down the aircraft and recreated the 1976 photograph with his young son.
On a whim, Aerni reached out to Conair via phone. To his surprise, the company was enthusiastic about Aerni’s photography mission and welcomed the idea of a visit.
Before they knew it, Aerni and his then-wife were boarding a flight to Canada – although not before seeking out a pair of plaid trousers for their son to wear in the recreated photo.
For aviation fan Aerni, visiting the Conair facility in Abbottsford, Canada was great fun.
“The guys were super cool. They gave us a tour of their facility, and we got to go up in the airplane,” he recalls. “And then we did our best to try to recreate the photo.”
In the 2015 version, Aerni’s then-three year old son perfectly recreated his father’s 1976 pose – arms behind his back, big smile. And his parents successfully found some plaid trousers that resembled his father’s 1970s pair. In the recreated shot, the aircraft is now painted red and white, but it’s instantly identifiable.
By Francesca Street, CNN
4 minute read
Published 9:31 AM EST, Fri December 1, 2023
Brian Aerni loves this photograph of himself posing infront of an airplane when he was aged three -- so much so that years later, he decided to track down the aircraft in the photo.
Courtesy Brian Aerni
Brian Aerni’s favorite photo of himself was taken when he was just three years old.
It was 1976. Aerni was living in Denver, Colorado, where his father worked as a station agent at Stapleton International Airport – then Denver’s aviation hub. Young Aerni was obsessed with airplanes and in awe of his father’s airport job. Even as a small kid, he loved tagging along with his dad to work and watching aircraft take off and land.
On one of these airport excursions, Aerni’s father took a photo of his son. In the picture, young Aerni – in the forefront, dressed in a white t-shirt and plaid plants – is smiling widely. Behind him is a Convair 580 propeller aircraft, painted in white and blue Frontier Airlines livery.
As Aerni grew up, his interest in aviation grew with him. While he didn’t end up working in the industry, later in life he got his pilot’s license. Now aged 50, Aerni has a small private plane. A framed version of the 1976 airport photo has pride of place on a wall in his home.
Some years ago, in 2015, Aerni found himself wondering what had happened to the aircraft featured in the photo. He did some Googling, trawling the FAA database and eventually discovering the aircraft had ended up in Canada. More research led Aerni to learn the aircraft was owned by Conair, an aerial firefighting company, which had repurposed it into a firefighting aircraft.
An idea started formulating in Aerni’s mind. He was now a father, with a three-year-old son and a toddler daughter. Not only was Aerni’s son the same age as he’d been back in the 1976 photo, he looked a lot like young Aerni. Maybe, Aerni wondered, they could try and recreate the photo.
40 years later
Aerni tracked down the aircraft and recreated the 1976 photograph with his young son.
Courtesy Brian Aerni
On a whim, Aerni reached out to Conair via phone. To his surprise, the company was enthusiastic about Aerni’s photography mission and welcomed the idea of a visit.
Before they knew it, Aerni and his then-wife were boarding a flight to Canada – although not before seeking out a pair of plaid trousers for their son to wear in the recreated photo.
For aviation fan Aerni, visiting the Conair facility in Abbottsford, Canada was great fun.
“The guys were super cool. They gave us a tour of their facility, and we got to go up in the airplane,” he recalls. “And then we did our best to try to recreate the photo.”
In the 2015 version, Aerni’s then-three year old son perfectly recreated his father’s 1976 pose – arms behind his back, big smile. And his parents successfully found some plaid trousers that resembled his father’s 1970s pair. In the recreated shot, the aircraft is now painted red and white, but it’s instantly identifiable.
_________________
8DonCo
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