Wheel chocks

[scottcolbath]

Introducing...........The AzAP prototype wheel chock.



Note the grooved area on the bottom to feed the chain and keep the chock level.



My intent was to remove the distraction that is a big, ugly wheel chock we seem to see all the time when doing static shots. These are not too large, being made from 4X4 stock and painted flat black to hopefully blend in to the tire/asphalt. They are held together with some light duty black chain. The chain measures 18" visible length. Being flat black, they are easily touched up when they get a ding.

I figured when we are shooting, we could ask if it is OK to replace whatever is being used with a set of these wheel chocks.

Joe, does that pic I sent you last week make sense now? 

Comments?

S.C.

[Matt Ottosen]

Very cool, Mr. Colbath!

[cpasley]

Thats a great idea, you should put little AzAP logos on them

[scottcolbath]

AzAP logos would be a distraction. My goal was to make these stealthy, so they blend in with the picture, rather than stand out.

S.C.

[Joe Copalman]

These are awesome, Scott.

One suggestion - seems like a lot of chocks are wider than tires so they can be kicked free if they get jammed.  I've seen that happen numerous times out at Willie.  Maybe make them with a hole going through laterally so you can put a metal bar through it for leverage if you need to un-jam it.  Other than that, phenomenal work.

[Jay Beckman]

Joe raises a good point about width...

And, chocks are generally sized according to what they're holding.  You don't want to swap out for something that your subject could potentially roll right over.

That which would hold back a Cub would not hold back a Mustang which would not hold back FiFi.

[scottcolbath]

I decided on the 4X4 stock based on something which would hopefully suit many needs while still being less conspicuous. I noticed that lots of aircraft have shorter chocks that are overly wide. If you do the math on surface area mating between a tire and the chock, I think I have most of what we shoot covered better than what we currently see out there.

I also considered that lots of the static stuff we shoot is during mild/optimum conditions, so the chocks are not really doing much work anyway. It's always a flat surface with little wind.

Additionally, three sets of these on an aircraft will do more good than two sets which is normally what I see. Or, in the case of the Blackhawk from yesterday.....One short, wide and ugly yellow chock.

I'll bring them with me next time we have a shoot and you guys can pick them apart in person. If we need to go bigger, that's not a problem. Maybe if we shoot FiFi again,we go 4X6. But if you look at the chocks holding Sentimental Journey in place, they do not appear to be taller than mine, but are a littel wider. This is where placing three sets may be a good idea.

S.C.

[Matt Ottosen]

The width, like Joe said, is just so you can kick them out when they get wedged under the tire too far.

I think what you have is more than enough chock for what we would use them for, but like Joe said, you might want to consider something to get them unstuck from being wedged under a tire.

[scottcolbath]

The width, like Joe said, is just so you can kick them out when they get wedged under the tire too far.

I think what you have is more than enough chock for what we would use them for, but like Joe said, you might want to consider something to get them unstuck from being wedged under a tire.

I forgot to comment on this earlier.

Yes, I will come up with a stealthy solution.

S.C.

[wingsnstuff]

How about just cloning out the Chocks when you process the photos.  No muss no fuss.  It might be a whole lot easier than getting permission to remove and replace items that are clearly a personnel and aircraft safety issue.  Especially if those items are not officially approved.  Just a thought.

[scottcolbath]

How about just cloning out the Chocks when you process the photos.  No muss no fuss.  It might be a whole lot easier than getting permission to remove and replace items that are clearly a personnel and aircraft safety issue.  Especially if those items are not officially approved.  Just a thought.

I'm personally not a big fan of cloning (nor am I very good at it). And I have always preferred to keep the shots as real as possible. Besides, it doesn't hurt to ask. If we are shot down when asking, cloning is the other option I guess.

S.C.