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1960s

 
C-45H Twin Beech light cargo plane was obtained from the Air Force. The plane was in mint condition (although manufactured in 1945, it was refurbished in 1961). It remained in service for the next 25 years!
 
Beech C-45H light transport airplane. Except for the fuselage, AT-11 and C-45H were nearly identical. Both were military variants of Beechcraft Model 18, one of the most successful planes ever made. First flown in 1937, it remained in production for 33 years; about 7,000 were produced! Beech AT-11 had two 9 cylinder 450-hp Pratt & Whitney radial engines, which allowed it to climb to 10,000 feet in 10 minutes and reach up to 20,000 feet.
 
Cutting out the camera hole in Beech C-45H fuselage. All the control cables, hydraulic lines, and electrical wiring had to be rerouted around the camera hole.
 
The plane was equipped with a Fairchild aerial camera. The Twin Beech was big enough to have a dark room on board. The plane then could be used for much larger projects, since the film reloading could be accomplished during the flight.
 
 
For a large scale photography, a helicopter was equipped with special camera mounts. The experiments were technically successful, but the costs in comparison with a fixed wing aircraft were very high. Helicopter use for oblique photography.
 
Helicopter use for vertical photography.
 
NASA came to Columbus to use ODOT's AP/C analytical stereoplotter to map the lunar surface from photographs collected by the Ranger missions. ODOT obtained a Zeiss RMK aerial camera.
 
Photo equipment for Twin Beech C-45H. Notice the large bottom window in the nose of the airplane to increase the ground visibility for the pilot. Zeiss RMK camera installation.

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