UNBELIEVABLE AERIAL PHOTO FIND

[dinoKeymaster]

NEVER BEFORE SEEN IN PUBLIC !…..just in
“These black and white aerial photographs were taken by Richard (Dick) Donofrio in the early 1960s while circling Dover Drag Strip. The negatives were found in an attic chest in 2008, and prints were made for the first time. These pics may be the only oblique aerial photo sequence of the track to exist. They show what the area looked like before the track was closed (1976) and excavated for sand and gravel.”…says Dick

1. Entry to the strip showing the facilities and surrounding terrain. The North area is to the right of the picture. The drag strip was oriented NNW – SSE and was the only distinct feature in the virtually undeveloped countryside.

………………and theres 4 more …Working on copy-edit….FANTASTIC THANKS DICK

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[dinoKeymaster]

Zoomed in………….

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[dinoKeymaster]

ANOTHER…Track view looking to the northeast showing the announcer’s tower and staging area. Rail On track ,ready for push-start…I’m Blown Away ! Full House ,look at the crowd…Dover’s Finest Hour.

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[dinoKeymaster]

What An Angle ! “View from the end of the strip looking south. Note the downward slope of the track (shutdown area)”
…Posted big on purpose for detail .

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[tomblakeParticipant]

Really great shots of the track.
Look at all the spectators and the crowd in general, amazing.
You just never know what will come out because of this site. Just excellent.

[bossguy]

Dino, the tower doesn’t appear to have the awning over the windows as in your “look it’s me” photo. Does that help date the pictures? Great shots by the way. I just realized the other day that the bus garage there now is First Student Transport. I used to sell to them when I was at Pleasant Valley Ford but I didn’t realize thats where they were located.
…………..Asking Dick what year…think its 63 …will confirm …[edit-dino]

[vbobParticipant]

HEY

HOLY HOCKEY PUCKS !!!
I thought I always had ‘nose bleeder’ seats at anything I went to watch !!!LOL!!
Those are GRRRRRate!!!!!
Gotta find who had all the pics of DDS while it was under construction !!
I saw them at one of Grand Pa Dovers Reunions !!
Smoke,Grover ,do you remember who had brought those along with the blueprints of how the track was to be layed out !!
Maybe it was only a dream !!
‘V’

[dinoKeymaster]

V-Bob ..working on the blueprints ! …Bud Hallock trying to get for us…says a ‘family member” has them .

[dinoKeymaster]

Dicks sending MORE, at better resolution Too…Stand By

[dinoKeymaster]

Working on High resolution Editting…hopefully can ZOOM in and try to ID actual Race Cars….DOVER SPY IN THE SKY.

[dinoKeymaster]

I asked Dick for some more Info on the Day he did this and he replied with this:

….”Some of the information about the pics is in the Word document you have, and I don’t know the exact year and month because the label put on the negatives was missing. Perhaps late, late fall ’62 or early spring ’63 (because of another pic on the roll). I rented a Cessna 172 plane at Danbury airport to take the pics but was not flying it. It was some pilot from the airport . The camera was a Rolleiflex, twin lens reflex — 2 1/4″ X 2 1/4″ negatives. The camera was equipped with a pistol grip, and was hung out with one hand through the window while the plane circled the drag strip.
…In a nutshell, photography has been a hobby since 1953. I later had a dark room in the house and did all the film developing and printing. Joe Archeri was my cousin, and we lived on the same street. I worked at the strip with him and others when it was being constructed and then took photographs there over the years (mostly ’61- ’63). That’s about it. At present, I’m a petroleum geologist working out of Oklahoma City. Will try to locate a pic of me with the ’56 Chevy.”

Dick

[dinoKeymaster]

Soon ….more Doing the Editting thing for clear repro.

[dinoKeymaster]

heres the rest

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[dinoKeymaster]

who won ?

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[dinoKeymaster]

Front Gate

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[Author]

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