The Week In Pictures
Week 43, October 2009
Clockwise from top left:
It's a stunning debut for young Sam, securing the "Picture of the Week" top spot with an exceptional image of the VC-10 landing at RAF Brize Norton earlier this week. Sam made the most of the great conditions available to him; we love the deep colours and contrast in the sky.
Image © Samuel Dodd. Canon EOS 400D + EF-S 18-55mm lens
People say Harriers are quite rare these days. Photos of them on our forums certainly seem to be, at least! Three months into this feature and we finally feature our first image of this iconic aircraft, captured "down in the weeds" from Paul's wonderful compilation of low level images taken throughout the summer of 2009. Compulsive viewing!
Image © Paul Cameron. Canon EOS 50D + 300mm f4 lens
It's not every day you get to photograph Antonov's mighty AN-225, but Michael Hind makes a swift return to these pages for doing exactly that this week. Conditions were less than favourable, but Michael caught the world's largest aircraft departing East Midlands Airport on its way back to Kiev, having stopped off for a few days after bringing in some cargo from Edmonton.
Image © Michael Hind. Canon EOS 350D + EF 100-400mm L IS lens
North Weald has staged some terrific small-scale events of late, and the Gathering of Hurricane Veterans last Sunday was no exception, with all four of the UK's privately-owned Hurricanes in attendance. It was a shame that the BBMF's pair couldn't make it to complete the set of airworthy UK Hurricanes, but the event fell just outside their display season. UKAR staffer Dan Butcher was there, and showing his trademark eye for the unusual and artistic produced an acclaimed set, of which we reckon this image was the best.
Image © Daniel Butcher. Canon EOS 20D + EF 70-300mm IS lens
Amazingly, Ben took some prompting to share with us the superb set of photos he took at RAF Lakenheath last Friday. Fortunate enough to find himself on base with 06 departures and blue skies, he was tasked with capturing the departure of a 493FS F-15D, as his girlfriend's dad was in the back seat! The ride was a retirement gift, after 25 years service in the USAF.
Image © Ben Montgomery. Canon EOS 40D + EF 100-400mm L IS lens
We complete the coverage of USAFE bases in Suffolk with this shot of a Mildenhall based KC-135 getting airbourne last Friday. Despite the frequency of shots posted from Mildenahll, Mike's capture is an unusually dramatic one. He was only paying a visit to try out a new camera. On this evidence, he should be fine with it!
Image © Michael Hall. Canon EOS 5D MkII + EF 100-400mm L IS lens
Last Friday, RAF Shawbury welcomed enthusiasts to a photocall to watch and photograph the preparations for the Navy 100 flypast over Liverpool. Those who were at RIAT will be familiar with the format of flypast, which has also been seen at a few other locations throughout the course of 2009. There were plenty of pics posted from this event, but Harry's shot here of a lineup of "Junglie" Sea Kings was our favourite.
Image © Harry Tranter
The Week In Pictures
Week 42, October 2009
Clockwise from top left:
A recent change to our forum means that, due to popular demand, users can post images in a larger format than we've ever previously accepted, and this week's "Picture of the Week" looks all the better for it in "HD". Shot at Copehagen Kastrup in Denmark on October 1st, this Czech Air Force AN-26 had arrived from Pardubice to pick up Czech Army soldiers returning from Afghanistan, who themselves had arrived on an Amsterdam Airlines flight directly from Kabul along with a full load of Danish troops.
Image © Egon Johansen (SilverWingPix). Canon EOS 50D
RAF Fairford has been busy in the past week or so, with several U-2s transiting through on their way to and from operational deployments in warmer climes. A quick turnaround last Friday saw this particular example in and out on the same day, although the conditions on departure in the afternoon were far more favourable than when it arrived that morning, as Richard's shot here illustrates.
Image © Richard Clarke
It comes in all shapes and sizes, but the 747 is an aviation icon. This version must surely give the SP a run for it's money in the ugly stakes though! Boeing's "Dream Lifter", designed to haul components for the production of the 787 'Dreamliner', made a fuel stop at Glasgow Prestwick Airport last Saturday and was captured here departing Runway 13.
Image © Michael Clarke. Canon EOS 400D + Tamron AF 70-300mm lens
Oh how we miss Air Fete. Almost as much as we miss the Blackbird. This is a shot to make you feel old, Stuart Freer's glorious topside of an afterburning SR-71. A terrific high-quality scan, which certainly doesn't look like it was taken 21 years ago, at Mildenhall Air Fete 1988!
Image © Stuart Freer
A POTW first here - a picture from the Maldives. Iain Thomson's wife is the kind of woman every man should have - she let him off the leash to take this shot of a Maldivian Air Taxi floatplane while on honeymoon! These machines offer transport between Male International Airport and the various islands that make up the Maldives.
Image © Iain Thomson. Canon EOS 400D + Tamron AF 70-300mm lens
Since we started this Week in Pictures feature, we've been really spoilt with a stream of high quality images posted from Japan, and this one must surely be amongst the very best we've featured. In truth, we could have picked any one of the photos in Fred's topic from the recent Open House Airshow at Gifu AB, but in the end we plumped for this formation of an F-15DJ and Mitsubishi F-2. Fred went offbase to make the most of the light. To us, that looks like a great decision and we're sure you'll agree.
Image © Fred van Horrik (Afterburner Images). Canon EOS 40D + EF 300mm f2.8L + 1.4x Teleconverter
In preparation for operations in Afghanistan, this Royal Netherlands Air Force Chinook was photographed last week landing on sand dunes near Eindhoven, which enabled the crews to practise "brown out" landings, whereby the pilot's visibility is reduced to nearly nothing as the aircraft is engulfed in plumes of sand kicked up by the downwash. It made for a terrific photo!
Image © Antoine Bosboom. Canon EOS 30D + EF 100-400mm L IS lens
The Week In Pictures
Week 41, October 2009
Clockwise from top left:
We never tire of photo threads from Switzerland. Probably the most photogenic airfields in Europe, with some terrific historic heavy metal too. Kevin Martin is a first time POTWer with this terrific image of HB-RVV, a wonderful Tiger-liveried Hawker Hunter. The super backdrop makes this one a real winner, even more so as Kevin tells us it was shot through a wire fence!
Image © Kevin Martin. Canon EOS 40D + EF 100-400mm L IS lens
German Phantom activity in the UK has been well-documented on our pages over the past few weeks, but Michael Hind's photograph really jumped out at us. A combination of a razor-sharp capture, the Phantom's classic lines, and some rather lovely lighting. Top stuff, we're sure you'll agree.
Image © Michael Hind. Canon EOS 350D + EF 100-400mm L IS lens
And now for something completely different - the Libyan Air Force! Koen Hartkamp was one of several UKAR members to be present at the third Libyan Aviation Exhibition at Mitiga airbase. This glorious sunset capture of an Ilyushin Il-78 is definitely worthy of POTW inclusion.
Image © Koen Hartkamp
Adam Noonan impressed us with this capture of a Marham-based Tornado GR4 overshooting at Coningsby. Speculation on UKAR this week has been of the Government's possible axeing the Tonka in the same way the Sea Harrier, Jaguar and Canberra have been unceremoniously binned. Make the most of them while you can!
Image © Adam Noonan. Canon EOS 400D + EF 400mm F/5.6L lens
Keeping up the overseas theme this week, we head to Deciomannu and the Starex 2009 excercise, where the Italian Air Force were joined by their Israeli counterparts. The photographer is Giovanni Colla. Not only is this F-15I Ra'am a gorgeous beast in her own right, just look at that sumptuous golden lighting! If Carlsberg did days out at airfields...
Image © Giovanni Colla. Nikon D3 + Nikon 300mm lens
One of the signature moments from Duxford's October show was a formation sequence involving the Royal Air Force's display Hawk and newly-liveried Spitfire MkII P7350 of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. While the solo Hawk routine hasn't been to all tastes this season, this unique formation was definitely something to savour, in much the way the Typhoon/Meteor formation was at Kemble in 2007. Rob Laker's catch was the most striking we had posted.
Image © Rob Laker. Sony A350 + Sigma 170-500mm lens
Steve Buckby's eye for the artistic and the different makes his photo-threads compulsive viewing, and his trip to Duxford last weekend proved a fruitful one. B-17 Preservation's "Sally B" has had a difficult season with engine trouble, but Steve's shot shows one of the nation's favourite warbirds back where she belongs. A classic "big sky, small plane" image.
Image © Steve Buckby. Canon EOS 40D + Canon 300mm f2.8L lens with Canon 1.4x Teleconverter
The Week In Pictures
Week 40, October 2009
Clockwise from top left:
Location, location, location! That's the key to a memorable shot, and Andrew Beaumont certainly came up trumps on his visit to Pierce County Airport near Seattle. A really striking image, which has also piqued the interest of one of the aviation magazines which has carried it this month.
Image © Andrew Beaumont. Canon EOS 40D + EF 70-200mm f4 L lens
We Phlipping love Phantoms. Especially Japanese ones. Our regular Japan correspondent Mike Leonard always delivers photo threads worth checking out, and his latest efforts were no exception, including this terrific RF-4EJ. We'd love to see one of these beasts at a British airshow before it's too late!
Image © Mike Leonard. Nikon D80 + 80-400mm lens
The sun set, literally, on the final Shuttleworth display of the 2009 season last weekend. Among the high standard of photo threads on the board this week there were plenty of pictures we considered for POTW selection. In the end we plumped for this rather fine photograph from T_J of the Gloster Gladiator in formation with the splendid Hawker Demon, captured in glorious golden autumnal light.
Image © Tom Hill. Nikon D2x + Nikon Nikkor 300mm f2.8 VR lens
Low-level photo threads are the lifeblood of UKAR's image forums once the airshow season is over. Let's hope the quality of this RAF Hercules shot from Neil Jones sets the tone for what is to come over the winter months. Terrifically sharp and rich in colour, it's made us want to dig out those hiking boots and warm coats and get ourselves off to Wales!
Image © Neil Jones
USAF F-15 Eagles are no strangers to UKAR photo threads. Saudi Arabian examples, however, are considerably more rare. Rob Hendriks was at Dijon in France for this photograph which we felt captures the Eagle in all it's brutal majesty. You can almost hear those engines!
Image © Rob Hendriks
Back to Shuttleworth now, and Nick Blacow's dramatic shot of Peter Teichman's "Hurribomber". Against crystal clear skies, a photograph rich in detail and atmosphere. A fine capture of one of the stars of the 2009 display season.
Image © Nick Blacow. Canon EOS-1D Mark II
Creativity will always catch the eye of the UKAR POTW jury, so kudos to Rob Laker for trying this moonshot at Heathrow. He was at Myrtle Avenue at the crack of dawn, so richly deserved to bag such a blinding shot! And unlike some similar images over the years, this one is genuine!!
Image © Rob Laker. Sony A350 + Sigma 170-500mm lens
