Pictures Of The Week
Week 52, December 2010
Clockwise from top left:
We felt Picture of The Week this week just had to go to Antoine Bosboom for this perfectly framed shot of a Royal Netherlands Air Force Apache. Shot in a low-flying area near Eindhoven, the kind crew gave Antoine this awesome topside view of their aircraft, to which he took full advantage!
Image © Antoine Bosboom
Canon EOS 30D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lensThe Hungarian Air Force have applied a number of special schemes to their Hind Gunships but this one, captured by Cristian Schrik, has to be one of the most beautiful. Captured in this spectacular shot, looking down on the beautiful scene in the Slovenian Alps, the aircraft was participating in a joint exercise between Slovenia and Hungary.
Image © Cristian Schrik
Canon EOS 1D MkIII + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lensAlthough not "of the moment" (being taken back in 2009), this air-to-air shot by Eric Coeckelberghs of the Vickers Vimy replica was very much worthy of inclusion this week. The aircraft was making its very last flight from Dunsfold to the Brooklands Museum where it now appears on static display.
Image © Eric Coeckelberghs
Canon EOS 5D MkII + Canon EF 70-200mm L lensWhat POTW collection would be complete without a shot from our Polish friends? This picture from Slawek depicts an F-16 of the Polish Air Force, complete with its characteristic Conformal Fuel Tanks, preparing to leave the Hardened Aircraft Shelter during a night flying mission. The very low light levels in this shot make it all the more impressive.
Image © Slawek Krajniewski
Nikon D300 + Nikkor AF-S VR 70-300 lensWe are very privileged, here on UKAR, to see shots from Japan on a fairly regular basis, being a Mecca for the aviation enthusiast. The Nyutabaru Air Festival 2010, was where Dietmar captured this superb image of the Mitsubishi F-2A as it pulled some 'G', with vapour flashing over the topside.
Image © Dietmar Fenners
Canon EOS 5D MkII, Canon EF 400mm + 1.4x TeleconverterThe recent Snow caused major disruption to the UK's airports. Here, Chris Lofting has captured a newsworthy shot including a Virgin A340-600, one of the last aircraft to arrive before the closure of the airport. Chris says "…all out bounds were stopped, it had no free gate to park on. He was in for a very long wait…".
Image © Chris Lofting
Canon EOS 7D + Canon EF 24-105mm f4 L lensGulf Air has been an enthusiast favourite at Heathrow for a long time with their eye catching liveries and beautiful special schemes. Here, Darryl has excellently composed his shot of the A330 that carries the Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix scheme as it waits its turn to take off from runway 27L.
Image © Darryl Morrell
Canon EOS 7D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lens
Pictures Of The Week
Week 51, December 2010
Clockwise from top left:
Combining last week's Harrier draw-down theme with a seasonal snow setting is this image captured by Brian Marshall who was amongst a group of photographers invited on-base at RAF Cottesmore. Although the extremely low temperatures precluded any flying for that day - in particular the sixteen ship rehearsal - it did allow the chance for the group to 'shoot' the Harriers out on the stands. EB-Z 'Observer Corps' depicted here was destined to be the final Harrier to land 'conventionally' on Cottesmore's runway and taxi past the enthusiasts lining the fence on the sad final day of flying on the 15 December.
Image © Brian Marshall
Sony Alpha 550 + Sigma 18-250mm lensMark McGrath captured the kind of image that may have been available to those who would have attended the UKAR forum-advertised Heathrow night-shoot - which was sadly cancelled - thanks to this BA 747 on a London bound flight being diverted into Glasgow International because of the snow. The diversion didn't allow it to miss the snow entirely as it received a light dusting of Scottish snow, with that and the moonlight making for this very attractive photograph.
Image © Mark McGrath
Canon EOS 7D + Canon EF 17-40mm f4 L lensYou'd have to be extremely keen or mad to take to the hills in the sub-zero temperatures recorded of late. The results captured by Ian Nicol-Heap would seem to indicate that he is of the former temperament, with this stunning image of a Tornado GR4 steaming through Lanty Scar (Loughrigg) Ambleside, Cumbria, being of particular note. The light on the aircraft draws it out of the dark, wintery background of the image, with the wing-tip 'streamers' and the sharpness of the image making for a powerful picture.
Image © Ian Nicol-Heap
Canon EOS 20D + Canon EF 300mm f2.8 L IS lensIf anyone needs evidence that the end of summer need not mean an end to successful photographic outings, then a set such as this by Tom Hill can be held up as proof. Low winter sunlit images can be capped off by spectacular sunsets, but nature's part in creating the image needs to be matched by the photographer in these testing conditions - and Tom is clearly up to the task, creating sharp, deep-coloured images such as this one of a 11 Squadron Typhoon FGR4 at Coningsby.
Image © Tom Hill
Nikon D2x + Nikkor 300mm f2.8 VR lensTony Osborne selected a number of his favourite shots of the menacing Apache taken around the Salisbury Plain area for a photo thread on UKAR, of which this was our pick of the crop. Often seen on our TV screens operating in 'hot and high' conditions, many of Tony's images show the attack helicopter in a totally different setting, this one operated by 3 Regiment Army Air Corps seen training out on a sunny day on the Salisbury Plain during Exercise Pashtun Eagle.
Image © Tony Osborne
Canon EOS 40D + Canon EF 28-105mm f4 L lensChosen for its extreme rarity value, this image of a Malaysian CL-415 was taken by Mike Hopwood, who says: "The CL-415 was returning to Malaysia following work at Bombardier and was making its second visit to Manchester. It passed through in 2008 on its original delivery flight, annoyingly unpainted as one of the other photos shows, so I was very pleased to get a second chance to catch it in full colours".
Image © Mike Hopwood
Nikon D90 + Nikon 70-300mm VR lensTaken during the Air Atlantique Classic Flight's night-shoot at its Coventry base - Airbase - this image shows the Flight's Commercial Director Steve Bridgewater visually checking the number one engine on DC3 G-AMRA having finally got it started after a number of attempts. The freezing temperatures may well have played a part in the big radial's unwillingness to fire, but once it had coughed into life, it was a sight and sound guaranteed to warm the cockles.
Image © Phil Whalley
Nikon D90 + Nikon 18-105mm VR f3.5 lens
Pictures Of The Week
Week 50, December 2010
Clockwise from top left:
An "I was there" occasion at Cottesmore last week, as we reflect the retirement of Britain's Harrier fleet in a Pictures Of the Week special. Tom Hill takes centre stage with this splendid image, really capturing the essence of the final few days of operations, as Harrier enthusiasts travelled from far and wide to pay their respects to the iconic jet.
Image © Tom Hill
Nikon D2x + Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 VR lensMonday of the final week was the best day to catch that evocative "Harrier Sunset" shot from the 22 end at "Cotty", and UKAR Staffer Dan Butcher pulled off a shot which we're sure will take pride of place in his collection for years to come.
Image © Daniel Butcher
Canon EOS 20D + Canon EF 70-300mm IS lensSpare a thought for the human element involved in the type's retirement, as well as the machines themselves. There was plenty of emotion evident from the Cottesmore crews as the much-loved Harrier was decommissioned. Dean West's silhouette of man and machine tells the story exceptionally well.
Image © Dean West
Canon EOS 350D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lensThe star of the show in many regards was ZG506, given a "retro" camoflaged paint-scheme reminiscent of the early GR.1 variant, to mark the occasion. Looking factory-fresh in her new colours, we decided Pete Fletcher's image showed the "special" off as well as any image posted on the board.
Image © Pete Fletcher
Nikon D300 + Nikkor 300mm f2.8 VR lensSeveral other jets wore special tail markings, as the Harrier's 40 year service career wound down. Here we see the IV(R) Squadron tailed aircraft (ZG858) in profile, alongside ZD352, displaying for posterity the final in-service scheme the jets wore. The photographer is Paul Cameron.
Image © Paul Cameron
Canon EOS 50D + Canon EF 300mm f2.8 L lensAnd finally we come to Neil Bury's image. Another tremendous sunset shot, showing off the jet's exhaust gases from the downward-angled nozzles. Quite simply, nothing else in service today could do what the Harrier did for the RAF, and indeed the Royal Navy, and we fear it's not just us enthusiasts who will miss them.
Image © Neil Bury
Canon EOS 40D + Canon EF 300mm f4 L lens
Pictures Of The Week
Week 49, December 2010
Clockwise from top left:
Nigel Blake takes top spot for December's first entry with a striking shot from RAF Lakenheath. With runway 06 in use, Nigel positioned himself to make the most of the setting sun and his timing was perfect, as a pair of Eagles returned to base from a training sortie at just the right moment. The fact that he's captured the lead jet peeling off into the circuit is the icing on the cake, adding a dynamic element to an already stunning shot.
Image © Nigel Blake
Canon EOS 1Ds MkIII, Canon EF 600mm lens + Canon 1.4x TeleconverterWe don't see too many shots of the sinister looking B-2 posted on UKAR, so Frank's smashing photo of one touching down at Edwards AFB's Open House event in 2009 was one we had to include when we saw it on our forums. There's some amazing stuff to be seen at Edwards AFB and Frank's thread has plenty of other attractions besides the Spirit featured here.
Image © Frank Crébas
Neil Jones has featured quite regularly on these pages, but there's nothing regular about some the of the subjects he's shared with us over the years. His entry here is no exception, with a thread of Australian F-111 images posted up in the week that saw the Aussie's retire the type from Air Force service. The "dump and burn" was a signature for the type and Neil's dramatic photo captures the moment perfectly.
Image © Neil Jones
RAF King Air display pilot Leon Creese makes his POTW debut with a rather disorientating view of a Red Arrows display. Leon was invited along to RAF Scampton to fly in a practise sortie with the Reds and his air-to-air photos of the team were a popular thread on the forums this week and we liked this inverted shot the most.
Image © Leon Creese
Damien has been treating us to some exceptional shots of Harriers recently with a detailed thread cataloguing the types last weeks of operations in UK military service. While the far more camera friendly Cottesmore has been frozen out for the last two weeks, nearby RAF Wittering managed to get some jets up in the winter light and the photographers have been forced to follow the action. The shots Damien has produced this week belie the reputation that RAF Wittering has for viewing and photography, and we especially liked this stack of 4 Sqn jets arriving back home.
Image © Damien Burke
Nikon D7000, Nikon 300mm f4 + Nikon 1.4x TeleconverterDaniel Rychcik had a busy summer attending airshows around Europe and having caught up with his editing, we've been treated to plenty of threads from him re-living some of the great displays that 2010 delivered so many of. For the Frecce Tricolori, 2010 was their 50th Anniversary and they marked the occasion at Rivolto in September, at which this photo was taken.
Image © Daniel Rychcik
Canon EOS 1D MkIII + Canon EF 500mm f4 L IS lensOur final shot this week is from another POTW debutant. Dennis Peteri was at NAF El Centro in California as part of an organised tour, and as such the group were granted some very special access. Taken at a focal length of just 177mm, this shot of a visitng F-18 Hornet departing after a hot refuel shows just close Dennis' vantage point at the LSP (Landing Signal Officer) position was to the action!
Image © Dennis Peteri
Canon EOS 50D, Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8 + Canon 1.4x Teleconverter
