Pictures Of The Week
Week 22, May 2010
Clockwise from top left:
Sam visited Lyneham during a deployment of USAF Hercules to the Wiltshire base. However it was this DC-8 shot that caught our eye. Photographed at a striking wide angle to show the whole aircraft as it taxied around, coupled with the deep blue sky and the cloudscape makes for a fantastic image - our Picture of The Week!
Image © Samuel Dodd. Canon EOS 400D + Canon EF 75-300mm USM Mk III lens
A cold war relic, MiG-21s are perhaps more commonly photographed as museum pieces or as derelict air-frames in a former Eastern-Bloc country. Here we had an all to rare opportunity to see photographs of active examples from the Indian Air Force at AFS Ambala. The shot we chose was one that captures the raw power of the beast and you can almost hear the roar of the afterburner in Liam's rear ¾ angle.
Image © Liam Paul McBride. Nikon D200 + Nikon 70-200mm AF-S f2.8 VR lens
Victor K.2 XM715 "Teasin Tina" is the subject of this intimidating head-on shot by Damien. Photographed at this years Cold War Jets Open Day after a fresh coat of paint (in desert pink rather than the more usual hemp!), she performed a fast taxi run, but stayed firmly on the ground.
Image © Damien Burke. Canon EOS 1D Mk II + Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8 L IS lens
This ¾ angle on one of the RAF's new Mk3 Chinooks stood out in a thread which also boasted excellent Hawk and Alpha Jet shots - testament to what an impressive capture it is.
Image © Laurie Hughes. Nikon D300 + Nikkor 300mm f2.8 lens
You could be forgiven for thinking this shot is upside down! But Richard captured this image at the start of an impressive sequence on visiting Headcorn Aerodrome. He says: "The resident Bucker Jungman had just completed a practice display before inverting to fly along the runway low enough for the reflection of light from the grass to illuminate the wing lower (upper?) surfaces."
Image © Richard Digby. Canon EOS 1D Mk IV + Canon EF 400mm f5.6 L lens
Again from the Cold War Jets Open Day at Bruntingthorpe, Lightning burner shots are one of those types you expect to "come home with". However this side-on shot of the Lightning F.6 on its fast taxi run, was impressively panned by Adam and provided a pleasing alternative to the rear ¾ shots.
Image © Adam Noonan. Canon EOS 400D + Canon 70-200mm f4 L lens
There are rare aircraft and then there are exceedingly rare aircraft and this shot would certainly fall in the latter category. NASA operate this specially adapted Super Guppy Turbine SGT, which was manufactured by Airbus Industries, and the European Space Agency supplied the aircraft to offset the cost to NASA of carrying ESA experiment equipment to the station at Ellington field. Mark photographer her flying circuits - what a sight this must have been!
Image © Mark Stevens. Nikon D60 + Nikon 70-300mm f5.6 VR lens
Pictures Of The Week
Week 21, May 2010
Clockwise from top left:
Known for his global exploits and awesome air-to-air photography, Kevin Jackson made the relatively short hop to Belgium to sample the Photoflying days/Air-To-Air Academy set up by Eric Coeckelberghs in conjunction with Tony de Bruin's Invicta Aviation Company. Amongst Kevin's captures from the day's shooting is this fine study of two Yak-18s. The Yak-18 is an immediate post-war trainer design, and its instantly recognisable front profile is shown to great effect from this angle.
Image © Kevin Jackson. Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 VRII lens
Continuing the air-to-air theme, Glen Bloore caught the RAAF's first five Super Hornets in the blue skies above Mount Whitney, of the snow-capped Sierra Nevada Mountains, California. The Australians have ordered 24 of the F-18Fs, with deliveries due to be complete by the end of 2011, and which will soon be the cause of the end of the legendary General Dynamics F-111 in service.
Image © Glenn Bloore. Nikon D300 + 24-70mm lens
Kees captured this shot of a Polikarpov I-16 Rata (Rat) at La Ferté-Alais, a show which appears to have been blessed with great weather to help showcase an impressive display line-up. One of a batch rebuilt for the Alpine Fighter Collection in New Zealand, this I-16 'Red 9' had been a regular at the Wanaka airshow before being exported to Europe.
Image © Kees van de Velden. Canon EOS 20D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lens
Philippe tells the story behind this well caught image: "The picture was taken after the ski-mountaineering race 'Patrouille des Glaciers'. The Super Puma is seen here when approaching to pick up military staff at the Rosablanche mountain (elevation 3200 meters). One of the Super Puma pilots, lieutenant-colonel Georges Gaillard, has more than 10,000 military flying hours in his logbook (on fast jet, propeller and helicopter), and is the first Swiss military pilot to achieve that; he retired one week later!"
Image © Philippe Rey. Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8 lens
Tony managed to catch this rare Beriev BE200ChS water bomber on the last day of the FIDAE Airshow at Santiago Airport, Chile thanks to some inside information. "The aircraft turned up extremely late and only appeared on the public days, and I only knew it had arrived because I saw the flight crew in my hotel as I left!"
Image © Tony Osborne. Canon EOS 40D + Canon EF 300mm f4 lens
The Royal Netherlands Air Force have deployed a number of their F-16s to Cold Lake, Canada, prior to their participation in a Maple Flag exercise. Christian managed to grab this image during the unit's night flying operations. Using a tripod, a long exposure and a flash to pick out the subject 'Viper', another from the deployment can be seen leaving light trails behind.
Image © Cristian Schrik. Canon EOS 1D MkIII + Canon EF 24-105mm f4 L IS USM lens
Pictures Of The Week
Week 20, May 2010
Clockwise from top left:
There may be a slight bias towards heavy metal on UKAR but once in a while it's nice to get back to basics. It's truly a sign that summer is approaching when the residents of the Shuttleworth Collection emerge from hibernation in preparation for the airshow season. Rob captured this at the Training Week.
Image © Rob Leigh. Canon EOS 5D MkII + Canon EF 400mm L DO IS lens
UKAR staffer Andrew Dickie visited the Nevada Air National Guard at Reno-Tahow airport last year. Here's one of the the "High Rollers" Hercs on the ramp.
Image © Andrew Dickie. Canon EOS 5D MkII + Canon EF 17-40mm L lens
It's not often we get shots of the "office" of most aircraft but here's the cockpit of an Israeli F-16. This is just one of a series of great photos by Nir. Notice how some of the cockpit details have been blurred for obvious reasons!
Image © Nir Ben-Yosef. Canon EOS 1D MKII + Canon EF 16-35mm f2.8 L IS lens
It's nice to have the odd air-to-air and Huw brings us a Bronco and Texan in line astern over Belgium.
Image © Huw Hopkins. Canon EOS 5D + Canon EF 70-200mm f4 L IS lens
We love some exotica, so here's a prop-powered rarity from South America; one of eight Chilean Cessna Caravans belonging to Chilean Army Aviation (Brigada de Aviación del Ejército) about to embark on a parachute drop from Aeródromo Tobalaba.
Image © Antonio Segovia Rentería. Canon SX-10is
No matter what the aircraft type, you can't beat a good sunset landing shot and this one's a peach. A Boeing 737 passes over the forest of approach lights at LAX in California, expertly caught by Kieron.
Image © Kieron Pilbeam. Canon EOS 1D MkIII + Canon EF 100-400mm L Is lens
Pictures Of The Week
Week 19, May 2010
Clockwise from top left:
Krzysztof Zielinski's shot taken at Dyess AFB in Texas captures all the grace and power of the B-1B. It was one of multiple B-1B displays that were performed at the May 1st Open House held to mark the 25th anniversary of the "Bone".
Image © Krzysztof Zielinski. Canon EOS 40D + Canon EF 400mm f5.6 L lens
Italian F-16 are usually known for their greyness unlike many of that country's previous front line fast jet fleet. It is refreshing to see some rather colourfully marked specials, courtesy of Dietmar Fenners.
Image © Dietmar Fenners
The premature retirement of the MR2 Nimrod fleet has resulted in several airframes being shipped out from Kinloss to various air museums around the country. Trevor Reoch's fine study of XV232 at Classic Flight in Coventry benefits from being given the monochrome treatment, picking out the detail and adding to the impact of the shot. Hopefully this particular Nimrod will be preserved and kept active during its retirement.
Image © Trevor Reoch. Pentax K200D + Sigma 70-300mm lens
Looking through his collection, Martyn Coleman came across this fine image of a pair of Spitfires taxiing at Duxford in 2007. ML407 with Caroline Grace at the controls leads out the Fighter Collection's Mark V EP120 which was going up for an air test.
Image © Martyn Coleman. Canon EOS 5D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lens
An F-15 takeoff makes for a spectacular image that catches the attention. Dino Van Doorn's capture of an Eagle of 305 Hikotai taken at Hyakuri airbase in Japan certainly fits the bill. It's good to see that photographic opportunities at that base have not been compromised by the addition of a second parallel runway.
Image © Dino van Doorn. Canon EOS 50D + Canon EF 300mm f4 IS lens
This fine study of the BBMF Spitfire Mk IIA, p7350 was taken during a practice display on the 9th April at Coningsby. As the RAF is celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain this year it's fitting to remember that P7350 is the oldest airworthy Spitfire in the world and the only Spitfire still flying today to have actually fought in the Battle of Britain.
Image © Tom Hill. Nikon D2x + Nikon Nikkor 300mm f2.8 VR lens
Taken at the 1960 show this shot of the Black arrows captures the mood of the time. Chris Fleet's late Grandfather Bob Tucker has to be thanked for providing us with this "time capsule" of images from another age when the Farnborough SBAC show exhibited only British made aircraft. He was employed as a foreman at the De Havilland Aero Engine company at Hatfield, and latterly Rolls Royce at Leavesden which afforded him access to the far side of the airfield during the show. These newly discovered slides had been dormant for the last half century and were scanned by Chris using an Epson V300 scanner.
Image © Bob Tucker (via Chris Fleet)
Pictures Of The Week
Week 18, May 2010
Clockwise from top left:
Getting up early for work can be hard at times but Westleigh certainly made the most of it. Passing Heathrow's runway 27L early in the morning, he made a stop to shoot some of the heavies arriving, including this Ethiopian Airliners Boeing 757, and what conditions to do so!
Image © Westleigh Bushell. Nikon D60 + Tamron 70-300mm lens
Gordon Jones captured this Nr. 4 (Reserve) squadron Harrier in fantastic light at its former homebase RAF Cottesmore. Nr. 4 squadron took over the Harrier Operational Conversion duty from Nr. 20 (Reserve) squadron on May 31st and got the Reserve status. The squadron is now based at RAF Wittering.
Image © Gordon Jones. Canon EOS 7D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lens
The Army Air Corps Apaches are commonly featured in this section but it's rare to see a pic of one more than 10 feet off the ground! Gary visited his local Wattisham airfield and captured this based Westland Apache AH Mk.1 being put through its paces during a training exercise.
Image © Gary Stedman. Canon EOS 400D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lens
Dan Butcher attended the Gathering of Warbirds & Veterans at North Weald where he took this lovely artistic Spitfire shot. As the name suggests the event was attended by a nice variety of warbirds and more importantly the men who actually flew these legendary aircraft. An opportunity not to be missed!
Image © Daniel Butcher. Canon EOS 20D + Canon EF 70-300mm IS lens
Dreamlifter at Prestwick! One of four Boeing 747 LCF aircraft nightstopped at the Scottish airport giving DJ an opportunity to capture it's unique shape. The Boeing Company converted a number of secondhand airframes to this configuration to transport parts of the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner from production facilities in Italy and Japan to the United States for final assembly.
Image © DJ. Canon EOS 5D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lens
Flight Lieutenant Tim Clement from 29 (Reserve) squadron, this season's Typhoon display team pilot, taxies in after a practice display at RAF Odiham. Frank was in the right spot at the right time to capture this brilliant shot of the 3 (Fighter) squadron aircraft with its dragchute in trail. While all four based squadrons provide the aircraft to be used at the various displays only 29 squadron, the Operational Conversion Unit, provides the display pilot.
Image © Frank Cross. Sony DSC-H2 camera
Ascot 6669 has the follow me car in sight at Manchester. Manchester Airport has recently seen an increase in both RAF and foreign military traffic as can be seen in the Modern Military Photography section of our forum. Bob, having shot ZZ171 from the south side of the airfield while landing, decided to move to the official 'park and view area' for its departure in the hope of getting some detail shots of the Globemaster III. He made the right decision!
Image © Bob Tomlin. Canon EOS 40D + Canon EF 300mm f2.8L IS lens
