Pictures Of The Week

Week 17, April 2011

The Week In Pictures
The Week In Pictures
The Week In Pictures The Week In Pictures The Week In Pictures The Week In Pictures

Clockwise from top left:

  1. Fans of MiGs and sunsets are in for a treat this with this Picture of the Week selection. Krzysztof was lucky enough to be invited onto Mińsk Mazowiecki Air Base to photograph the day's activities of the resident MiG-29. This photo was shot during the launch for the last sorties of the day around 8:30pm.

    Image © Krzysztof Zieliński
    Canon EOS 50D + Canon EF 300mm f2.8 L IS lens

  2. Adam was unlucky not to have the opportunity to photograph the Ospreys as intended when he visited Mildenhall recently, but every cloud has a silver lining and he came away with this stunning image of a based MC-130 performing circuits into the late evening sunset.

    Image © Adam Duffield
    Canon EOS 7D + Canon EOS 100-400mm L IS lens

  3. The Goodyear blimp has been given some coverage already on UKAR and in POTW too, but this shot just shows the sort of variety that GA airfields can throw up, and a trip to see Goodyear's "Spirit of Safety I" at Damynms Hall last weekend provided Richard with lots more to see besides. While we're at it, here's another shameless plug for Dan O'Hagan's report on the return of the Goodyear Blimp.

    Image © Richard Foord
    Nikon D3 + 400mm f2.8 lens

  4. The BBMF always make a wonderful job of researching their aircraft's colour schemes. The Dakota's new 233 Squadron livery complete with invasion stripes and the name 'Kwicherbichen' emblazoned on the nose will certainly look great around this season's events.

    Image © Charles Cunliffe
    Canon EOS 7D + Canon EOS 100-400mm L IS lens

  5. Yet more MiG-29 action from Poland's Mińsk Mazowiecki Air Base with another thread dedicated to these charismatic "smokers". Although it's hard to believe from looking at Bartosz's picture that they don't run on coal!

    Image © Bartosz Bera
    Canon EOS 50D + Canon EOS 100-400mm L IS lens

  6. Working so close to Heathrow has its benefits for Mark. With the lighter evenings at this time of year, he often heads there at the end of the day, particularly if the weather is good or if there some nice cloudscapes which allow for some nice dramatic sunsets, such as this one.

    Image © Mark Kwiatkowski
    Canon EOS 350D + Sigma 50-500mm DG APO lens

Pictures Of The Week

Week 16, April 2011

The Week In Pictures
The Week In Pictures The Week In Pictures
The Week In Pictures The Week In Pictures The Week In Pictures The Week In Pictures

Clockwise from top left:

  1. First past the post this week is Martin Needham with this nightshot of Solway Aviation Museum's Vulcan. A 30 second shutter has added motion to the moonlit clouds and even given the start of some star trails, all of which really helps XJ823 impose a greater presence on the scene.

    Image © Martin Needham
    Canon EOS 50D + Canon EF 17-40mm f4 L lens

  2. Next up we go from the dead of night in deepest darkest Cumbria to the sweltering sun in Arizona courtesy of Tim and MCAS Yuma Airshow. Fans of Marine Corps aviation where spoiled in this thread with Hercs, Ospreys, Phrogs and Stallions to tickle their fancy but it was this unique angle on an AV-8B that caught our eye.

    Image © Tim Lawrence Maycock

  3. Once again "Hesja" offered us some Polish delicacies in the form of some Fulcrum action from 23 Air Force Base, Minsk Mazowiecki. We're just a sucker for head-on MiGs and the backseater's face in the periscope is the icing on the cake.

    Image © Slawek Krajniewski

  4. Another nightshot now, this time from Egon. Regulars will know that these are always something to look out for and his latest efforts are no different. The jewel in this set from Billund was an IL-76 in to pick up UN relief supplies and of the shots we picked this one as the in-cockpit lighting added just that wee bit more.

    Image © Egon Johansen
    Canon EOS 50D

  5. The Goodyear blimp has made a welcome return to UK skies and UKAR staffer Phil Whalley caught her all lit-up at Damyns Hall, Essex as she returned from White Hart Lane after covering the Spurs - Arsenal game. She's seen here being attached by the ground wranglers to the mooring mast at around 22:45. Would you like to know more? Then click here for our report by Dan O'Hagan.

    Image © Phil Whalley
    Nikon D90 + Nikon 18-105mm VR lens

  6. RAF Tornado GR4s are in the headlines at the moment with current operations over Libya but that doesn't mean that training doesn't carry on in the UK as can be seen here with Michael's capture of Tonkas in the weeds in the Lake District.

    Image © Michael Lovering
    Canon EOS 7D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lens

  7. Finishing off this week's line-up is POTW debutant Andrew Read with a superb collection of "Golden Oldies" - well it wouldn't be a "Week in Pictures" without some. His post from Pisa Airshow 1981 is a veritable treasure trove of Italian goodies and picking a winner was a hard task but ultimately we figured a four-ship of 20 Stormo TF-104Gs would bring a smile to your face.

    Image © Andrew Read
    Pentax SLR with Kodachrome 64 film, 135mm lens + 2x Teleconverter

Pictures Of The Week

Week 15, April 2011

The Week In Pictures
The Week In Pictures
The Week In Pictures The Week In Pictures The Week In Pictures The Week In Pictures

Clockwise from top left:

  1. A "special" start this week from Paul Cameron with his stunning image of an AC-130U 'Spooky' bashing the circuit the circuit at RAF Mildenhall. The setting sun created wonderful soft light and Paul took full advantage. The rest of Paul's set are equally as good!

    Image © Paul Cameron
    Canon EOS 50D + Canon EF 300mm f4 lens

  2. Another photographer in Suffolk this week was Nigel Blake. A regular in recent POTW selections, Nigel's latest entry is this dramatic head on shot of a C-5 Galaxy. The sheer size of the Galaxy is apparent in Nigel's photograph.

    Image © Nigel Blake
    Canon EOS 1Ds MkIII + Canon EF 600mm lens

  3. Bye bye Big Beautiful Doll. Rob Davies recently sold his P-51D Mustang 'Big Beautiful Doll' to Meier Motors in Germany. Richard Foord was at Headcorn to capture Rob bringing "BBD" into land there for the last time. The Mustang has since left Headcorn for her new home in Germany.

    Image © Richard Foord
    Nikon D3 + 400mm f2.8 lens

  4. Making a very welcome first appearance after a meticulous restoration project at Old Warden is the Polikarpov Po-2. Damien Burke was among the first people to see this aircraft take to the skies following her restoration. We look forward to seeing her debut air show appearance at the Shuttleworth Collection's Spring air show on May 1st.

    Image © Damien Burke
    Nikon D7000 + 300mm f4 lens

  5. This year sees 41 squadron RAF mark their 95th anniversary. To commemorate this they have painted the tail one of their current aircraft in a special anniversary scheme. Tornado GR4, ZA600, is seen on approach to RAF Coningsby in bright spring sunshine.

    Image © Richard Hull
    EOS EOS 400D + Canon EF 90-300mm lens

  6. This year's Exercise Chiltern Kite was one of the largest yet with more than 250 people dotted around a danger area set up to receive slung-loads, troop moves and to refuel the aircraft at a FRP Forward Refuelling Point. Rick Ingham bagged this photo of two 33 Sqn Pumas and single 78 Sqn Merlin during the exercise, held on Salisbury Plain.

    Image © Rick Ingham
    Canon EOS 400D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lens

Pictures Of The Week

Week 14, April 2011

The Week In Pictures
The Week In Pictures The Week In Pictures
The Week In Pictures The Week In Pictures The Week In Pictures The Week In Pictures

Clockwise from top left:

  1. Seen high over the mountainous Nevada terrain is this F-22 Raptor from Elemendorf AFB. Kevin was lucky enough to hitch a ride on a KC-135R to shoot this "Blue Air" Raptor earlier this year during the Red Flag exercise at Nellis AFB, Nevada.

    Image © Kevin Jackson

  2. Swiss Air Force F/A-18 Hornets are certainly no strangers to the Week in Pictures pages. Here Julien has captured a superb shot of the Hornet departing Sion AFB a short while before sunset with the jet efflux clearly visible. The aircraft was taking part in the recent annual Swiss Air Force Repetition Course.

    Image © Julian Ritz
    Nikon D300 + Nikkor 600mm f4.0 VR lens

  3. We've seen plenty of excellent images posted of the CV-22 Osprey deployment to RAF Mildenhall. In this particular image Nigel has captured two of the Osprey's in action from "John's Field" at Mildenhall. Unfortunately so far the aircraft have been mostly flying late in the day making it more challenging for photography. This deployment signifies the first ever of the CV-22 Osprey to the UK.

    Image © Nigel Blake

  4. Some of Chris' arty black and white photos have really caught our eye over the past year. This particular RAF Harrier GR9 stood out from a recent set. It is difficult to come to terms that we'll never see a UK Harrier in the air again, especially with the approaching airshow season.

    Image © Chris Milne
    Nikon D90 + Tamron 70-300mm lens

  5. One of the lesser seen Spanish Air Force types is the Dassault Mirage F1. These two examples from Ala 14 (14th Wing) are seen here departing from their home base at Albacete AB on a TLP 2011-2 sortie. The Mirage F1 is scheduled to be replaced in Spanish service by the Eurofighter Typhoon in the coming years.

    Image © "tailslides"

  6. Arriving for the last ever Joint Warrior exercise to be held at RAF Kinloss is this US Navy P-3 Orion. This particular example is from the "Bloodhounds" Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 30 (VX-30) based at NAS Point Mugu, California.

    Image © Mark Leith

  7. This excellent night time shot of a BAE Systems operated A-4N Skyhawk was taken at the aircrafts base at Wittmund. The ex-Israeli Air Force Skyhawk's have done target towing work for the Luftwaffe since 2001.

    Image © Alex Klingelhöller
    Sony Alpha 700 + Tamron 17-50mm lens