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Pictures Of The Week
Week 35, August 2011
Clockwise from top left:
We're gonna need a bigger boat! Captured on 20th July 1993 at Calshot Spit in Hampshire, (formerly RAF Calshot flying boat station) is this timeless photo of Short Sunderand G-BJHS giving the spectators a final flypast before leaving the UK shores for Kermit Weeks's "Flight of Fantasy" Museum in Florida. It is believed that the 'Flying Porcupine' has not flown since.
Image © Colin Lee
Canon 10 + Tamron 28-300mm lensThe final countdown. History in the making as the final launch of Discovery OV-103 on 24 February 2011 from the NASA causeway is sealed in time by this awe inspiring photo by David Thurlow. Discovery was the first operational shuttle to be retired, followed by Endeavour and Atlantis. She flew 39 successful missions in over 27 years of service, making her final touchdown at Kennedy Space Centre on March 9, 2011.
Image © David Thurlow
Moody stuff from UKAR's own Dan Butcher. Winging her way in to display at the recent Little Gransden Air & Vintage Vehicle Show is this CP-140 Aurora patrol aircraft of the Royal Canadian Air Force. Operating from nearby Cambridge Airport but holding off due to the weather, the cloudy sky has done the photographer a favour and created a impressive backdrop that Dan has exploited to the full.
Image © Dan Butcher
Canon EOS 20D + Canon EF 70-300mm IS lensOn St. Stephen's Day (Foundation of State), the Hungarian Defence Force stages an annual public demonstration of capabilities at Szolnok. Hovering dramatically above the shores of River Tisza is this Mi-17 of the 86th "Szolnok" Helicopter Wing. The unit also operates the Mi-8 and Mi-24, both of which also took part in the display.
Image © Gyula Rácz
Canon EOS 450D + Canon EF-S 55-250mm IS lensOur penultimate photo is a cracking departure shot of a Serbian Air Force MiG-29 from 101 Squadron taking off from Graf Ignatievo Air Base in Bulgaria. Part of a two aircraft detachment, the Serbs took part in a joint tactical exercise with their Bulgarian counterparts which also included live missile firings as part of Exercise Autumn 2011.
Image © Anton Balakchiev
Canon EOS 7D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lensTaken during a nice but very hot city trip with the family to Madrid is this photo of the unique Airbus Beluga Super Transporter taking off in clear blue Spanish skies. The Beluga is a version of the standard A300-600 wide-body airliner modified to carry aircraft parts and over-sized or awkward cargo. Only five have been built, so Carl is lucky to bag this great shot of number '4'.
Image © Carl Brent
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Pictures Of The Week
Week 34, August 2011
Clockwise from top left:
Love Russian aircraft? Fed up with waiting for them to land in the UK? Then go to Moscow (MAKS)! That's exactly what our first photographer did and was rewarded with this great image of the latest fifth generation fighter from Sukhoi - the T-50 (PAK-FA). The weather was poor over the weekend but Mark got lucky on the Thursday exhibition day with clear skies and a flying display boasting amazing types never likely to be seen flying in the West.
Image © Mark Kwiatkowski
Canon EOS 50D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lensWe're off to Russia again with this timely shot of a Beriev Be-200 amphibious aircraft operated by the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations. The Beriev has a capacity of 12,000 litres of water as seen by this role demonstration of it's fire fighting capabilities during Thursday's flying display at MAKS.
Image © Søren Nielsen
Canon EOS 1D MkIV + Canon EF 300mm f2.8 L IS lensImagine the crowd's disappointment when this "Foxy Lady" turned up! Standing in at the Shoreham Airshow for the Vulcan whilst XH558 underwent repair work is the gorgeous Sea Vixen operated by DS Aviation at Bournemouth. Dean has captured her brilliantly in clear blue skies pulling up away from the crowd and into a loop.
Image © Dean West
Canon EOS 550D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lensOne way to beat the Friday rush hour traffic on the M4 is to head-off to White Waltham in time to catch the BBMF displaying in perfect evening light. It's lucky for UKAR that Nigel had his camera gear with him and posted this glorious sunset shot of the Memorial Flight's Lancaster completing one of several passes at this Berkshire aerodrome.
Image © Nigel Blake
Canon EOS 1Ds MkIII + Canon EF 600mm f4 L IS lensWe all miss the Harrier here at UKAR so it was great that Glenn chose to post some classic images from his collection. Carrying laser pods and bombs are this pair of US Marines AV-8 Harriers seen during an Enhance Mojave Viper exercise over the California/Arizona desert in November 2009.
Image © Glenn Bloore
Nikon D300 + 70-300mm lensWith the de Havilland Moth Club 29th International Moth Rally being Held in the grounds of Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire for the first time, Damien has made the most of the unique backdrop with this sunny take-off shot of Mark Miller's Rapide G-AGJG. The event was celebrating the 80th anniversary of the First Flight of the de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth.
Image © Damien Burke
Nikon D7000 + Nikkor 300mm f4 lensAll those rivets flying in close formation! We love golden oldies here at UKAR and this photo from Leslie is a cracker. An epic air-to-air shot of four Shackleton AEW.2s from 8 Sqn flying from their home base at RAF Lossiemouth, Moray, Scotland which was hosting the unique 8/8/88 event - foreign units with the No.8 in their title were invited to send aircraft to the families day at Lossie.
Image © Leslie Rodger
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Pictures Of The Week
Week 33, August 2011
Clockwise from top left:
Many UKARians visited RAF Lakenheath for some A-10C action when the 81st Fighter Squadron made a recent deployment, as can be seen in the forum's Modern Military Photos section. Very few however ventured to the Mach Loop like Rick has. He caught this stunning photo when Hawg41 and Hawg42 returned from a sortie to Aborporth range.
Image © Rick Ingham
Canon EOS 400D + Canon EF 300mm f4 L IS lensNext up we move to sunny Malta for some exotic helicopters from Qatar. This Westland Commando accompanied by an AW139 of the Qatar Air Force made a nightstop at Luqa, much to Malcolms delight. The helicopters are temporarily based at Souda Bay in support of the military action against Libya.
Image © Malcolm Bezzina
Nikon D70S + 70-300mm lensTimed just right, Mark shared this image of C-17A ZZ172 with a squadronmate taking off from Brize Norton's runway 08 in the background. It almost looks like a shot that was set up for a PR shoot, well done Mark!
Image © Mark Young
Canon EOS 20D + Sigma 18-200mm lensBack to the low flying areas! RAF Valley's annual photocall managed to attract a trio of F-16's from Belgium. Two of these were kind enough to make a few laps around the Mach Loop where Michael was waiting for what he calls his current aviation moment of the year!
Image © Michael Lovering
Canon EOS 7D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lensTaken from a spot Ashley probably wouldn't have found without the help of some fellow UKAR forum members, proving the value of the forum once again. Ashley posted a lovely set from Eastbourne's Airbourne Airshow the image that stood out most for us was this South East Air Support Unit MD902 on an operational mission. Apparently the photographers scrambling down the slopes in great numbers to get a similar shot was an equally impressive sight!
Image © Ashley Middleton
Canon EOS 40D + Sigma 50-500mm lensA second shot from Airbourne comes from Rob Laker. Eastbourne always proves to be a popular event with UKAR members and the excellent photographic opportunities from Beachy Head explain why. Running in for his display Jonathon 'Flapjack' Whaley provided the photographers gathered on the slopes with a chance to take a fantastic top view shot of colourful Hunter Mk58A 'Miss Demeanour' which was much appreciated by all.
Image © Rob Laker
Sony A350 + Sony 70-400mm lensThe Pictures Of The Week section usually has at least one 'arty' shot in it and forum member 'Macc' has shown once again that he has a keen eye for such photos. Chris posted a very photo heavy topic from this year's RIAT trip and there were too many fantastic images to pick from so we suggest to have a look yourself. This shot was taken on the Friday night when he was lucky enough to visit the flightline, resulting in some very dramatic shots.
Image © Chris Milne
Nikon D90 + Nikkor 18-105mm lens
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Pictures Of The Week
Week 32, August 2011
Clockwise from top left:
We have no less than five new photographers to the POTW pages this week and Tim Croton is the first of them with this crystal clear and razor sharp image of XI(F) Squadron's 'Delta Charlie' disturbing the sheep's lunch somewhere in Wales.
Image © Tim Croton
This photograph of an Airbus was taken by Olly from the cockpit of his 777 on the way back from New York about 20 minutes after sunrise. Olly says "If I remember rightly we were at about FL340 and around 57N 30W, so in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean". Wouldn't it be good if we all had a view as good as this from our office windows.
Image © Olly Tindall
EOS EOS 7D + 400mm f5.6 L lensMichael shot this at Hamilton Airport, New Zealand where the RNZAF C-130 and P-3s are undertaking base training daily at the moment, as their usual base at Whenuapai is having extended runway works done on it.
Image © Michael Hind
Canon EOS 350D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lensDavid took this stunning topside photograph of the Old Flying Machine Company's Spitfire MkIX at last week's Military Pageant at Old Warden.
Image © David Matthews
Nikon D80, Nikon 70-200mm lens + 1.4x TeleconverterThe Fw-190 and Bf-109 pictures here are both part of Paul Allen's Flying Heritage Collection, based at Paine Field in Everett, Washington, about 30 miles north of Seattle. The Fw-190A-5 was recovered from Russia and has spent over 20 years in restoration, first of all in Norfolk, before being completed in the USA. It is probably the first time since 1945 that an Fw-190 and Bf-109 have been flown together.
Image © Christopher Stuart
Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi (450D) + Canon EF 70-200mm f4 L lensTrevor was the lucky beneficiary of a short notice air-to-air sortie over the Thames, hanging out of the door of a Cessna 172 to shoot some images for Vampire pilot, Mark Hooton as he and WZ507 returned home to North Weald from a display at Old Hay.
Image © Trevor Jago
Nikon D90 + Nikon 18-200mm lens
