| Tweet |
Pictures Of The Week
Week 52, December 2011
Clockwise from top left:
The purposeful A-7 Corsair is nearing the end of its service life with the Hellenic air force and Chris Lofting's pin sharp shot typifies a collection of images he posted on UKAR to illustrate its final years.
Image © Chris Lofting
Frank Crebas is no stranger to these POTW pages and with this study of two F-4Fs it's no surprise to see why. Shot from the rear seat of an L-39 over the North Sea, it's the sort of image most enthusiasts can only dream of capturing.
Image © Frank Crebas
Canon EOS 1D MkIV + Canon EF 24-105mm ƒ4 L lensBudding photographer Chris Milne is another POTW regular, this time with a view of Richard Pargeter's Pitts display aircraft at Easterton Airfield - home of the Highland Gliding Club.
Image © Chris Milne
Nikon D80 + Nikkor 50mm ƒ1.8 lensGate guards aren't usually the most photogenic subjects. A bit of initiative (using the hire car's headlamps!) makes for a fine image in Andrew Evans' night time study of this TA-4F outside Palm Springs Airport in California.
Image © Andy Evans
Nikon D300s + Nikkor 18-70mm lensStaffer Stu Norris, or "stuart n" as he likes to be known on these boards finally breaks his POTW duck. To do this he apparently teetered atop one of the tallest step ladders ever seen in rural Norfolk to capture this shot of Maurice Hammond's "Janie" departing her home at Hardwick. Whatever his lofty perch, the result is well worth the effort.
Image © Stuart Norris
Canon EOS 50D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lensA review of the year post from Jonathan Warner included this fine shot of the former RAF Dominies lined up at the Cotswold Airport at Kemble, awaiting delivery to their private owners. The withdrawal of the ageing HS-125 fleet was yet another sign of the RAF belt being tightened in 2011.
Image © Jonathan Warner
Canon EOS 40D + Sigma 18-200mm lensYeeeeeeeHaaaaaaaww! Those good ole boys down there in the Lone Star state sure know how to turn out tham dawgies, hell yeah, yes sireeee Bob! Ian Scaife's image of the Texas A.N.G.149th/182nd Fighter Wing's 65th anniversary heritage jet's first outing rounds up the final "Picture of the Week" selection of 2011.
Here's to 2012 - Good shootin y'all!
Image © Ian Scaife
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-135mm lens
| Tweet |
Pictures Of The Week
Week 51, December 2011
Clockwise from top left:
Krakow Airport was the setting for the first image in this week's top selection, and although the subject matter was a relatively common Ryanair 737, Waldemar Piela captured the hustle and bustle of airport life beautifully in this colourful night time scene.
Image © Waldemar Piela
The Pilatus PC-9s of the Swiss Air Force came under the spotlight in this seasonal offering by Philippe Rey. Captured in their natural surroundings above the spectacular Swiss Alps, the aircraft are operated by Zielfligerstaffel 12 from Emmen Air Base in the target-towing role.
Image © Philippe Rey
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 28-70mm ƒ2.8 lensIts that time of year again when the sun sets mid afternoon creating the potential for some amazing lighting conditions and Robert Starling certainly took advantage of that at RAF Marham over the past few weeks, producing a stunning set of shots of Tornado GR4s in the circuit at their home base.
Image © Robert Starling
To the Southern Hemisphere now, and thanks to Frank Pike interesting and colourful set of images, UKAR viewers were able to sample the delights of the South African airshow scene, including this dynamic shot of a South African Air Force Agusta-Westland A109 demonstrating its agility.
Image © Frank Pike
Canon EOS 7D + Canon EF 600mm ƒ4 L IS lensBack to Switzerland again, but this time a striking set of images by Steve Vonlanthen of the Swedish Air Force JAS-39 Gripen demonstration taken earlier this year at the Sion Airshow. Switzerland has recently announced that it plans to replace its ageing fleet of fifty or so F-5E and F-5Fs with twenty-two examples of the Saab fighter.
Image © Steve Vonlanthen
Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 300mm ƒ2.8 + 1.4x TeleconverterWhich way up?! A delightful air-to-air study of a Portuguese Air Force TB-30 Epsilon trainer caught during an inverted dive near its home base of Sintra in Southern Portugal. The base is also home to the Air Force Academy, flying amongst other things, the DHC-1 Chipmunk which also featured heavily in Menso van Westrhenen's personal highlights of 2011.
Image © Menso van Westrhenen
Canon EOS 50D + Canon EF 24-105mm ƒ4 L IS lensRounding off this week's selection is Kevin Bell's shot of a Spanish Air Force Falcon 900 caught on finals in very wintery light at RAF Coningsby last weekend. Based at Torrejon, the Spanish Air Force operates five of these executive jets in the VIP transport role.
Image © Kevin Bell
Canon EOS 50D + Canon EF 70-200mm ƒ2.8 L lens
| Tweet |
Pictures Of The Week
Week 50, December 2011
Clockwise from top left:
The sunset saga continues! Whenever the Dragon Ladies pass through Fairford, to and from the 'sandy places', you can guarantee that there will be some lovely shots of the proceedings posted on the forum. Rick, however is the first person to post a sunset shot of the U-2 and it looks absolutely stunning.
Image © Rick Ingham
Canon EOS 1100D + Canon EF 300mm ƒ4 L lensThis week we had the pleasure to welcome Adam Skowronski from Poland to the forum and what a first post he made! Adam visited the Ostrava NATO Days in the neighbouring Czech Republic and said he very much enjoyed his first visit to this show as there are some fantastic places for photographers. What better way to illustrate that then with this capture?!
Image © Adam Skowroński
Nikon D300 + Sigma 17-70mm ƒ2.8The C-17 doesn't need any additional 'horsepower' but it still got some when it came to Manston airport to pick up racing horses to take to Dubai. Dan Humphreys was there to photograph the only C-17 with some colour on it, operated by the Qatari Air Force.
Image © Dan Humphreys
Nikon D2x + Nikkor 70-200mm VRII lensAir Atlantique Classic Flight's stunning Meteor T7 G-BWMF is surely one of the most interesting newcomers on the UK airshow circuit. Phil braved the cold to bag a brilliant nightshot of former WA591 at its Coventry homebase's recent night run event. The aircraft will be used as trainer for Coventry's other Meteor but we also hope to see her back at many an airshow in the 2012 season!
Image © Phil Whalley
Nikon D7000 + Nikkor 18-105mm VR lensKeith started his aviation season at Coventry and he finished it there as well. Nightshoots are always well covered on our forum and this one was no different. We particularly liked this photo of Avro Andover T.21 G-VROE from the Engine Night Run at the Airbase museum.
Image © Keith Meachem
Canon EOS 5D MkII + Canon EF 24-105mm ƒ4 L IS lensThis B-1B recently made the news when it was parked along the Interstate 5 in Cottonwood (Arizona), while being transported to a Boeing structural test facility in Washington. H. Van der Wilt photographed the bomber in March 2010 during one of the popular flights over the 309th Aircraft Maintenance and Regeneration Group's facilities at Davis Monthan AFB. Dino van Doorn was kind enough to edit and host the photos for him.
Image © Hans van der Wilt (via Dino van Doorn)
Canon EOS 40D + Canon EF 70-200mm ƒ2.8 L lens
| Tweet |
Pictures Of The Week
Week 49, December 2011
Clockwise from top left:
We may not have any more airshows to attend until the new year but at least we're blessed with the 'Sunset Season' in the meantime and Stu took full advantage of the dusk conditions at RAF Brize Norton when he captured this shot of a 'J' on short finals. The contrast of the dark runway; the bright lights; the crisp, silhouetted airframe and the soft pastel-pink skies al combine for a beautiful image and proof of why we love this time of year so much.
Image © Stuart Freer (Touchdown Aviation)
Canon EOS 50D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lensLook for the bear(sic) necessities... That's what UKAR staffer Mark McEwan did and he came up trumps with this shot of "The Panda Express" arriving at Edinburgh Airport. The charter was decorated with decals specially applied for the journey from China as it brought a pair of giant pandas, named Tian Tian and Yang Guang, to their new home at Edinburgh Zoo.
Image © Mark McEwan
Canon 50D + Canon EF 70-200mm ƒ2.8 L IS lens"Be Prepared" may well be the motto of the Boy Scouts but it could equally be that of the aviation photographer. Poor weather at the Luchtmachtdagen meant ''Hitec'' had to perform a low shot which meant a flare dump in the opening seconds of his routine. Fortunately Kris lives by Baden Powell's motto and was able to capture the moment for us.
Image © Krzysztof Baranowski
Nikon D300s + Nikkor 500mm VR lensHalfpenny Green is the scene of our next selection with this shot of Midlands Air Ambulance EC135 G-WMAS pre-takeoff.
Image © Paul Bunch
First posts are always awkward to make but Marc had an ace up his sleeve, Japanese Phantoms! Anything JASDF is always welcome on UKAR but I think it's safe to say that 'tooms hold a special place in our hearts.
Image © Marc Brouyere
Canon EOS 500D + Sigma 50-500mm lensNext up is Pete who took full advantage of the soft light at RAF Marham to shoot the resident GR4s. Standing at the end of RWY 06 he used 600mm of focal length to bring us closer to this banking Tornado and as an added bonus it's in the markings of the former XIII Sqn.
Image © Pete Fletcher
Nikon D300 + Nikkor 300mm ƒ2.8 VR & Nikon TC20E MkIIIRounding of this week's pick we return to Oxfordshire for Mark's shot of Vickers' Funbus silhouetted against the setting sun, a classic very much in the twilight of its career.
Image © Mark Rouse
