Pictures Of The Week
Week 9, February 2011
Clockwise from top left:
Tom Sunley took advantage of the crisp winter sunshine during a recent trip to the Royal Netherlands Air Force's main helicopter base at Gilze-Rijen. This 301 Squadron AH-64D Apache Longbow was captured during a session on the "slopes", a specially constructed area for terrain operations training.
Image © Tom Sunley
Canon EOS 5D MkII + Canon EF 300mm f2.8 L lensRenowned for its winter skiing holidays as well as its good access to military aviation, Switzerland was the location for two of our highlights this week. Meiringen was the Air Base of choice for Kevin Martin, capturing a pair of FA-18 Hornets taxiing back to their shelters after a local mission.
Image © Kevin Martin
Canon EOS 7D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lensPayerne Air Base is our second port of call in Switzerland this week, and it was the turn of Daniel Rychcik to provide UKAR viewers with some Alpine delights, including this atmospheric shot of the photogenic F-5 Tiger, taken during the annual aerial protection operation of the airspace above the World Economic Forum at Davos.
Image © Daniel Rychcik
Canon EOS 1D MkIII, Canon EF 500mm f4 L IS lens + Canon 1.4x TeleconverterAnton Balakchiev again provided UKAR viewers with a wealth of colourful shots of the Bulgarian Air Force in action, this time from Graf Ignatievo during a missile-firing exercise back in 2008. His shots included this striking image of a MiG-21 "Fishbed" lifting off Graf Ignatievo's runway, seen here carrying an AA-2 "Atoll" missile underneath each wing.
Image © Anton Balakchiev
Canon EOS 30D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lensWe head south now to Albacete in Eastern Spain for the first Tactical Leadership Programme (TLP) of 2011, which boasted participants from Finland, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. Mark Stevens was there to capture the action, and the Mirage 2000Ds of EC01.003 looked particularly stunning in the warm Spanish sunshine.
Image © Mark Stevens
Nikon D60 + Nikon 70-300mm VR lensBack to the UK for our final choice for this week, and RAF Lakenheath, home to the USAF's Liberty Wing, was the venue for Stuart Freer's head-on action shot of an F-15E Strike Eagle being prepared for a training sortie in May 2006, and nicely captures the ground crew focused on the job in hand.
Image © Stuart Freer (Touchdown Aviation)
Canon EOS 20D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lens
Pictures Of The Week
Week 8, February 2011
Clockwise from top left:
The sky's on fire as this Polish Air Force F-16C was flying "close" to the sun as Slawek described it. Slawek was fortunate to visit 32.Baza Lotnicza Lask Air Base where some of the 48 Block 52+ F-16's which Poland purchased in 2003 are based. These aircraft are locally known as the Jastrząb (Goshawk) and look very attractive in their unique camouflage scheme.
Image © Slawek Krajniewski
Nikon D300 + 500mm lensMarine airpower at the US Navy Centennial show at Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego. While most of us had to do with cold, grey weather Pete travelled to the US to attend what must be one of the best events of 2011. These two Bell UH-1Y Venom's are accompanied by a AH-1Z Viper and AH-1W Super Cobra were part of a flyby of over 180 current and historic aircraft, including a complete Carrier Air Wing!
Image © Peter Fenwick
Look at those pretty colours! It's not often we see shots of balloons on UKAR but Daniel might inspire others to photograph them as well with his lovely set. He visited the Festival de Balloons in Chateau d'Oex. The festival welcomed over 90 hot air balloons from 15 countries. The famous Breitling Orbiter - first hot air balloon to fly around the world without landing - was also present.
Image © Daniel Rychcik
Canon EOS 1D MkIII + Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8 IS lensExotic! Sri Lanka Air Force MiG-23UB Flogger SFT-1701 is seen here taxiing out to Katunayake's runway. Katunayake is the homebase of the Sri Lankan fighter force equipped with Floggers, F-7's and Kfirs. It's good to see that after years of civil war this Air Force once again welcomes aviation enthusiasts to its airbases.
Image © Frank Noort
Canon EOS 1D MkII + Canon EF 300mm f2.8 lensMore helicopter action from Hungary. The Tisza river in Szolnok was the place to be for an impressive combined Hungarian Army and Air Force demonstration. Besides this colourful Mi-24V Hind a number of Mi-17 Hips could be seen dropping off troops, both on shore as well as into the river.
Image © Gyula Rácz
Canon EOS 450D + Canon EF-S 55-250mm IS lensFun in the sun at Madeira! Portuguese Airbus A320-200 takes of from Funchal Madeira International Airport headed for destination Lisbon. As Andrew puts it ‘Its a fantastic little airport, and very "spotter" friendly too'. The variety of aircraft and angles in his topic certainly confirm this./p>
Image © Andrew Simpson
Canon EOS 300D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lensThe POTW section wouldn't be complete without at least one image from our popular Golden Oldies forum. This week we have a beautiful Sobelair SE210 Caravelle that visited London Heathrow in 1974. The variety of airframes was fantastic in those days as Paul's set clearly shows.
Image © Paul Phillips
Pentax MX + Tamron 85-210mm lens
Pictures Of The Week
Week 7, February 2011
Clockwise from top left:
Return of the Lightning! You can almost smell the tyre smoke as XR765 of XI Squadron slams down on the runway RAF Leconfield in July 1976. The unit, along with its sister number 5 Squadron were temporally detached to the Yorkshire base due to runway repairs at their normal home of RAF Binbrook in Lincolnshire. This is a unique photo as unfortunately this aircraft crashed into the sea 30 miles east of Spurn Head, Humberside on the 23rd July 1981 due to a fire in the rear fuselage. Pilot Flt. Lt Jim Wild ejected safely.
Image © Fred Martin
Pracktika LTL, 300mm lens with Kodachrome 64 filmThe best things come to those that wait. Lifting off into the sunset is this AAC Apache taking part in the recent Exercise Pashtun Dagger/Jaguar on Salisbury Plain. The object of the Exercise was support 3 Commando Brigade Battle Group's final training ready for their deployment to Afghanistan as part of Op Herrick.
Image © Mark Rouse
Canon EOS 40D + Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8 L lensAnother person in the right place at the right time. It's very rare at Sion in Switzerland that runway 07 is in use but due to the southeast wind and the full external tank of the F-5, they chose to take-off towards our prowling UKAR photographer. The result is a very pleasing topside shot of the Swiss AF Tiger as it's gear retracts.
Image © Philippe Rey
Nikon D300, Nikkor 300mm f2.8 + Nikkor 1.7x TeleconverterThe right place at the wrong time! Dramatic stuff as a pair of French 'Securite Civile' CL-415 water bombers fly support during fire fighting operations near to the town of Samokov in Bulgaria. Due to the severity of the forest fires in September 2008, the Bulgarian state was unable to cope and requested international assistance. France and Spain sent these Bombardier CL-415 aircraft to help get the situation under control.
Image © Anton Balakchiev
Canon EOS 30D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lensDuck! Taking off from runway 07L/25R at Manching in Germany on its second production test flight is Eurofighter Typhoon GS0050/30+68 getting ready for delivery to the Luftwaffe. Dietmar is either shooting from the control tower or has a very tall set of steps but the pilot obviously has his eye on the camera and gives him this great topside photo opportunity.
Image © Dietmar Fenners
Canon EOS 5D + Canon EF 400mm lensWith the famous Tornado F3 being phased out of RAF service at the end of next month, a lot of photographers on UKAR have been visiting 'Fightertown Scotland' trying to get those last precious images. This shot shows off the great lines of this Panavia fighter as pair of 'Tremblers' F3s break into the RAF Leuchars circuit in late morning sunshine.
Image © Mark Leith
Nikon D3100 + Nikkor VR 70-300mm lensUnder a blood red sky is this Typhoon T1 of 29(R) Squadron plugging in the burners during an evening sortie from runway 25 at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire. Balancing on top of a set of steps, in near darkness, as cars belted past on the B1192, Geoff was hoping that he might get a shot or two that wasn't blurred. His perseverance paid off with this great atmospheric capture of the RAF's latest fighter.
Image © Geoff Spinks
Canon EOS 1D MkIII + Canon EF 300mm f2.8 lens
Pictures Of The Week
Week 6, February 2011
Clockwise from top left:
The UK Airshow Review forums are often privileged by some of the shots that people share, and this week's main image is one such photo. POTW first-timer Daniel Karlsson posted this glorious air-to-air shot of a Norwegian F-16, and we thank him for posting such a lovely set of well exposed and sharp shots.
Image © Daniel Karlsson
Canon EOS 40D + Canon EF 70-200mm f4 L IS lensIs it a Mirage? No, it's definitely there! In another POTW debut, long-serving forum member "Dilligaf" has beautifully captured this Mirage F1 as it taxies toward the camera, showing just what a handsome aircraft it really is.
Image © "Dilligaf"
One of the last of a dying breed. In this extremely well lit shot, Mark captures Nimrod R1 XV249 callsign "Vulcan 51" at RAF Waddington. A local training sortie gave him a couple of hours worth of photo opportunities like this as the crew practiced circuit work and ILS approaches. Interestingly the front of the engines can be clearly seen.
Image © Mark Meades
Canon EOS 40D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lensMark II! Here Mark Leith captures the sun glistening off a well watered Grob Vigilant. In Mark's set posted on the main board, there are several artistic captures that show just what can be achieved by the keen amateur photographer in changeable conditions. As a whole, it's a wonderful thread of "photo journalism" that tells the tale of day-to-day life on a gliding squadron and we thoroughly recommend a viewing of the entire set.
Image © Mark Leith
Nikon D3100 + Nikkor 70-300mm VR lensThe Boeing 777 looks like a huge aircraft from any angle. Here Steve captures the vast giant of the sky head on. Some perspective of the size of this mammoth can be gained from the crew visible on the flight deck.
Image © Steve Vonlanthen
Canon EOS 7D + Canon EF 300mm f2.8 L lensNext up a giant of rotary wing world. Alex captures a HH-3F Pelican of the Aeronautica Militare. The image was taken during the Combined Joint Personnel Recovery Course Standardisation 2010, on the airfield Donauwörth-Genderkingen, which this and several other helicopters were using for "hot refueling".
Image © Alex Klingelhöller
Sony Alpha 700 + 70-400mm lensAs any aviation enthusiast can testify to, you can't have too many Eagles. Peter returns to POTW for the second week running with this unusual capture of a Lakenheath F-15E taking the arrestor wire after declaring an in-flight emergency. The failure, possibly hydraulic, meant a fast, flapless approach and the subsequent heavy landing resulted in the shower of sparks and clouds of tyre smoke seen here. Impressive stuff.
Image © Pete Fletcher
Nikon D300 + Nikkor 300mm f2.8 AF-S VR lens
