Pictures Of The Week
Week 17, April 2013
Clockwise from top left:
Much debate has been had on the forums of recent years about 'arty' photography. Some love it, some hate it. But I think it's fair to say that Danny has put his artistic eye to good use for this photograph, which shows troops partaking in the recent Joint Maritime Exercise waiting at Carlisle Airport for their Chinook taxi to whisk them away to Dumfries and Galloway for the land-based element of the exercise.
Image © Danny Bowie
Canon EOS 350D + Sigma 120-400mm lensWell, it's begun! The 2013 airshow season ribbon was cut at the magical Old Warden. It's always wonderful to see the Shuttleworth Collection's unique... collection... of old aeroplanes out and about, and Paul made the best of the somewhat dull weather with this excellent slow-shutter photograph of the Gloster Gladiator.
Image © Phil Chaplin
Canon EOS 1D MkII + Canon EF 400mm 5.6 L lensUKAR Moderator Brian took (yet another!) trip to Duxford on May Day to see the first flight of the newly-repainted Spitfire Mk Ia AR213, which now wears the scheme of'P7308'of 71 'Eagle' Squadron, in order to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the United States Army Air Force arriving at RAF Duxford in April 1943.
Image © Brian Marshall
Sony SLT-A58 + Sony 70-300mm lensBoth RAF Leuchars and RAF Lossiemouth have excelled themselves with the organisation of two'Enthusiast Days', and Gill (of Squadron Prints fame) has come away with some excellent photographs from the former; we particularly liked this shot of a 6 Squadron Typhoon returning from a QRA mission.
Image © Gill Howie (Squadron Prints Ltd)
Canon EOS 60D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lensHere's your weekly dose of aviation exotica, this time courtesy of the Croatian Air Force's MiG-21s from the 21st Fighter Squadron, based out of Pleso, Zagreb. Chris'entire set is worth a look, but this shot caught our eye - who can say no a bit of Eastern Bloc afterburner action?
Image © Chris Lofting
Canon EOS 7D + Canon EF 400mm 5.6 L lensIf a Gulfstream or Citation isn't quite big or flash enough for your executive charter needs, then it seems Gama Aviation based at Farnborough will be able to sort you out with something a touch larger with this 737-7BJ. Lee caught it departing to Moscow from Southend, whilst attending the Vulcan Open Day.
Image © Lee Linley
Canon EOS 30D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lenssad day for lovers of the BAC 1-11, the end of April saw Qinetiq's venerable ZH763 make her final flight to St Mawgan/Newquay to see out her days in preservation with the Classic Air Forcee. Mark was there to snap her with air under her wheels for the last time.
Image © Mark Stevens
Nikon D300S + Nikkor 70-300mm VR lens
Pictures Of The Week
Week 16, April 2013
Clockwise from top left:
Topping the selections this week is an excellent photo from Peter Steelhouwer of a ShinMaywa US-2 flying boat of Japan captured arriving at Atsugi Airbase. These elusive yet interesting machines are one of the highlights for most aviation photographers who visit the country as there are only a handful of them around.
Image © Peter Steelhouwer
Nikon D3X + Nikkor 400mm ƒ2.8In second place was Lloyd Horgan's dynamic photo of a Tornado Sustainment Programme (TSP) Tornado IDS performing the last low-level sortie as the programme has finished and the aircraft returned to Saudi Arabia a few days later. The photographers on the hill were even luckier in the afternoon as they also caught a Saudi marked Typhoon on a test flight.
Image © Lloyd Horgan
Nikon D300s + Nikkor 300mm ƒ4 AF-S lensBrian Hare also enjoyed lots of Saudi action as he visited Warton on the same day as Lloyd's photos above. He captured two Saudi Arabian Typhoon T3s which were making pre-delivery test flights in addition to the final TSP Tornado IDS sortie. Poor weather didn't help his Tornado photos but he caught some excellent light on the Typhoons.
Image © Brian Hare
Canon EOS 60D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lensSteve Matterface's excellent shot containing a pair of French Air Force Gazelles at Middle Wallop, these were part of a large detatchment of Gazelles and a singular Puma which flew a few missions in the country before heading back across the channel. He fought with hard conditions in the morning but was rewarded by some sunny weather as they returned from the sortie.
Image © Steve Matterface
Canon EOS 5D MKIII + Canon EF 70-300mm L lensOn the 20th April, a Saturday, the BBMF took to the air en-masse to practice their displays for the upcoming airshow and were blessed with great weather. Mark Meades was there and captured this excellent topside of the BBMF's Spitfire Mk XVI which has only recently returned to flight.
Image © Mark Meades
Canon EOS 50D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lensPaul Harvey visited RAF Lossiemouth for a couple of days to catch all the excitement of Joint Warrior and came away with this bonus Tornado GR4 in 617sqn's 70th anniversary scheme. The scheme has been unveiled rather recently and is one of two identically marked jets which the squadron hope to take round the various airshows of the UK in 2013.
Image © Paul Harvey
Canon EOS 7D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lensLast but not least is Rob Laker's excellent wide-angle of an RAF C-17A Globemaster III returning to Brize Norton to bash the circuit for a while allowing for a lot of different, creative photographs. Rob's visit saw him aiming to catch a VC-10 before their retirement which fortunately he caught!
Image © Rob Laker
Pictures Of The Week
Week 15, April 2013
Clockwise from top left:
Sean kicks off this week's picture of the week with this striking image of Chengdu F-7 Airguard belonging to the Bangladesh Air Force. Opportunities to photograph rare aeroplanes in far flung places are not an everyday occurrence, so it is great that Sean is kind enough to share these images from Kurmitola with the UKAR community on the forum.
Image © Dr. Séan Wilson (Prime Images)
Canon EOS 1D MkIV + Canon EF 300mm ƒ2.8 L IS lensWith time closing in on the Mirage F1 Patrick shares this image taken at Mont de Marsan 'Spotter's Day' of the Mirage F1 probably showing off one of the last special colour schemes before the type is retired sometime this year or maybe next year.
Image © Patrick Genoud
Nikon D3s + Nikkor 200-400mm ƒ4 lensBack in October 2012, Andy was fortunate enough to have a tour of the flight lines at NAS Kingsville and the nearby NAS Corpus Christi. He says that "the weather wasn't the best, but the amount of aircraft on the pan was mind blowing. At Corpus Christi alone, there were more training aircraft on the pan than the entire combined transport/training/combat fleet of the RAF!"
Image © Andy Evans
Nikon D90 + Nikkor AF-S 18-70mm lensThis bird's eye view of the former RAF station at Bruntingthorpe gives a view of the sheer scale of the site not normally seen by visitors to the airfield. This shot was taken by Chris from a Venture T2 on a trip to investigate how the operation to dismantle and recycle the RAF's VC10 fleet is going.
Image © Chris Hayball
Canon EOS 5D MkII + Canon EF 24-105mm lensKevin was lucky enough to embark on the USS George Washington and took this shot of an F-14D Tomcat just as it was about to be launched off the bow catapult. The crew member in the green shirt is the TSPO (Topside Safety Petty Officer) he is the last crew man to leave the aircraft's side after checking that the catapult bridle is safely connected. The raised fist signal is to the catapult officer to inform him that the aircraft is ready to go and he has control from here onwards.
Image © Kevin Wills
Canon EOS 10D + Canon EF 28-135mm IS lensAs the airshow season is upon us aeroplanes are emerging from hangars after their winter hibernation. Brian was at Duxford to witness the TFC's Gladiator being wheeled out into some afternoon sunshine to perform some engine runs in preparation for this year's events.
Image © Brian Marshall
Peter's shot was taken at Istanbul Ataturk airport, from the FlyInn shopping mall - in his words "One of the best spotting locations in Europe". After flying SVO>IST on the IL-96, he spent three days spotting there and this shot contains two of his favourite aircraft from the trip, which captures the rugged shape of the IL-96 and the smart Barcelona FC colour scheme on the Turkish Airlines B777-300ER.
Image © Peter Reoch
Canon EOS 7D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lens
Pictures Of The Week
Week 14, April 2013
Clockwise from top left:
Taking pride of place this week is this stunning break shot of two Sukhoi Su-30MKMs at the recent Langkwai airshow (LIMA 2013) in Malaysia. These two RMAF 'Flankers' were taking part in the opening ceremony which consisted of an airfield attack by two F-5E/F Tiger IIs, 6 Hawk 108/208s, 5 MB339s, 3 F/A-18 Hornets and 5 Sukhoi Su-30MKM fighters. Must have been quite a sight!
Image © Carl Brent
Canon EOS 1DMk IV + Canon EF 300mm ƒ2.8 L lensWork continues apace on the F-35B for the UK Armed Forces as highlighted in these unique photos from NAS Fort Worth JRB, Texas. Seen taking to the air on a test flight is UK F-35B Lightning II ZM137 accompanied by an F-16D chase aircraft. Both types are assembled by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics at their large Fort Worth assembly facility which is located adjacent to the base.
Image © Dave Chng
Following the gloom of an extended winter plus recent news regarding US sequestration and groundings, Jonathan took a gamble one Saturday afternoon and was rewarded with this great shot of a US Marine Corps KC-130J of VMGR-352 landing in the sun at Mildenhall. With a background of blue skies and fluffy clouds, the photo could almost be from MCAS Miramar - the 'Raiders' home base.
Image © Jonathan Haylock
Canon EOS 40D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lensAnother fabulous image, this time of Russian President Vladimir Putin arriving at Hannover, Germany in his smart looking Ilyushin Il-96-300PU for the opening of Hannover Messe - the world's biggest industrial fair. Following talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Putin also visited the Netherlands to showcase growing economic ties between the two countries.
Image © Chrisch Mue
Looking sorry for itself in a corner of the Gatwick Aviation Museum collection is this Fairy Gannet AEW3 XL472. Tom has made the most of the fading paint scheme to capture the classic lines of this Fleet Air Arm carrier-borne early warning aircraft. Resplendent in 849 Squadron markings , she is due for a welcome repaint by the volunteers at the museum.
Image © Tom Mercer
Canon EOS 50D + Canon EF 50mm ƒ1.8 lensTaken on a crisp, freezing morning is this sharp image of A330-243 N280AY arriving on Manchester's runway 05R from Philadelphia. The early morning light really brings out the US Airways livery and the power of the RR Trent 772B-60 engines.
Image © Derek Ferguson
Nikon D7000 + Sigma 120-400mm lensIt ain't easy being cheesy! Taken at the open day at Langebaanweg AFB in South Africa in November 2001 is this feline schemed Atlas Cheetah of the South African Air Force. Based on the Mirage III/Israeli Kfir fighter, the Cheetah was finally retired from frontline service by the SAAF in April 2008 and replaced with the Saab Gripen.
Image © Graham Hutchinson
Canon EOS 300 + 35-80 lens
Pictures Of The Week
Week 13, April 2013
Clockwise from top left:
Top spot on POTW this week goes to Cristian, who posted a quite awesome thread of images of a Norwegian Sea King. This air-to-air shot, looking down with the Sea King over the water, we felt, was the standout image. Plenty of rotor blur yet still sharp where it matters!
Image © Cristian Schrik
Canon EOS 1D MkIII + Canon EF 70-200mm ƒ2.8 L IS lensNext up we have a choice from a thread of Finnish Aviation from historic, right up to the present day. This fantastic air-to-air shot of a two-seat SAAB 35CS Draken soaring over the clouds was photographed in July 2000 by Jyrki Laukkanen shortly before the type was retired from Finnish service. Jyrki is now a retired Ilmavoimat test pilot with more than 16,000 flying hours under his belt. Check out the whole thread for 109s, Eastern bloc helos, MiGs, a Beagle, the list goes on - all of which come from the book 'Nordic Airpower #4' about the Ilmavoimat!
Image © Jyrki Laukkanan & Nordic Airpower (via Jan Jørgensen)
In this next shot, chosen from a thread where Anton captured the Bulgarian Hip carrying out its fire fighting role to good effct, this Hip has been captured, fantastically well lit, with the heat from the exhaust partially obscuring the trees behind.
Image © Anton Balakchiev
Canon EOS 7D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lensShot at the TICO airshow was this fabulously restored A-4C Skyhawk of Skyhawk Ventures. Tim posted a whole thread of images of this pristine American classic jet.
Image © Tim Croton
Canon EOS 1D MkIII + Canon EF 300mm ƒ2.8 L lensNext up is Benn's shot of the famous "Speckled Trout" KC-135R 63-7980, departing from RAF Mildenhall. Great light and a pin sharp shot of this KC-135 fan's favourite.
Image © Benn George
Nikon D300s + Nikkor 70-200mm ƒ2.8 lensNick caught this AAC Lynx visiting his School in Kent, to give demonstrations to their Combined Cadet Force cadets. Shot as the helicopter hovered in front of the trees, this made for an excellent image. Well shot with great rotor blur!
Image © Nicholas Thompson
Canon EOS 500D + Canon EF 70-300mm IS lensPosted in our Golden Oldies section, UKAR Staffer Ian Matthews remembered his trip to NAS Fallon in 2007 by posting some images that would make most aviation enthusiasts green with envy. The shot we chose for POTW was the well composed image of four F-16 Fighting Falcons used in the aggressor role and painted in the stunning colour schemes of the US Navy NSAWC. Check out the whole thread for more shots of Hornets, Vipers, F-5s and Kfirs!
Image © Ian Matthews
Nikon D200 + Sigma 50-500mm lens