Pictures Of The Week
Week 21, May 2014
Clockwise from top left:
We commence this week’s round up with the Shuttleworth Collection and their first evening air display of the year. Euan’s photo epitomises the traditionally changeable bank holiday weather, with bright sunshine illuminating the collection’s Gladiator & Sea Hurricane while menacing clouds provide a contrasting, and somewhat threatening, backdrop.
Image © Euan Leitch
Canon EOS 60D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lensSoviet hardware is always welcome on UKAR, particularly when it originates from a seldom-seen, seldom-photographed air force. Hans was on hand at KADEX 2014 to capture this pair of Kazakhstani Mig-29s in the country’s capital, Astana.
Image © Hans Antonissen
You could be forgiven for thinking that this Boeing 727, part of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s presidential fleet, is fresh from the production line. In reality the aircraft, at 48 years old, is one of the oldest Boeing 727s still airworthy and as such flies without the ‘hush kit’ seen nowadays on so many classic airliners. She is presented here fresh from maintenance and painting at Lasham, along with her reflection for good measure.
Image © Bestlasham
Notwithstanding numerous initial teething problems and stacks of criticism, the Boeing 787 is now in operation with many airlines, including Belgian airline Jetairfly. Ironbird Photography was/were(?) fortunate enough to embark on an air-to-air photo sortie alongside one such example, which had only been in operation for 6 days, and produced this gorgeous image flying along the Belgian coast to the aircraft’s base at Ostend.
Image © Ironbird Photography
POTW is frequently graced with both nightshoots and a superlatively-talented group of Polish photographers. This week combines the two; Bartosz’s photo of this 7 Air Squadron PZL W-3 Sokol was captured beneath the stars at Nowy Targ airfield during a series of night operations by the Polish Air Force.
Image © Bartosz Bera
Canon EOS 5D MkIII + Canon EF 24-105mm L IS lensCloser to home, specifically in the Welsh hills, Low-level maestro Lloyd may have missed his French targets but nonetheless came away with a terrific array of photos including this Royal Air Force Merlin HC3, which to quote Lloyd himself was “lower than a snake’s belly”. It certainly underlines why the Mach Loop is such a draw for aviation photographers!
Image © Lloyd Horgan
Nikon D7100 + Nikkor 300mm f4 lensOmnipresent on the UK warbird scene, P-51D ‘Ferocious Frankie’ needs no introduction at Duxford. Here she is seen lifting off with undercarriage retracting during the D-Day Anniversary Airshow, Alistair Kay at the helm, in preparation for an excellent close-formation routine with OFMC stablemate Spitfire MH434.
Image © Chris Heal
Canon EOS 1D MkIV + Canon EF 500mm L IS lens
Pictures Of The Week
Week 20, May 2014
Clockwise from top left:
Starting off this week's edition of POTW is this very smart picture of an RAF Mildenhall based CV-22B Osprey cutting its way through Bwlch on the Mach Loop. This has to be one of the first sightings of an Osprey at low-level, and Emilio has done a great job in capturing a sharp image of the occasion
Image © Emilio Di Pietro
Canon EOS 7D + Canon EF 300mm f2.8 L lensNext up is a pair of aircraft that UK aviation enthusiasts yearn to see on our shores; alas the likelihood of that ever occurring is very slim, but this stunning picture of an Ilyushin Il-78M "Midas" & Tupolev Tu-160 "Blackjack" taken at the recent Red Square Parade in Moscow proves just how amazing it could be. You can almost hear the roar of the 4 Aviadvigatel D-30 KP turbofan engines powering the "Midas".
Image © Berry Kluijtmans
Canon EOS 30D + Canon EF 300mm f4 L IS lensAnother foreign air arm now, this time in the form of a Turkish Air Force F-16C Block 50. The aircraft, along with several others from the TuAF, were attending the recent JAWTEX exercise in Germany, with aircraft from the Luftwaffe, Finland, Italy, Netherlands, Austria, Slovenia, Czech Republic & NATO also taking part in the large multi-national exercise over northern Germany.
Image © Oliver Jonischkeit
Canon EOS 50D + Canon EF 70-200mm f4 L IS lensA somewhat larger aircraft than the others in this edition of POTW, but nonetheless still just as impressive. Biman Bangladesh Airlines recently retired its venerable Douglas DC-10-30 from service, but as a last hoorah for the airframe the airline allowed for several "farewell" flights to be conducted from Birmingham Airport. Here "Ironbird" has done a tremendous job of capturing the aircraft on one of her final flights, with the DC-10 looking every bit as graceful as when she took her first flight in August 1970.
Image © Ironbird Photography
From the large to the small now, with this lovely little Auster MkV seen making her way through the warm evening sunshine earlier in May. This particular aircraft was constructed in 1944 and saw service in World War II from June 1944 to May 1945, where it then went on to Canada, Spain and subsequently the UK; making it a very well travelled airframe!
Image © Andrzej Rogucki
Canon EOS 1Dx + Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8 L IS lensThe Mick Freer archive images that have appeared in the Golden Oldies section certainly bring back a lot of memories for some members of the forum, but also makes the younger members like myself wish that some of these beautiful and rare aircraft still flew today. Here we see an EA-3B Skywarrior of VQ-2 Flight Reconnaissance Squadron on very short finals to NAS Rota, Spain.
Image © Mick Freer (via Stu Freer)
Rounding out this edition of POTW is a very tastefully edited picture of B-17G Flying Fortress "Yankee Lady", seen at the Youngstown Open House by Sean Kelly. The chrome finishing of the aircraft certainly makes the aircraft very prominent against the pleasant Ohio sky, and Sean even went to the extent of saying "in my humble opinion, the prettiest Flying Fortress out there", an opinion that we all certainly agree on.
Image © Sean Kelly
Canon EOS 6D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lens
Pictures Of The Week
Week 19, May 2014
Clockwise from top left:
Photographed at Kjeller, as part of the annual airshow, this shot from Fredrik Edvardsen kicks off this week's selection. It's an image that beautifully illustrates the benefits of using extremely slow shutter speeds. The blurred background means the photo is 100% focused on this gorgeous aircraft.
Image © Fredrik Edvardsen
Canon EOS 7D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lensWhile the AW139 might be a common sight to many, an Italian Air Force HH-139 is not so. This image from Marco Sommacal captures the aircraft with some stunning scenery in the background at Belluno Airfield.
Image © Marco Sommacal
POTW regular Andrzej Rogucki returns this week with a shot featuring two W-3W Sokół helicopters which performed at the Mińsk Mazowiecki AFB Open Day. UKAR's band of Polish photographers are masters of the slow-shutter speed, as seen in this image which was taken at 1/100 using a 500mm prime! For UKAR's report from the event, click here.
Image © Andrzej Rogucki
Canon EOS 1Dx + Canon 500mm f4 L IS lensIn the not-so-distant past, seeing a threeship of F-86 Sabres together would have been unthinkable but now the infamous 'Bremont Horsemen' have transferred to the classic American jet it is a common sight across the USA. Glenn Bloore travelled to Chino Airshow and captured this fabulous image of their display.
Image © Glenn Bloore
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 200-400mm VR lensBoeing B737-800 are not the most common of airshow performers, especially so when in formation with a Pilatus PC-7 team! This rather unique image was captured by Gerard Griessel at the 2014 Zwartkop Airshow, featuring an aircraft from Mango Airlines with accompanying South African Air Force Silver Falcons.
Image © Gerard Griessel
Canon EOS 7D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lensNext up is Rich Pittman's image of a Portuguese Air Force Alpha Jet. Seen sporting a special tail, wearing a lovely camouflage scheme and shot with a clutter free background, it ticks all the boxes!
Image © Rich Pittman
The UK airshow season kicked off with Abingdon last weekend. On the Saturday night before the show, a small nightshoot was organised with visitors able to photograph a selection of the visiting aircraft. Shooting a black-aircraft by night is never easy, and Gareth has done well in this image featuring the new 2014 RAF Tucano display aircraft.
Image © "Big_Gareth"
Pictures Of The Week
Week 18, May 2014
Clockwise from top left:
Starting off this week's POTW is arguably one of the most beautiful Cold War Jets currently on the UK airshow scene; the Canberra. This particular Canberra, XH134, ceased flying back in 2006 but after a lengthy restoration period was returned back to the air in July 2013. The aircraft has since been repainted in this attractive metallic silver scheme and Eric Coeckelberghs has caught this magnificent image of her on a photo-shoot sortie on the day before the aircraft's debut at Abingdon.
Image © Eric Coeckelberghs
Canon EOS 1D MkIV + Canon EF 70-200mm L IS lensSticking with the Abingdon theme and amongst the many photo threads posted since Sunday that have a heavy emphasis on the aircraft on show, Steve Screech posted this shot of some of the most recognisable faces on the UK Airshow scene. The Breitling Wingwalkers are now renowned the world over after recently returning from a tour of the Middle East and beyond, but are still popular as ever back on UK shores. Here wingwalkers Danielle and Stella pose in front of one of the team's Boeing Stearmans shortly after arrival at the Oxfordshire airfield.
Image © Steve Screech
Canon EOS 50D + Canon EF-S 18-135mm IS lensOur final image from the sunny Abingdon show is provided by UKAR regular Dan O'Hagan, who has managed to capture a splendid image of Canberra XH134 presenting a topside and the aircraft's sleek lines to the crowds. Dave Piper was the man at the controls and he certainly put in a good display, culminating in an incredible high speed "blue-note" pass! Certainly one for the memory books.
Image © Dan O'Hagan
Canon EOS 20D + Sigma 50-500mm lensAustralia is home to many rare and interesting aircraft, and not least this wonderful example of the world's sole flying CAC Boomerang. Here the indigenous built aircraft, operated by the Temora Aviation Museum, is seen lifting off the runway at the recent Tyabb Airshow, which has been captured by POTW first-timer Julian.
Image © Julian Griffiths
Canon EOS 50D + Sigma 120-400mm lensTravelling to South America now and to Chile, where the Chilean Air Force has recently celebrating its 84th anniversary with a large flypast over El Bosque Military Air Base. The occasion involved the majority of the Air Force’s inventory taking part, with one particular rarity being the rather peculiar looking Boeing EB-707 Condor. Antonio also managed to capture some other interesting types, including a plethora of F-16 Block 50s.
Image © Antonio Segovia Rentería
Canon T3 + Canon EF 75-300mm lensReturning closer to home for our final image of this edition is this marvellous sunset image provided by forum regular Rick Ingham. The Puma, which has recently been upgraded so that it's service life can be further extended, is seen here departing the Salisbury Plain area with this particular Puma operated by QinetiQ on the very first Puma2 flight.
Image © Rick Ingham
Canon EOS 1100D + Canon EF 70-300mm L IS lens