Pictures Of The Week
Week 26, June 2015
Clockwise from top left:
North Weald's Trevor Jago recently pictured what will surely be a very welcome sight to our members - the return to the air of Kennet Aviation's Seafire XVII following a spate of engine problems encountered over the last 12 months. Trevor was on fire cover at the airfield when he took this shot which afforded him a wonderful angle of pilot John Beattie holding the Seafire's tail up to aid visibility whilst performing a touch-and-go.
Image © Trevor Jago
Nikon D750 + Nikkor 80-400mm lensRich Pittman had a dream come true recently when he visited Spain to picture this years 'FAMET' parade - an annual 'show of force' of the country's military rotary aviation. Rich shot a whole host of different helicopters in different terrains, but UKAR's favourite was this capture of Spanish Army CH-47D Chinook, callsign 'Talud 3.' What makes this image especially impressive is that it was shot from another Chinook (the lead of a formation of four.) Considering the innards of a 'Wokka' are a noisy, shaky place to be; the sharpness of this picture should not be overlooked.
Image © Rich Pittman
One of the most striking aircraft to appear on the 2014 UK airshow scene was the Textron AirLand Scorpion, and so it was great to see Anton's set of the design back in Europe this year. Ahead of its airshow appearances at Yeovilton and RIAT, the Scorpion visited Graf Ignatievo in Bulgaria to be evaluated by Air Force officers which is where Anton photographed it. His whole collection of images was fantastic, and offered a new look at the type; but we finally picked this head-on shot due to its display of the type's distinctive lines, whilst a certain intimacy is maintained by the fact it also clearly captures the pilot preparing to fly this unique aircraft.
Image © Anton Balakchiev
Canon EOS 5D Mk.III + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lensIt's always good to get a Phantom in POTW! Chris attended the Anatolian Eagle exercise held at Konya Airbase in Turkey last month, and is responsible for this glorious image of a 111 Filo Turkish Air Force F-4E Phantom complete with tiger markings departing. Given the Phantom design first flew 57 years ago this year, it is a pleasure to see the aircraft still in operational service - and this looks set to continue for a few years yet as the Turks are still modernising their Phantoms to keep them up-to-date.
Image © Chris Heal
Canon EOS 1D Mk.IV + Canon EF 500mm f4 L IS lensDespite the gloomy weather conditions, it's hard not to be impressed by Gerard's lovely topside photo of the Airbus A350 caught displaying at last month's Paris Airshow. The 'carbon fibre' schemed airliner looks to have been thrown around the skies for the entire week's worth of displays - and Gerard tells us this was much appreciated by the French crowd; whose rapturous applause following each display the aircraft made seeming to suggest this was one of the highlights.
Image © Gerard Griessel
Canon EOS 7D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lensA striking shot seen this week was Jayson's air-to-air capture of this gorgeous Tiger Moth, photographed off the Norfolk coast. The bright red civilian livery on the Moth combined with the deep blue sea and wispy white clouds has produced a real peach of a shot, which is very worthy of inclusion in this week's POTW. It must have been a hard job doing this shoot in light aircraft over an undoubtedly blustery sea, and this makes the results extra commendable.
Image © Jayson Cork
We are all missing having B-52s resident in the UK as the weeks go by since RAF Fairford saw a trio of Stratofortresses deploy for training exercises over Europe. As 'BALTOPS 2015' came to its conclusion, Jon managed to picture a fresh angle on this eight-engined monster; pictured whilst the aircraft carried out an overshoot of the Fairford runway before settling down for the evening. Jon tells us that the aircraft was heading in the direction of the sun when this image was taken, which is what has led to this stunning rainbow effect being plastered over the usually grey bomber.
Image © Jonathan Haylock
Canon EOS 7D Mk.II + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS Mk.II lens
Pictures Of The Week
Week 25, June 2015
Clockwise from top left:
There are few more iconic Fleet Air Arm aircraft than the Swordfish, famous for its exploits against the Italian Navy and the Bismarck. We were therefore pleased to see the return to flight of W5856 after being grounded for a number of years. Mark happened to be at Yeovilton in time to catch this old lady's first flight, and how good does she look?
Image © Mark Russell
Lloyd seems to have a habit of getting himself into unusual situations when taking photos of aircraft; something that has seen his appearance in Pictures of the Week on many occasions. This time Lloyd spent some time with 771 NAS in the last months of their SAR mission with the Sea King - the skilful choice of a fisheye lens here catching the winchman in operation whilst training with a boat off the Cornish coast.
Image © Lloyd Horgan
Nikon D7100 + Samyang 8mm fisheye lensAn airshow was recently held at Pardubice in the Czech republic which seemed to pass many people by, except for Andrzej who managed to capture this event for posterity. Joining the display acts were the guys and girls from Red Bull who were seen here throwing their aircraft around to full effect; casting their own shadow on the smoke in the process.
Image © Andrzej Rogucki
Hatzerim Air Base regularly holds graduation ceremonies for new pilots joining the Israeli Defence Forces. Back in 2013 Koen was able to attend this prestigious event to witness the small flying display and demonstration which included a pair of sand painted AH-64 Apaches that proceeded to live fire their cannons. The Israeli's certainly know how to hold an air power demo!
Image © Koen Hartkamp
Nikon D300 + Nikkor 200-400mm lensOcean City in Maryland holds a popular sea front airshow which is attended by the cream of the US Military display teams, this year including the Blue Angels. The aquatic setting lends itself to plenty of vapour which the Blues, in their own style, made good use of during a fast pass. Not quite a shock cone but still an awesome shot showing some great panning technique by Sean.
Image © Sean Kelly
Canon EOS 6D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lensThe Coastguard were recently busy preparing a training video with the lowland and mountain rescue teams in the Cromer Northrepps area using their new AW139 and AW189 Helicopters. Matt was able to get into position to catch both helicopters in one perfectly composed image, they certainly look smart in this paint scheme.
Image © Matt Varley
Canon EOS 550D + Canon EF 28-135mm IS lensShuttleworth evening airshows have a style and light all of their own. The calm weather that usually accompanies this light means that this is also the best time to catch the Edwardians in the air. Steven was on hand to catch this glorious golden aircraft in the evening sky at the recent show.
Image © Steven Harrison-Green
Pictures Of The Week
Week 24, June 2015
Clockwise from top left:
A fine composition is as good a place as any to start things off this week. Łukasz attended the Team Orlik open training session earlier this month, and rewarded us with some very well-thought photographs. It's difficult to shoot the diminutive turboprop at all, let alone with composition in mind, and this one, reminiscent of one or two marketing shots for the Reds over the years ticks all of the boxes.
Image © Łukasz Wiśniewski
Canon EOS 7D + Canon EF-S 18-135mm IS STM lensIt's nice to see something from the Loop that isn't grey or green these days! POTW regular Laurie went to the hallowed Snake Pit to catch the Reds transiting through the Welsh mountains. Luckily the weather (and the Reds) played ball, and a sterling set of images was the result. We could have chosen any from the thread, but this shot really shows the thrill of low level photography.
Image © Laurie Hughes
Nikon D7100 + Nikkor 200-400mm f4 lensSpeaking of the Reds, yet another POTW-familiar, Barrie, watched the recent RAF Cosford Airshow from the south side. Sad to say, the conditions on Sunday were grim for photography. Lack of light and unremarkable grey skies are enough to put any photographer off at shows, but perseverance is key, as is shown by this fine shot of the somewhat unique formation involving the BBMF with the Red Arrows in a flypast together.
Image © Barrie May
Once again in 2015, RNAS Merryfield hosted it's annual open evening, and was graced by a particularly mean-looking EH-101. This HH-101A, the Italian Air Force's newest CSAR (named, of course, "Caesar") helicopter, is the replacement for the venerable and much-loved HH-3F Pelican, which has now retired from the Italian inventory. The Caesar, painted in an all-over matte black scheme certainly looks the business, and Jonathan was in the right place at the right time to catch a beautiful sunset shot.
Image © Jonathan Coombes
Nikon D300 + Sigma 50-500mm EX lensRiga Aviation Museum is one of those "under the radar", forgive the expression, museums full to bursting with gems, yet not often are photos of it seen on our forums. We are obliged to David, then, for providing an interesting thread indeed, including this shot of the fearsome MiG-25. If one is ever in the Latvian capital, this place is surely worth a visit.
Image © David Jones
Canon EOS 6D + Canon EF 24-105mm L IS lensIt's no secret that the A-10s are back in Europe for a while, doing the rounds, it seems. We've featured a lot of Mark's work over the years, and for good reason. In keeping with his high standards, he was lucky enough to fly an air-to-air mission with the 'Hogs, and came away with some splendid shots of a sight over Europe we didn't think we would see when the last of the last of the 81st FS birds in Germany left for home.
Image © Mark Rourke
It's not all modern military and historic stuff, though. Bringing up the rear is a fine study of one of just four A319s of Avianica Brazil's fleet landing at Santos Dumont Airport, in Rio de Janerio, Brazil. The combination of great conditions, an attractive subject and a great background have resulted in a shot Ian should be proud of.
Image © Ian Bowley
Canon EOS 700D + Canon EF 28-135mm IS lens
Pictures Of The Week
Week 23, June 2015
Clockwise from top left:
The Shuttleworth Collection is well known in the UK airshow fraternity for having one of the most eclectic mix of aircraft anywhere in the world, with the Collections's Hawker Sea Hurricane Ib arguably being the prettiest of them all. Harry Measures, no stranger to providing some brilliant pictures for POTW, has done an exquisite job of framing the aircraft as it conducts a topside pass at the LAA show earlier in June.
Image © Harry Measures
Canon EOS 5D Mk.III + Canon EF 500mm f4 L IS lensMoving from fixed wing to a rotary is a shape that we are very familiar in the UK, however certainly not in these markings. The subject in question is an AgustaWestland Super Lynx Mk.140, destined for the Algerian Naval Forces. This is just one of six that were ordered by the Algerian's in 2012, but this particular example is seen as she prepares to depart on a test flight prior to delivery.
Image © Peter Mitrovitch
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 80-400 AFS lensYet another aircraft now commonly seen on the airshow circuit in 2015, but one we certainly don't tire of seeing, is the RAF's Battle of Britain commemoration aircraft, affectionately known as GiNA. Topside passes are something on UK Airshow Review that never get too monotonous, especially when the subject in question is framed in perfect lighting as above.
Image © Mark Meades
Canon EOS 50D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lensContinuing somewhat of an RAF theme for this week's edition of POTW is another special anniversary jet. 8 Squadron are enjoying their 100th birthday this year, serving with aircraft such as the Bristol Blenheim, Hawker Hunter and Avro Shackleton to name but a few, with their current fleet of Sentry's operating from RAF Coningsby while the runway at Waddington continues to be resurfaced. Here Kevin Bell managed to catch the special tail aircraft at Coningsby after a short flight from Waddington.
Image © Kevin Bell
Canon EOS 70D + Canon EF 24-105mm f4 L IS lensA sight that is always good to see over the English countryside is a BUFF smoking its way down onto terra firma. Being based out of RAF Fairford for a second consecutive year as part of Operation Sabre Strike/BALTOPS were three B-52H Superfortresses from Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota. Complimenting the B-52s were several flights of B-2A Spirits from Whiteman Air Force Base, but it's arguable that nothing beats the sight of these Cold War titans in the late Summer sunshine.
Image © 'Plane Crazy'
Quite possibly the most peculiar looking aircraft to feature in POTW is this quirky French design first flown in 1954, the Payen PA49 Katy. Golden Oldies regular "Graf Zeppelin" has posted several interesting sets, in particular one of his latest from a Trans-European tour that took in airshows at Landivisiau, Kleine Brogel and La Ferte Alais. We certainly recommended taking a look!
Image © Philip Dawe
Concluding this week's POTW is the unmistakable backdrop of Battersea heliport, with this particular aircraft, the AgustaWestland AW169, making its first visit into the capital city's main heliport. This example recently arrived in the United Kingdom still carrying its Italian test registration, so we hope to see more pictures like this soon.
Image © Thomas Hemburrow
Canon EOS 70D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lens