Pictures Of The Week
Week 5, January 2016
Clockwise from top left:
One of the best static shots we've seen for a long time features in top spot this week! A superb blend of colours, un-cluttered backgrounds, and composition all make a shot that is an absolute winner, as we're sure you'll agree. It's not as simple as it looks, to pull off this kind of shot. To say nothing of getting the settings right to suitably capture the low sun without blowing out details on the aircraft, note how effective it is to keep some sky below the nose and wings. Something we should all think about when shooting static machines.
Image © 'aviationblog'
We mark Evert's welcome return to the forums after a couple of months' hiatus this week, and what a way to get back into things! Be sure to check out the rest of his thread full of stunners, but we absolutely loved this composition of two Belgian F-16s, featuring the 2015 solo display ship in its unique scheme, and a spare jet.
Image © IronBird Photography
Once again, we feature Peter in POTW, and this time one of his shots from Death Valley, USA's answer to Wales' Mach Loop. Chock full of F-18s and a couple of Tornados, we were really taken by this unique angle of the USAF's premier aerobatic team, the Thunderbirds, with their twin-stick F-16D heading through the Rainbow Canyon. If it wasn't already, this place is surely a significant box to be ticked on the enthusiast's bucket list!
Image © Peter Steehouwer
One of the few redeeming things about winter is the excellent low-light conditions it sometimes provides. For examples of what we mean, look no further than Richard's fantastic sunset shot of this Swiss AF Super Puma, which was operating in the UK not too long ago as part of Exercise Virgo, alongside some rather rarely-seen Norwegian Bell-412s and RAF counterparts, training special forces.
Image © Richard Cliff
Rich has produced a great deal of top work from Spain recently, and he's just added to the list. To the north of Madrid exists the Sierra De Guadarrama mountain range, which the Spanish Army's Transport Helicopter Batallion 5 (BHELTRA V) based at Colmenar Viejo made great use of with their CH-47 Chinooks recently. It's great to see the rarely-seen (ski-equipped in this instance) Chinooks, of the Spanish Army, and very interesting to see them in an operational environment. We look forward to seeing what Rich produces from the country next!
Image © Rich Pittman
Keeping things rotary, and further evidence of the great lighting conditions that can only be found during the winter months, Nick produced a splendid set from the Salisbury Plain, including this fine study of an Army Air Corps Gazelle. The Gazelles, getting a bit long in the tooth these days, appear to be rarer and rarer around the UK, so it's great to see shots like these to remind us that the AAC still have that very capable machine at their fingertips.
Image © Nicholas Thompson
Continuing the theme set this week, Tom finishes off the top seven, with a great shot of this RAF Puma, again, in some really fine winter light. Following extensive upgrade work in Romania recently, it's great to see the RAF Puma force back on strength again, and to see the venerable machines back in the UK, this time in their more capable "HC2" guise.
Image © Tom Gautier
Pictures Of The Week
Week 4, January 2016
Clockwise from top left:
A true oldie, and a true goldie at top spot this week! Heading towards Norway on Operation Snow Falcon. Luckily enough to take take part in the transit, Kevin produced this phenomenal set of shots from the 1 Sqn Harriers, in a rarely seen scheme. They don't make them like these any more!
Image © Kevin Wills
Kev produced a winner of a set from Lakenheath recently. We're lucky enough to see plenty from the Suffolk bases on the board, but we were quite taken with this one, a rare shot showing a brace of legacy Eagles downwind to land, in some really lovely winter light.
Image © Kev Gregory
Third up this week, and another top shot from our great friend Peter, with an angle we've not seen for a very long time indeed of the USAF's infamous "Bone" at 2016's first Red Flag exercise at Nellis AFB, Nevada. Aside from the great angle, we love the way the light captures the machine's charismatic and clean curves.
Image © Peter Steehouwer
It's great to see another set from Piotr again, this time from Axalp high in the Swiss mountains. Once again, we were blown away with the creativity of his shots, but this Swiss Air Force PC-21 really stood out. Great composition, fantastic scenery, lovely colours, and sharp as a pin - what's not to like?!
Image © Piotr Kostur
Keeping us Swiss, Marcel provided us this week with one of the best F-5E shots we've seen for some time. Note the subtle two-tone camouflage of the venerable fighter. With them well-into the twilight of their careers sights like this are soon to be consigned to the history books.
Image © Marcel "Tigerspoon" Bartwicki
Speaking of history, here's a sight we're sure many of us miss dearly. Chris' shots from Wittmund when the venerable Luftwaffe F-4 Phantoms were based there really made us don the rose-tinted spectacles. Making what most would consider a traditional take-off, the quartet 'tooms with their oodles of charisma and poise make us really miss the classic F-4s.
Image © 'BigClick67'
Last but by no means least, we finish as we started - with another oldie, and most definitely a goldie! VC-10 XX914 was operated by the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) and served research tasks associated with structures, physics and engineering departments, and indeed, at one point was fitted with wing-tip smoke generators! After just two years of trials and research, the graceful aircraft was retired from RAE service in 1975, and was finally broken up at RAF Brize Norton in the early 1980s.
Image © Leon Loberman
Pictures Of The Week
Week 3 January 2016
Clockwise from top left:
Where else could we start this week, but with Euan's excellent and poinient shot of two Sea King HU5s on their farewell tour of the south of the UK. The infamous red/grey Sea Kings have been useful SAR platforms for several decades, operating out of Yeovilton, and Prestwick (HMS Gannet). As part of a swathe of retirements, the HU5s, alongside the RAF's yellow HAR3/3As and the HC4s are all gone, or soon to be gone from UK skies, so we're grateful to Euan for presenting some great shots of the venerable birds, one last time.
Image © Euan Leitch
Providing sterling coverage as ever from the goings on at Duxford, we love'd Brian's low-angle composition on The Fighter Collection's much-loved Hawk 75. It can sometimes be a little more difficult catching "tail-draggers" from the front, and angles like this one provide something a little more unique and offer a great view of the machine. Added to this is the opportunity to have a great look at the detail in the aeroplane's un-covered R-1830 engine.
Image © Brian Marshall
Next up, is a photo that demonstrates what the winter months are all about. Once again, Wallace has made the simple look stunning and wowed us with this shot from Scone. The combination of pure-white aircraft, snow and a deep blue sky proves to be a winning one.
Image © Wallace Shackleton
Once again, Chris features this week, including his shot of this Luftwaffe Typhoon at Wittmund, which is adorned with a special tail bearing TaktLwG 31's coat of arms, as well as the red "R" of Richtofen, carrying on the legacy from where the venerable Wittmund F-4 Phantoms left it in on their retirement in 2013.
Image © 'BigClick67'
Another benefit of these cold winter months is that occasionally, just occasionally, the stars align and the elements play ball to produce some sublime conditions. For evidence of that, look no further than Tim's shot of excellent contrasts in this RAF Hawk T2 flying through the Mach Loop.
Image © Tim Croton
We've seldom seen an angle on a Chinook like this before. We're pretty big fans of Sam's work, and this might be the first still from a GoPro we've featured in POTW! Be sure to click on the image and check out the rest of his great thread for more of the same, in some splendid lighting conditions.
Image © Sam Whitfield
It might not look it, but Matt has managed to catch the very rare Saab 340, designated the TP 300A is the only one of its current designation used in the transport capacity by the Swedish Air Force, and indeed, one of just 4 of these machines operated by the air arm. Marked in new low visibility paint, it is likely that this rarely-seen transport will seldom be seen in the UK again for some time.
Image © Matt Varley
Pictures Of The Week
Week 2, January 2016
Clockwise from top left:
We're absolute suckers for sunsets! Bogdan shows us why sunset shots, when done right, can be literally golden. The rarely-seen "Special Aviation Unit" of Romania's Ministry of Interior operates a mix of Mi-8Ts, featured here, Mi-17s, and newer EC135s on a variety of roles including humanitarian relief, SAR, and associated missions in co-operation with the nation's police and internal security forces.
Image © Bogdan Movileanu
Radleigh has brought us some great stuff from East Midlands recently, and very much in-keeping with his trend of exemplary work, we simply had to feature his great shot of Volga Dnepr's Il-76TD-90VD, of which around 4 are reported to be in existence. The "TD-90VD" upgrade to the venerable Il-76 was designed specifically for Volga Dnepr, and includes a partial glass cockpit and improved PS-90 engines.
Image © Radleigh Bushell
Insofar as EC135s go, this is one of the more striking variants out there! Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance, or SCAA, operates just this EC135T, replacing its much-loved but ageing BO-105, and we loved Wallace's low-light shot of it with its rotors running.
Image © Wallace Shackleton
We couldn't not feature Chris's shot of the "new" A4s at Wittmund. Whilst the F-4s may have gone, and the BAe Skyhawks have been transferred, Discovery Air, which provides air combat training to world air arms, operates amongst others a fleet of utterly gorgeous second-hand A-4 Skyhawks, which are now based at Wittmund. Chris was on hand recently to catch some of the Canadian-registered machines, and his shots don't disappoint!
Image © 'BigClick67'
Sion, of course, provides one of the world's best backdrops for aviation photography. Even better, when that photography features aircraft at the bleeding edge of progress and innovative design. None is a better example than Philippe's shot of this PC-24, for which the first flight was as recent as May 2015. Interestingly, the aircraft has been designed to operated from non-paved and grass runways, which, Pilatus claim, no other business jet of its class can do, hopefully opening up a huge niche in the market for these lucrative machines.
Image © Philippe Rey
From new to old, next, as we feature Steven's great shot of an RAF Buccaneer S.2B taken at RAF Laarbruch in Germany, in 1990. Painting a scene so typical of the Cold War mentality, the abundance of hardened aircraft shelters and wooded airfields was not an un-common sight whilst the Iron Curtain was still raised. The machine belonged to to 237 OCU, which was deactivated just 18 months after this photo was taken.
Image © Steven Doyle
Tony features with another of his shots from Heathrow this week, in the form of this rarely-seen UAE governmental flight Boeing 787. Callsign "SULTAN", and known as the Abu Dhabi Amiri Flight, the carrier is responsible for VIP governmental flights and currently have a flight of 6 machines, including this attractive 787, which is the only one of its type in their inventory.
Image © 'Bestlasham'
Pictures Of The Week
Week 1, January 2016
Clockwise from top left:
Top spot for the first week of the year goes to POTW-regular Chris for some utterly splendid shots of rarely seen Croatian MiG-21s, including one of the most conspicuous special schemes on an aircraft. Following the government decision to try and squeeze some more years from the ageing airframe, the nation owns 12 of the machines. Top contenders for its replacement are either the SAAB Gripen, or Lockheed Martin's F-16, both likely to be second hand. A deal on the MiG-21 replacement is expected to be signed this year.
Image © Chris Lofting
Same aircraft, different nation next! Dirk is an extremely well-respected aviation journalist, and so we're very obliged to see some of his shots on our boards. It was very difficult to choose which one to feature, but in the end, this finely composed shot of a MiG-21 LanceR of the Romanian Air Force with its 'chute prominent won out. Like their Croatian colleagues, the Romanians are scheduled to replace their ageing soviet machines, and are due to take on a batch of 12 second hand F-16s from Portugal in the near future, and are scouring the second hand market for some additional airframes in addition to the compliment of Portuguese machines.
Image © Dirk Jan de Ridder
Not so pointy, and not so noisy, but no less rare or exciting, Alistair's shot of this Maltese King Air features next in the list. One of just two operated by the island in the all-important maritime surveillance and patrol role. Wearing a rather discrete scheme, Alistair's clean shot of the rare machine caught our attention in a thread full of great quality.
Image © Alistair Zammit
Jonathan is another POTW regular, and one of the true masters of photography from RAF Lakenheath and Mildenhall. Catching the last of the day's light, this F-15E, and it's hardpoints, weapons and pods is a perfect example of making the ordinary sublime. Familiarity certainly doesn't breed contempt in this instance.
Image © Jonathan Haylock
US shows always seem a lot of fun, and though the diversity might not be the same as European ones, there's no lack of power nor poise. Kevin posted a great set from Oceana back in September last year, including this really punchy shot of a "legacy" F-18C squeezing the moisture out of the air. It's great to see our friends across the pond are recovering from the sweeping cuts that sequestration brought about a few years ago.
Image © Kevin Bell
Regardless of the type, air to air shots are seldom not really cool. However, when it is a type as interesting and as classic as Phillip's shot of this Baby Ace D from 1979, though with its quality, you'd be forgiven for thinking it was taken last week. The Baby Ace range of machines were pretty interesting, as they were the first machines marketed as home-build aircraft, with the plans being released as far back as 1929.
Image © Phillip Dawe
Moor Lane is a great place to get some good clicks from London Heathrow, if conditions permit, as Tony's shot illustrates. There's something really regal about A380s, especially from this angle, and we loved seeing the great light on this giant Qantas machine, of which there are currently 12 in service, set to increase to 20. Indeed, when all are delivered, at current standings and orders, Qantas is set to be the joint-third largest operator of the type.
Image © 'Bestlasham'