Pictures Of The Week

Week 31, July 2012

Pictures of the Week
Pictures of the Week Pictures of the Week
Pictures of the Week Pictures of the Week Pictures of the Week Pictures of the Week

Clockwise from top left:

  1. One of the greatest aspirations for most aviation photographers is getting on board an aircraft carrier. In July Stu got the trip of a lifetime to embark on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Mediterranean Sea. This FA-18C was caught blasting off the bow catapult. This image was the one that really stood out from a top quality portfolio of pictures.

    Image © Stuart Freer (Touchdown Aviation)
    Canon EOS 50D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lens

  2. Mark found the gold at the end of the rainbow as this Aurigny Air Services ATR72 approached Manchester airport from the Channel Islands as a rain storm was passing overhead.

    Image © Mark Holt
    Canon EOS 450D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lens

  3. Onwards to Italy to the Jesolo Air Extreme 2012, one of the main Italian air events this year. Taking place in the north of the country, close to Venezia, this photo shows the Al Fursan, the UAE Aerobatic Display Team commencing their display with the colours of UAE flag. It was the first time in Italy for this team in their black and gold colour scheme Aermacchi MB339s, trained by ex-pilots of Frecce Tricolori. Daniele says "Unfortunately the formation was composed only from 4 planes instead of 7, but they made equally a great show."

    Image © Daniele Ghisolfi
    Canon EOS 7D + Canon EF 70-200mm ƒ2.8 L lens & Canon 2x TC

  4. Following on from last week's top billing in POTW Mark shares with us some more rarities from Thailand, this Bell 412EP based at Khlong Luang just north of Bangkok. Mark believes that this Huey is the only one in service with the splendidly named Bureau of Royal Rainmaking and Agricultural Aviation, or KASET, which operates for the Thai Ministry of Agriculture.

    Image © Mark Rourke
    Sony A330 + 18-55mm lens

  5. With Olympic fever sweeping the nation it was good to see the RAF too have been caught up in the hype, with the repainting of one of 41 Squadron's Tornado GR4s. The hurdler motif on the fin commemorates Group Captain Donald Finlay, who piloted a 41 Squadron Spitfire - also coded EB-Z - during the Battle of Britain. Donald represented Great Britain in the Olympic Games on three occasions, taking home a Bronze medal in 1932 at the Los Angeles games and silver at the 1936 Berlin games, both in the 110m hurdles. He also participated in the games of 1948, held in London.

    Image © Tom Sunley
    Canon EOS 5D MkII + Canon EF 300mm ƒ2.8 lens

  6. Remember the Mi-14PL 'Haze' from RIAT? Well here it is over its home country of Poland shot from a W-3 Sokol helicopter. Thanks to the Naval Aviation Brigade and 7 Air Squadron (25th Cavalry Brigade) Bartosz got a unique opportunity to spend some time in the air with the beautifully presented maritime helicopter.

    Image © Bartosz Bera
    Canon EOS 5D MkII + Canon EF 70-200mm ƒ4 L IS lens

  7. More Russian helicopter action, this time at Texel Airshow in the Netherlands with this tightly framed shot of a Czech Airforce Mi-24 'Hind'.

    Image © Peter Steehouwer
    Nikon D3X + Nikkor 400mm ƒ2.8 VR lens

Pictures Of The Week

Week 30, July 2012

Pictures of the Week
Pictures of the Week Pictures of the Week
Pictures of the Week Pictures of the Week Pictures of the Week Pictures of the Week

Clockwise from top left:

  1. Mark Rourke takes top billing this week and scores top marks for rarity of subject. The type isn't all that uncommon - we've featured several Canadair CL-215s before - but the operator certainly is; this example is from the Royal Thai Navy's 201 Sqn, based at U-Tapoa! It was photographed at Don Meaung AB as part of the static display in the Royal Thai Air Force centenary celebrations. A fantastic and highly unusual thread from what looked to be a great airshow.

    Image © Mark Rourke
    Sony A330 + 18-70mm lens

  2. With just two years left until the Romanian Air Force retire their fleet of MiG-21s, Rich Pittman made a trip to Eastern Europe and the Romanian Airshow at Bucharest Baneasa Airport for glimpse of these charismatic cold war warriors before they're gone. The weather couldn't have been better and with several models of 'Fishbed' in the flying display, he certainly got what he went for, and so much more - colourful Pumas, IAR 99 jet trainers and an evening air display that produced some stunning results of a C-27J firing flares. This is a thread well worth a look.

    Image © Richard Pittman
    Canon EOS 7D + Canon EF 70-300mm L IS lens

  3. Hans Antonissen is new to UKAR and the first of several POTW newcomers this week, and it's yet another rarely seen subject that has earned him a selection. It's a Colombian Air Force KC-137 tanker, taken on the Media day at Nellis AFB during a recent Red Flag exercise. The tankers were there operating in support of a detachment of KFIRs, which you can also see in Hans' thread.

    Image © Hans Antonissen
    Canon EOS 1D MkIV + Canon EF 500mm lens

  4. We return to Romania for our next shot, although this time the subject is a little more mundane! Pictured are a trio of Extra 300s trailing smoke as they fly a formation display at the start of the evening show against the backdrop of a setting sun. Perfect conditions and lighting to make a very striking and pleasing photograph, which is exactly what POTW is all about.

    Image © Anton Balakchiev
    Canon EOS 7D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lens

  5. We're a little closer to home for this photograph of the Shuttleworth Collection's Bristol Boxkite, taken last weekend on a rare sunny day in Bedfordshire. Old Warden has endured a torrid season so far, but finally the sun shone and the show last weekend went ahead in pleasant conditions, calm enough for the fabulous Edwardian aircraft to join the fun at the end of the display. A brilliant photograph of a wonderful subject, it's a great advert for the shows at Old Warden and sums up what makes them so special. If you've never been before, this year would be a great time to start; show your support during a difficult period and make the trip to one of the collection's remaining displays this year.

    Image © Darrell Thompson
    Nikon D7000 + Nikkor 70-200 ƒ2.8 VRII lens & TC-17E Teleconverter

  6. The brief heatwave enjoyed in northern Europe last week co-incided with a public holiday for our friends in Belgium. Knowing that the Sea Kings based at Koksijde AB were due to perform a flypast with an Alouette III and NH-90 above Brussels, Wim decided to spend his day there with the camera and came away with a great set of shots.

    Image © Wim Houquet
    Canon EOS 40D + Canon EF-S 17-85mm lens

  7. Our final image this week goes to Mark Harris, who also made the most of that spell of sunshine by visiting the Midland Gliding Club atop the fantastic Long Mynd hill. The Sedbergh glider pictured might be familiar to readers of Ken Ellis' Wrecks & Wrelics books, and so might the photographer; the last time Mark saw this particular glider, it was suspended in the rafters of the hangar at the Midland Gliding Club as it was assumed to be a 'non-flyer'. Mark's picture of it in the rafters was used in the 22nd edition of the book.

    Image © Mark 'Bomber' Harris
    Canon SX40HS

Pictures Of The Week

Week 29, July 2012

Pictures of the Week
Pictures of the Week Pictures of the Week
Pictures of the Week Pictures of the Week Pictures of the Week Pictures of the Week

Clockwise from top left:

  1. For most, star of the Flying Legends 2012 airshow at Duxford was the fantastic razorback P-47G Thunderbolt 'Snafu'. The Fighter Collection seem strangely reluctant to give her the limelight she deserves so it was up to Andrew to grab a sneaky shot of her on the Friday before the big day itself. The markings represent P-47D 42-74742 'Snafu', WZ-D of the USAAF 84th Fighter Squadron, part of the 78th Fighter Group flown from Duxford in 1944. This 'Jug' had previously flown with the unit as 'War Eagle', the mount of Captain Julius P Maxwell, Commanding Officer 'A' Flight of the 84th Fighter Squadron.

    Image © Andrew Beaumont
    Canon EOS 7D + Canon EF 400mm L ƒ5.6 lens

  2. Recently, the rain seems to be a permanent addition to the UK display scene. Sitting out the torrential rain at Farnborough on the Saturday public day, Rob and his brother decided to go to the end of the runway for a different viewpoint. Getting there early to get a good spot to view the flying display, they got lucky capturing the A380 as it lifted off creating a wall of surface water and spray.

    Image © Rob Laker
    Sony A350 + Sony 70-400mm lens

  3. Blue skies! Taken at the Farnborough Airshow on the Wednesday trade day is this great shot of the 787 Dreamliner pulling up into its display. This new Boeing airliner carries the colours of Qatar Airways, the Middle East launch customer of the 787. The aerial display also marked the first ever, and much anticipated, Dreamliner flying demonstration at an international aerospace event.

    Image © Steve Screech
    Canon EOS 50D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lens

  4. Pulling hard is Captain Stefan "Stitch" Hutten in his demo F-16, seen here at the RAF Waddington International Air Show 2012. The Dutch solo F-16 is probably due to receive a new colour scheme in the near future, so Chris positioned himself outside the airfield and was rewarded with this cracking topside vapour shot.

    Image © Chris Milne
    Nikon D90 + Nikkor 300mm ƒ4 AF-S lens & Nikon 1.4x TC

  5. Taken from the FRIAT enclosure at the Royal International Air Tattoo 2012 is this colourful capture of 'Al Fursan' (The Knights), the United Arab Emirates Air Force aerobatic display team seen painting the UAE flag in the skies above above Fairford. Formed in 2010, the team flies the Aermacchi MB-339 in a black and gold colour scheme which represents the golden sand of the desert and the black oil that lies beneath it.

    Image © Peter Reoch
    Canon EOS 40D + Canon EF 400mm L ƒ5.6 lens

  6. Blowing away the rain clouds over Gloucestershire following her engine replacement is Vulcan B2 XH558. Taken at Fairford in the late afternoon sun is this moody capture of 'the Spirit of Great Britain' taking pride of place in the flying display. The subsequent roll after take-off was most unexpected!

    Image © Pete Fletcher
    Nikon D300 + Sigma 300-800mm lens

  7. Poor Uncle Mike. At what was possibly one of the least inspiring Farnborough airshows ever with absolutely nothing new military hardware wise, subject matter was a bit thin on the ground. Feeling fed up, wet, cold and bored he had to resort to shooting civvy helicopters to keep from being totally depressed!

    Image © Michael Hall
    Canon EOS 1D MkIV + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lens

Pictures Of The Week

Week 28, July 2012

Pictures of the Week
Pictures of the Week Pictures of the Week
Pictures of the Week Pictures of the Week Pictures of the Week Pictures of the Week

Clockwise from top left:

  1. Lloyd wins the top spot this week, in our RIAT-only POTW selection. Capturing the undoubted star of the static display at Fairford (and perhaps the entire airshow), he endured the wet, dark conditions at the end of the Friday arrivals day to get this superb image. A slow shutter speed, and spot on panning, enhance the impact of his shot of the B-2A "Spirit of New York".

    Image © Lloyd Horgan
    Nikon D300s + Nikkor 300mm ƒ4 AF-S lens

  2. Our very own Dan Butcher shot this moody head-on of the Luftwaffe F-4F Phantom on his walk around the static dispay. The close-up composition, trademark DanB, grey skies and dark shadows caught our eye amongst a thread of superb shots of both flying and static participants. Check it out by clicking the thumbnail!

    Image © Dan Butcher
    Canon EOS 20D + Canon EF 70-300mm IS lens

  3. Our next choice comes from the Rhymes Farm park and view area, on the north side of the airfield. Although you may be shooting into the sun, you can capture great closeups, topsides and different angles as the aircraft manoevre directly overhead. Tom shot this excellent "topside" of the Apache cockpit, looking directly in as the crew go through the 2012 AAC Apache Longbow display.

    Image © Tom Packham
    Canon EOS 40D + Canon EF 400mm ƒ5.6 L lens

  4. Roger's shot of the Polish MiG-29 Fulcrum display is our next choice - well lit, sharp, and showing the Fulcrum belching smoke from both Klimov turbofans at the end of the missed approach.

    Image © Roger Harrison
    Canon EOS 7D + Canon EF 100-400mm L IS lens

  5. The Osprey was one of the rarer items in the flying display this year and Andrzej's thread showed imagination, with well shot and processed images. We chose his shot of the Osprey here combining an angled horizon with a very slow shutter speed and panning. Click the thumbnail to see one of the best threads of shots from RIAT 2012.

    Image © Andrzej Rogucki
    Canon EOS 1D MkIII + Canon EF 70-200mm ƒ2.8 L IS lens

  6. Andy "Boff180" Evans acheives a well deserved spot on this weeks POTW. During the days preceeding the show he provided a very popular live arrivals thread, posting shots as each of the aircraft that turned up to take their spot in a terrific RIAT lineup. Here we have the Japanese Air Self Defence Force KC-767J on the landing roll for their history-making arrival, for one of their first appearances, ever, at a show outside their home country.

    Image © Andy Evans
    Nikon D300s + Sigma 50-500mm OS lens

  7. Maurice completes this week's selection with an eye catching shot of many peoples favourite item from the flying display. The Repulic of Korea Air Force display team, The Black Eagles, stole the show in their T-50B Golden Eagles. This shot of the bomb-burst break at the top of a loop - one of the many high points of an absolutely stellar routine.

    Image © Maurice Alverio (Positive G Photography)
    Sony Alpha 580 + Sigma 50-500mm lens

Pictures Of The Week

Week 27, July 2012

Pictures of the Week
Pictures of the Week Pictures of the Week
Pictures of the Week Pictures of the Week Pictures of the Week Pictures of the Week

Clockwise from top left:

  1. That classic shot of the BBMF Lancaster flanked by two of the flight's fighters is one we all have many times over in our collections, so it takes some inspired photography to come up with anything unique of that particular airshow sight. Rob had his wits about him last Saturday at Duxford Flying Legends though; spotting a beautiful cloudscape and knowing the BBMF routine would take them through that patch of sky, he patiently waited low down amongst the crops in the "naughty field" for the right moment to capture a memorable image.

    Image © Rob Howarth
    Nikon D3 + Nikkor 17-35mm lens

  2. UKAR Staffer Dan O'Hagan was also at Duxford that day, taking a break from preparing his RIAT commentary notes for next weekend's Air Tattoo and instead spending a day in the sunshine. Once again, a view from the south of the airfield has produced a striking, close-up photograph of PA474's colourful upperside markings that are all too rarely seen from the crowdline during BBMF displays.

    Image © Dan O'Hagan
    Canon EOS 20D + Sigma 50-500mm lens

  3. Another view from the Saturday of Flying Legends, this time from Damien Burke. P-47G Thunderbolt 'SNAFU' was the main draw at the show, making it's UK airshow debut. The solo display wasn't particularly photogenic from either side of the airfield, but Damien managed one of his trademark 'into-sun' photos as 'SNAFU', in the company of The Fighter Collections's F-4U Corsair, led the end of show Balbo formation.

    Image © Damien Burke
    Canon EOS 1D MkII + Canon EF 70-200mm ƒ4 L IS lens

  4. Joshua makes his POTW debut with a very bold image of the RAF Falcons. Following their majestic free fall from a Hercules, we see the team forming into the stack, cutting through the blue skies with the familiar red and white smoke as they descend upon RAF Waddington, flying the flag for the United Kingdom.

    Image © Joshua Wickins
    Canon EOS 550D + Canon EF 75-300mm lens

  5. We're back at Duxford for the next photo. Jamie was at the IWM for the pre-Legends build up during the week preceeding the show. This shot, taken on Wednesday, shows Nick Grey in EP120, TFC's beaufitul clipped-wing Spitfire LF Mk.Vb, getting airborne for a practice display, leaving freshly cut grass in his wake.

    Image © Jamie Pluck
    Nikon D90 & Sigma 120-300 ƒ2.8 lens + 1.4x TC

  6. Adam Noonan has been on a bit of a hiatus from photography and having sold his telephoto lens, he had to borrow equipment when he made the decision to attend RAF Waddington's International Air Show last weekend. Clearly, the lay off has done nothing to harm his talent behind a lens, as this excellent shot of the RNZAF 757 arriving in Lincolnshire clearly demonstrates.

    Image © Adam Noonan
    Canon EOS 400D + Canon EF 17-85mm IS USM lens

  7. Last but not least, long time UKARian Matthew Clements was back with us this week to share the fruits of a recent trip onboard the USS Enterprise (CVN-65) while underway in the Mediterranean Sea, during her 22nd and final ever deployment. We picked this shot of a resting Super Hornet from VFA-11 "The Red Rippers", who are one of three Super Hornet Squadrons with CVW-1 onboard 'The Big E".

    Image © Matthew Clements
    Canon EOS 7D + Canon EF 70-200 ƒ2.8 L IS lens