Royal International Air Tattoo RAF Fairford 17th July 2010

Hi Everyone

Following on from the Waddington Airshow post, I thought I would share the results from what turned out to be a fantastic few days with mixed weather, thankfully the weather for airshow itself turned out ok , I will post a video later to show how bad it was for arrivals the day before!!!!

A very spirited display by the RAF Typhoon

More Typhoon...

Chris, my Mum and I went to the Airshow this year, unfortunately Stuart was unable to make it. We stayed at the Totterdownhill Campsite in the caravan, the weather was extreme to say the least, high winds, lashing rain everyday except airshow day. We were there Wednesday through Sunday and had a great time. The Campsite offers one of the best views of an airshow I have ever seen, it actually looks down across the airfield and is bang in the centre of the display area for the aircraft.

We saw some aircraft not normally seen in the UK including the latest US aircraft the F22 Raptor, this display was astonishing, nearly every surface on the plane moves as well as the jet nozzles to keep the plane in the air, it can turn in the opposite direction in almost its own length whilst airborne. The latest troop carrier and C130 Hercules replacement was also displayed, the A400M Airbus.

Business end of the RNAF F16

We had an American C17 display who flew so low over the Campsite we actually felt the draft from it, someone on the airfield recently commented on how low it looked from their perspective and thought it was going to crash. Sadly on that note, an American C17 was lost earlier this week in Alaska whilst practicing for a display, all four crew were lost. Going to show that whilst this hobby is entertaining it certainly has its own dangers attached, the crash could quite easily have been at Fairford. My thoughts are with the lost C17 Crew and their colleagues and families, some of whom were watching the practice.

American C17 on extreme low flyby over the campsite

Anyway with that somber thought, it is with pride that I show my results from the weekend. Ray earlier in the year termed our's and other countries pilots / aircrew as the true professionals, a comment that I wholeheartedly agree with.

On with the show.....

The wonderful Red Arrows

The F22 Raptor

The Belgian F16, love this shot, you can see the dials in the cockpit...

Spitfire, part of the Typhoon and Spitfire Synchro Pair

RNAF F16 Display

Belgian F16 again

Royal New Zealand 757

Airbus A400M

RAF Tornado GR4 Ground Attack Aircraft on a run at over 500mph over the campsite

Red Arrows again...

The F22 Raptor accidentally taken into the Sun

The F22 Raptor on a fast turn over the campsite

The F22 Raptor, yes the sky was that grey...

The mighty, yet technically flawed and poorly managed Vulcan

The French Display Team

All these shots were taken using a Canon 450d with the Sigma 50-500mm (non IS) lens and were hand held. There is no doubt that the Sigma is up there with the bigger players in the game, some of the detail that this lens has managed to resolve at the speeds the aircraft are flying at is amazing. The second picture down is testament to this. Feel free to click on the images for a larger view, following a recommendation from Keith, I have copyrighted them for other visitors to our blog, I have no issues with anyone from the society seeing unbroken images if they wish.

Image theft is becoming a real problem lately across the internet, these are all lowered res too.

Thanks for looking, comments and crit always welcomed

Kev

Coningsby Outing

Well the weather held out for us and apart from a slight breeze which kept blowing the stove out, the day remained warm. There was a great turn out and a good time was had by all.

Here are a few of my efforts from the day, not many of them turned out very well, I had quite a few where the image just wasn't sharp, having said that it was my first day out with the new camera and I expect I will need to get used to it as it is so different from my 20D.

On with the show...

The Mighty Hunter, an amazing aircraft, given its age, the rate of climb on this was phenomenal

The Sentinel

The Typhoon

The Dakota

The Blades

Summer Event One - Bluebells @ Clumber Park

An arty one to get started...

I have just sat down with a beer and transferred my photo's to the computer and so thought that I would create the report for tonights event....

After watching the rain pour down today I was sat feeling sorry for our Programme Secretary, Ray, after organising the get together and enthusing so much about it, it was looking as though it would be cancelled due to the weather. Luckily in the afternoon it started to brighten and the rain stayed off for the rest of the night.

It was good to see some familiar faces, including that of Mr Janaszek who joined us for the night. After a quick chat we all headed, mostly in our own separate ways to make the most of the light and the wonderful subject, Bluebells. Trying our best not to disturb the bluebells there was an extreme amount of weaving, some strange/extreme camera angles to get the shots and the light stayed pretty much ok until everyone had finished.

We then headed down to the lake for some more photo's to finish the night off, although by then the light had pretty much gone. Hopefully there was enough light for James' photo of the rat to come out ok :-)

All in all I think everyone had a good time, shame that the pub visit didn't come to fruition although the tipple of whiskey from Mr Staley certainly went down a treat! - Oh - and thank you to the RAF for the flypasts by the AWACS!

Here's one I took earlier!

Night all...

Kev

Civil War at Rockingham by Ray Staley

On Sunday at Rockingham Castle I met a mass of folks reenacting the American Civil War, but for the first time I spent more time talking to the reenactors than I did photographing them. I've never come across any history book, film or play that was anywhere near as interesting as the facts that these people told me. One chap was one of the very first reenactors in the UK so I also heard the history of reenacting.