Category Archives: aircraft

Virgin America Before Alaska Took Over

I just happened to come across this shot while looking for something else. It was a Virgin America A320. Virgin America did a reasonable job of building a profile on the west coast before they were swallowed up by Alaska. Initially their fleet was added to Alaska’s, but it wasn’t too long before Alaska disposed of the Airbus planes to focus on their Boeing fleet. They were good looking jets, and I flew inside one once after the merger where the interior finish certainly marked them as a bit different to the norm. I just figured I’d share this shot as a memory of something long gone.

Didn’t Expect an Airvan

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I was down at Lee on Solent on a Saturday morning for a hovercraft encounter. It was a glorious day with lovely sunny conditions and not too much wind. The air temps were not high, but the sun made it feel great. I was pondering whether there could be anything interesting happening at the nearby Solent Airport but that wasn’t why I was there and I knew I had a visitor at home, so I wasn’t going to spend any more time self-indulgently than was already the plan.

There was regular traffic departing from the airport, but I wasn’t paying it much attention since the straight climb outs were some distance from me. Then I saw one turning in my direction. It was a GippsAero Airvan. I didn’t have the right settings on the camera so fumbled inelegantly to try and get things close to right and grabbed a few shots of it as it flew by. Looking at the shots later, it has markings associated with a Spitfire operator which will connect with a post to come.

Visualise That Trailing Vortex

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I was working through some images that I had taken on my one and only visit to Rainbow Canyon when the military was still flying through that part of region. One of the shots that caught my eye was this one of a Super Hornet. It had passed me and was heading down towards the valley. This involved a few tight pulls around the curves in the canyon. A strong trailing vortex changes the density of the air which affects the refractive index. This distortion of the light makes the vortex visible if only by impacting the view of whatever is behind it. A good view of that effect can be seen in this shot.

Early Morning Arrivals

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A work trip had me at Heathrow just as the sun was peaking above the horizon. It was very low and, as I drove along the perimeter road to the car park, it was right in my eyes. I suspect that wasn’t too much fun for the arrivals that were on the runway aligned to the east. It did mean that the light was right on the nose of the arriving planes. I had brought the camera along because – well when don’t I?

The traffic in had been quite light so I was a touch early arriving and had about ten minutes before I needed to head into the terminal. Consequently, I got a few shots of some of the jets arriving from locations around the world. The light was almost on my side of the planes which, given I was to the north, tells me that we are getting towards summer. Here are a few of the arriving planes.

Stukas Are Rare as Hen’s Teeth

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Given how many of them were built, it is surprising how few Stukas remain. There is one in restoration in Everett at FHCAM which is supposed to be intended to fly when it is complete. I saw that one at various times when still in Seattle. There is also one in the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. The RAF Museum at Hendon also has one and this is the one I saw most recently. Any others are wrecks that have been recovered. The shape of the Stuka is very distinctive. Footage of WWII so often includes them diving in on targets with the sound of the noise trumpet device that they could fit having become synonymous with aircraft diving. Not sure how many more of them I will ever see!

The Belvedere Looks Amazing

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I am far too young to have seen the Bristol Belvedere in flight, despite what some might think! Given how old it is, it really does seem like quite a large helicopter to have been developed and operated. I bet it looked pretty cool when it was flying. Even now, when see in a museum, I think it is still quite a beast. The example at the RAF Museum in Hendon was there when I first visited in the late 80s and it is still on display. Getting shots of something this large in a relatively confined space is tricky but worthwhile. Do you think it looks as good as I do?

Set Up Publicity Photos for Helinet

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Having done the ride along with Alan Purwin of Helinet during the filming of Transformers, Alan was interested in getting some publicity shots of the helicopter to use for their own marketing material. He asked if I would be interested in doing the shots and I was more than up for it. What I wanted was to have a high enough vantage point from which to shoot. You want to be looking across or down on the helicopter to get some real context to the work.

Additionally, Alan wanted the helicopter to be mounted with a different camera mount. He owned a company in New Zealand called Shotover. This was the mount that he wanted on the helicopter for the shots instead of the larger ball mount that had been used during the Transformers filming. I discussed with him where to get an elevated location from which to shoot. He had been staying at the Trump Tower for all of the filming and had developed a good relationship with one of the managers there so got me access to use one of their outside deck areas. This proved to be an ideal spot.

We had a series of runs with the helicopter coming up the Chicago River towards me, pulling up in front of me, hovering close by and making diving runs from the River North area across in front of me to be over the Chicago River. I had a radio so I could call in the next sequence or have them run it again. The weather had become a lot nicer than it had been when I was riding along and so I was really happy with the results. So was Alan and they soon were on the marketing materials for Helinet. No doubt they now have new material, but it was used for a while. Sadly, Alan dies in a plane crash during the filming of a movie in Central America. He was a passenger in a plane that crashed on take-off. He was a super nice guy, and I am sure remains sadly missed.

Peering Over the Fence at Bruntingthorpe

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When we lived in the US, I would see lots of photos of people attending events at Bruntingthorpe with all sorts of vintage jets roaring down the runway. Sadly, those days are long gone. The story behind that is not one I know. However, there is still a collection of aircraft at the end of the airfield where I believe they have the QRA sheds with the Lightnings. One morning, I was driving north to Derby for work. I decided a small detour was allowable since it was early in the morning. I had no idea how much was visible from the gates and whether anything was open. Nothing was so I peered over the fence and took a few quick photos before continuing on my way. Everything was a bit cluttered from this angle but the lone Starfighter – while distant – did look particularly interesting. Maybe I shall visit properly one day.

Gear and Flaps

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Photographing at Heathrow means you get a steady stream of planes with barely a minute passing without another one landing. You can end up with a ton of similar shots. That got me thinking about other things I would like. A close up of the undercarriage and perhaps the flap system came to mind. For some reason – possibly the noise that the bursting vortices made after they landed – I decided that the 777-300ERs would be the ones I tried these shots with. However, an A380 did sneak in.

There is something about the mass of machinery that you get around the main landing gear and the inboard flaps that seems so complex. Of course, this is all under the wing so the lighting is less than ideal, but you get what you can. Just before sunset would be perfect but you don’t get to choose when the jets land. Here are a few of my favourite shots from that part of the afternoon shoot.

A Trip Over Chicago in the Cameraship

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In a previous post, I shared some images of the Helinet Squirrel that was used for aerial filming of the Transformers movie franchise in Chicago. When I had been in touch with Alan Purwin about some photos I had got of them in action, he invited me to come along during one of the filming sessions. They were operating from a location in the south of the city – an unusual circumstance because, in those days, Chicago did not normally allow helicopters to land in the city. However, we met up at Midway Airport before heading to the filming location.

Alan was flying whilst David Nowell, the cinematographer was in the left seat controlling the camera installation. They had worked together many times and had a very slick relationship in the air. A producer was next to me in the rear seats. We left Midway and headed into Chicago where we flew around the city a little before landing on the south side. The film crews have clearance to operate at low level and in between the buildings. It is quite a stunning place to be as you slide between the skyscrapers.

The challenge for the team was to visualise what the scene would be. We headed towards the Sears Tower over which an alien spaceship was supposed to be. We were filming the sequences over which the CGI would insert the various elements. These sequences had to be run several times, and each had to be exactly the same so the material could be combined seamlessly. Watching all of this happen whilst seeing the buildings all around you was something else.

I would love to have spent more time with them on the project. I was not part of the regular crew so I couldn’t outstay my invitation but to see all of this in practice when having seen plenty of it from the window of our apartment over the years was something else.