Category Archives: photo

A2AX Workshop

About a year ago I saw a ton of cracking images showing up online from friends of mine that had attended the Madras A2AX workshop. At the time I figured I needed to start panning on being there for the next edition of the workshop. It is run by Scott Slocum and Lyle Jansma at the Erickson Air Museum’s facility and their aircraft provided the subjects for the photo flights. Scott and Lyle were joined by Paul Bowen. Paul was not instructing but he did provide his own perspective and guidance on what we were working on and also could be relied on to show up with his camera whenever you were looking at your goofiest and to tell some hilarious tales of his various exploits.

I met some familiar faces and made a whole bunch of new friends. Various hurdles were thrown in the way of the team due to weather and serviceability issues but they adapted well and the team were intent on having a good time whatever was going on. It was a fantastic weekend with some great learning opportunities and some beautiful aircraft to photograph. Here are a couple of samples of what we had to play with.

Rochelle Rail Park

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Rochelle IL is about half way between Chicago and the Mississippi River. For those with an interest in railroading, it is known as a location where the Union Pacific and the BNSF railroads cross. The town has taken this crossing to heart and created a park where the two lines intersect. There is a place to sit under cover and watch the trains come through while there are areas for kids to play. There is even a gift shop that stocks railroad related gifts.

I was in Rochelle for work and my colleagues were interested in seeing where the crossing was located so, during a lunch break, we headed to see it. It was a rather hot day so hanging around in the sun did not seem like a good idea to me. I went straight to the covered area to stay in the shade while they took a look around. Of course, I wasn’t going to go somewhere without taking my camera along.

We weren’t there terribly long but we did have a few trains come through. If I had thought about things, I might have come better prepared and had some hearing protection. The two tracks cross on the flat and then there are grade crossings for the local streets so they sound their horns as they come through. In such close proximity, this is a touch loud!

Kfirs

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Time for another post on a specific military aircraft. This time it is one with an interesting history. The Israeli Air Force was a customer of Dassault’s Mirage aircraft and had good experience with it. However, Dassault/France declined to sell further aircraft to Israel. Instead, the Israelis decided to make their own version. A combination of covert acquisition of design drawings and the introduction of a new engine resulted in the creation of the Kfir.

During the 1980s, a number of Kfirs were supplied to the US Navy to be operated as aggressor aircraft under the F-21 designation. Their use in service was not terribly long but, once they were withdrawn, they were acquired by private companies to use in support roles for training. I have come across them a couple of times. One was at Pt Mugu in California when an example was shooting approaches. The other time was during a visit to NAS Fallon in Nevada where they were launching on training missions.

The Kfir is quite a mean looking aircraft. The original delta wing design has many good attributes but approach speed is not one of them and they really do seem to be motoring when they come down the approach. I imagine they will remain in service for a number of years to come so I hope to see more in due course.

Get Ready for Some UK Stuff

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A short while ago, Nancy and I returned from a vacation in the UK. We had an excellent time and ended up seeing and doing a ton of interesting things. Consequently, the blog is going to have a stream of things from the UK showing up in the coming weeks. This is just the start.

Sleek Looking 429

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While I don’t have any particular brand loyalty when it comes to helicopter manufacturers, I have never been a great fan of Bell products from an aesthetic position. They may be great machines but the fact the majority of the line look like pumped up Jet Rangers has never impressed me. Of course, a decent color scheme can go a long way to making something look better. The 429 is a chunky looking version of the basic shape and not a favorite for me but this example showed up at Boeing Field. Someone came up with a cool idea for this airframe. The gloss black paint with the color trims looks pretty cool to me. Good effort whoever did this.

Last of the Good Light

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Getting some lovely evening light means the steady improvement in shooting conditions right up until the point when it all goes away. The light was on the nose of the departing jets so was good as they climbed out. Once they were passed our location, they were partially backlit but, since the sun was very low in the sky, the undersides of the jet were illuminated as it climbed. This provided some great options.

As the sun got even lower, the shade was beginning to be an issue for the front shots but the sky still provided a few nice options as the jets were heading away. The back of a plane might not always be the best side to shoot but, if the light is playing ball, it can be good. Of course, the transformation from great to gone is pretty quick so you make the best of it and then you can go home!

MiG29

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Continuing through my theme of looking at individual types, I came across some old pictures of the MiG-29. I figured I could get a post out of them so here we are. I saw quite a few of the Fulcrums in the late 80s and early 90s when they started traveling further afield. My first encounter was when the Russian Air Force brought a pair to Farnborough. They showed up again in a later year and then examples from other eastern bloc air forces started coming to the UK once the wall came down.

The quality of my film shots from those days is not great but you can see a bit of what was on offer. The Ukrainian aircraft showed up in some really cool colors. The best shots I have are of the MiG-29OMT which was a demonstrator that came to the UK in 2006 and displayed at RIAT. It had thrust vectoring nozzles to enhance maneuverability and put in a pretty impressive display.

Lots of the operators today are starting to look at replacements. The age of some airframes along with the support issues are pushing them to renew while interoperability with NATO forces is another driver for change. I’m not sure how many more I will see flying although there are a good number in museums. There are a couple in private hands here in the states (one of which I saw being towed from across Paine Field) so they might be my best bet.

Is That a Crosswind?

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Unless you are on the center-line of the approach, you rarely get to see the aircraft directly head on. If there is a crosswind from your direction, though, you can get the planes pointing straight at you for a while. Sadly, this usually is while they are further out on the approach. If you are closer to the runway then you can get a shot that is more interesting because there is some ground to provide context to the angle of the plane. With a strong enough crosswind, you can get a head on shot until close to touchdown.

There is a location that I shot at once that is no longer available. It provided a good opportunity to get shots on a strong crosswind day. A Cathay Pacific 777-300ER demonstrates what I mean. A long airliner like a 777 emphasizes the effect even better when it swings around just before touchdown. The photos don’t demonstrate that as well as a video would but it did look cool. It wasn’t the only one either!

What is Happening on This 767?

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Every once in a while you see something and you have no idea what is going on. As a United 767 climbed out from O’Hare, it was streaming something from the fuselage. I saw it through the viewfinder at the time and figured it would be obvious what it was when I looked at the pictures. It turns out I still don’t know what was happening. Anyone reading this that has any ideas, please let me know what you think.

Angel of the North

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I was sent some pictures recently of a large sculpture in the UK. It threw me back to a trip that Nancy and I took a few years ago. Part of our route was a drive up the A1 passing Gateshead. Along the side of the road is a huge sculpture called the Angel of the North. You can’t drive by and not stop to see it (unless you live there or go by frequently I guess).

You can park close by and walk around the sculpture. The scale is impressive and photographs do not do much to convey the scale of it. The size is one thing but the shape of the structure is also cool with the whole thing made up of flat sheets of steel. Then there is the color. The rust finish is very cool and is excellent when he lain is on it but looks moody if it is cloudy. This is one cool piece of art and I would recommend a diversion to see it if you are anywhere close.