Category Archives: Air Shows

Super Fast Frame Rate

One of the features that was added to the Canon EOS R3 via a firmware update was a ridiculously high frame rate mode. The fastest frame rate in normal shooting is 30fps (which is clearly ridiculous itself for anyone that has been photographing for a long time). The extra mode comes with limitations. Once you start shooting, autofocus and exposure monitoring are suspended so you get a lot of shots with the same settings. However, this does allow you to get 194fps!!! Yes, that is not a typo. It will only do this for a maximum of 50 frames but that is raw capture – not a jpeg. You get to select how many frames are taken which I have to admit I didn’t realize until recently. I was shooting with a limit of 10 frames for quite a while and wondering why. I’ve fixed that now.

There are relatively few times when this mode is actually useful. The viewfinder does black out when you use it so, if you are tracking something, a little bit of predictive guesswork is in order. If you were shooting a baseball pitch being hit, this could be pretty handy. I decided to use it on the Blue Angels pair crossing during Seafair to see how things work out. The answer is pretty good. I include a sequence of shots so you can see what even this frame rate gives you for two fast jets head on to each other. A limited tool but one that could be utilized. I have also been using it for very lower shutter speed experimentation but that will be another post.

This Stabilization is Amazing

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Another episode in the testing of the RF 200-800 for today’s post. This is more focused on the image stabilization in the lens. When shooting stills, I have commented on the slightly odd jerking effects visible in the viewfinder. I think this is most apparent when panning very slowly and I think the camera is trying to work out if you mean to stay still or not. However, one area which is really effective at showing the capabilities of the stabilization is video.

I have some footage below that is taken with the lens at 800mm and hand held. No tripod or monopod here. The rabbit was at the other end of our back yard while the bees were on the lavender plants in our beds. You can see that the image is remarkably stable. It is amazing to see it lock on so well. I have also shot some video of an F-35B in the hover, also at 800mm. It was interesting to see a lot of movement in the viewfinder for a moment and then it seemed to lock in on what it was doing and then things get really solid. This tech is most impressive.

Tango Really Does Like to Get Those Jetpipes Close

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Those that have seen photos from the air show scene in 2024 may well have seen the spirited departure that the Royal Canadian Air Force Hornet demo includes. The CF-188 gets pulled aggressively to the vertical and the speed of rotation is chosen carefully so that the engine nozzles get very close to the ground, but the airframe is already lifting and climbing so that no contact is made. It makes for some cool shots. At Abbotsford and Comox, I was nowhere close enough to get a good look at the moment of rotation, but Bremerton provided a better chance. Rather far away so a bit hazy but still pretty cool. Shame the special demo jet broke again, and we had the twin tub instead.

I Guess Ospreys Love Seafair

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Two years ago, I went down to Lake Washington to watch Seafair. I posted then about an Osprey that was flying along the shoreline while the airshow was underway. This year I went again and, while it wasn’t as frequent a visitor as last time, we did get another osprey checking out our part of the shore once more. We were well away from the display axis so no risk of an osprey checking out a gas turbine. Such a cool looking bird to see. Soon they will be gone for the season.

Erickson Makes the Bremerton Show Interesting

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The Bremerton Air Show had some interesting displays, but the biggest contribution came from the Erickson Air Collection. Aside from the Grumman Duck about which I have already posted, they brought a P-47 Thunderbolt, a P-40 Kittyhawk, a Bf-109 and an F4U Corsair. The Corsair was for the Legacy Flight at the end of the show, but the others went up together for a sequence of passes. Great to see these different planes out and about and congratulations to Erickson for having added so much to the show.

Burning the Runway Surface

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I got a sequence of shots of the F-35B as it was taking off for its display at Seafair. I was a long way down the runway from it so the image quality is not all I would like but what caught my eye was the effect of the afterburner plume on the runway surface. From shot to shot, there was either this red glow or nothing. I was wondering whether it was a function of material on the runway like rubber that was burning in the efflux of the engine. Interesting effect, whatever the reason.

After Many Years, I Finally See a Duck Fly

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My aviation interests are varied but my favorites are modern and recent jet fighters if I am pushed. However, vintage aircraft and warbirds are still pretty cool even if they are not something I know a huge amount about. There will be occasions when such a type might be enough to get me out and about. I was on the fence about going to the Bremerton Air Show but, when I heard that Erickson was bringing its Grumman J2F Duck to fly at the show, my interest was piqued.

I have seen a few of these amphibious planes in museum collections but I have never seen one airborne. It is such a quirky looking airframe; I was really interested in getting some shot of it flying so that tipped me over the edge with regard to heading down to Bremerton National Airport for the show. This is the sort of thing that then results in the plane going tech and me being disappointed. However, that was not to be the case this time.

Mike Oliver flew the display in the Duck. We were seated in a location close to where it was parked so got to watch it from start up to shut down. No great aerobatic performances for a plane like this but the nice thing was that they got their whole collection airborne together and then everything else went off to hold while the Duck took center stage. A few nice passes and then it came back into land. The light could have been better, but it was still pretty good. I finally have ticked it off. I guess now I’ll see them everywhere!

A Curious Old Drone

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The Gyrodyne QH-50 DASH was produced in the 1960s as an anti-submarine platform for ships that were too small to accommodate manned helicopters. I had never heard of it before and saw it on the ramp at Olympia during the Olympic Air Show this year. Apparently, there are some at museums I have been to before, but I guess I wasn’t paying attention. It is a small vehicle with a gas turbine and coaxial rotors. I understand it could carry a couple of torpedoes so now slouch. Now it is a museum piece, but it might have been interesting to see one in the air!

Evening Raptor Demo at Last

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The “at last” in this title is not that I haven’t seen an F-22 demo in the evening. I saw one once at Chino and it was very cool. This is more about the fact that the Raptor demos in recent years have not strayed far west very often. They did a demo in Australia but only had one demo west of the Mississippi for one season. However, Canada did attract the team, and Abbotsford provided a chance to see them for me.

The pilot for the demo for the last two years is a guy that was a regular attendee of air shows in the Midwest when I lived there. I know some of his friends, but he was quite young then and I can’t claim to know him. Even so, it is rather cool to see him have made it to his chosen airframe of the F-22 and then to become the demo pilot. Only near the end of his second year did I finally see his routine and it was a good show. I know he has used flares at a number of events, but warm dry weather probably has meant that the fire risk precluded that. Even so, the evening light made for a great show.

Nicely done, Sam. Excellent performance. Hope you have enjoyed it for the last two years.

Girls Fly 2 Arrivals

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Each year, there is an event held at Abbotsford International Airport to encourage the involvement of young women in the aviation business. You get quite a few military aircraft arriving for the event, and they focus on female crews from the units to bring the planes in. While this is in Canada, the US supports the event well. I headed up to see what the arrivals would include.

Weather was a bit overcast so not ideal given that plenty of the planes coming in will be grey. However, there were hints of sun periodically although it did end up throwing down more rain around the time I was leaving. Aside from the A-10s and a Cyclone, the arrivals I saw were dominated by transport and tanking types. The KC-135s had come quite a long way but the one I was probably happiest to get was the C-5 Galaxy. No TF-39 whine, these days, but still a cool jet to see flying.