Category Archives: aircraft

P-40 Tomahawk

Arriving in a new part of the world means a lot of new aeronautical experiences are waiting to be had. Those who have lived here a while know where the good things are to be seen but I don’t. Therefore, it is best to take advantage of the knowledge that is already there. Fortunately, I already know a few people out this way but also, courtesy of friends back in the Midwest, I have been introduced to some new people who are very familiar with the local aviation scene.

My friend Paul was in the area for work and we wanted to take a trip out. I dropped a line to Roger, one person that I had been put in contact with, to see what he could suggest. He said Sonoma would be the place to go. There are two airfields very close to each other and we shall hear more of one of them another day. On this day, we spent our time at Sonoma Valley or, as it seems to be more familiarly known, Schellville. They hold an open day once a month and this was one of those days.

We arrived and things looked pretty quiet but it was early in the day. We weren’t sure whether we had come to the right spot at first so made a quick recce down the street. Finding nothing (at least nothing that made us feel like we were in the right place!), we came back to where we had started and there on the ramp where, only a few minutes previously, nothing had been now sat a P-40 Tomahawk. This came as quite a surprise.

As we were looking over the fence at it, out comes a P-51 Mustang and parks next to it. Towing them around was a guy called Chris who willingly told us about the day, what he was planning to fly and a good spot for us to go and put our stuff which would provide a good view of proceedings and some shade and seating! Result. We had a wander around before getting ourselves in position for the planned flight of the P-40.

A guy from Silicon Valley was having the flight as a birthday treat. We watched them taxi out and depart before running in across the field. Then they headed off to fly around the local area. Not a bad start to the day!

Bleriot XI

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I was kindly invited up to Sonoma Skypark by Eric Presten to have a look at his Bleriot XI. This is a replica that Eric and his family built in a short time span and that spends a lot of time in Wisconsin. Therefore, it was quite unusual for it to be in California and in one piece. It was about to be disassembled so I was keen to see it before it came apart again.

Eric flies the aircraft occasionally but will happily tell you that it is not a particularly fun aircraft to fly. It has wing warping rather than ailerons which are not the most effective – particularly at the speeds which this aircraft operates at. However, it is a cool replica and one I would like to see fly at some point. Eric kindly had the aircraft pulled out for me to get some shots. Thanks for the great hospitality.

Eric is an aviation photographer himself and has an outstanding collection of images of more aircraft than I knew existed. He will happily sell you copies of his books so head to http://www.prewarpublications.com/Home.html to see his work.

Flying With Pete

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My relative Pete is the sort of friend I was destined to have. Pete likes lots of fun things but at the heart of it for him (aside from his family of course) is flying. Pete has been flying all of his life and today he spends his working time at the pointy end of a 747. However, in the mean time, he owns a Piper Arrow which he spends as much time as possible flying.

I have told about our trip in some previous posts. However, I didn’t ever show you the beast itself – I am talking about the Arrow rather than Pete. After we had finished our trip, he had to take it across to Bournemouth for some maintenance so I hung around long enough to catch him departing from Sandown. Here, then, are some shots of Pete and his plane. Thanks for a great time mate.

Shooting the Astar

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The team from Helinet was in town recently as part of a movie shoot. With the end of the shoot coming up, I was asked to get some shots of the helicopter in the city. Alan knows exactly what he is doing when flying in amongst the city buildings and can put the helicopter wherever I wanted it for the images. We even got lucky with some great weather. (The following day, it was foggy and no go at all!)

With some advance planning and some good communication during the shoot, we were able to position the helicopter to look dynamic in amongst the buildings. It would have been good to get some video too but time was limited and stills were required so that is what we did. A fun shoot and great people to work with.

Helicopter Over London

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My Dad’s 70^th birthday seemed like something that deserved a decent present. What to get him though? As someone who spent his entire working career in London property, he has seen all parts of the city many times. However, I know he hasn’t seen it from above so much. Therefore, a helicopter ride over the city seemed like a good idea. The fact that I thought it would be really cool too is neither here nor there!

I asked a friend of mine who flies helicopters who he would recommend for this and, being an outstandingly good fellow, he volunteered his services. A very generous gesture. Having someone I know flying the trip meant it was a lot easier to discuss exactly what we wanted to do.

The helicopter corridor across London runs along the River Thames. You join it at Greenwich to avoid the London City Airport airspace and then head along the river through the city and out to the west until you reach Fulham at which point you peel off to avoid Heathrow – always a good idea if they aren’t expecting you!

The weather was not quite what we had hoped. The day started very nicely but the haze built up as we went. Flying early was probably a good idea since it didn’t clear up again until the evening at which point the birthday party was underway. I saw a few buildings that have sprung up since I left including The Shard. I do love London and seeing it again from such a great vantage point was a lot of fun. I hope Dad enjoyed it as much as I did!

Reno Air Races

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The National Championship Air Races recently took place at Reno NV. This was my second year covering it and the 50^th running of the races. Before I go too much further, here is the link to the article I wrote for Global Aviation Resource so, if you want a rundown on how the event went, that is a good place to go. It also has pictures but you don’t need to go there for them since I am about the share a bunch of them here too!

Reno is a very interesting event to shoot. The organizers go to a lot of effort to host the media representatives. Given how many of us show up, this is no small feat. They provide a center for us to base ourselves out of, breakfast and lunch each day (this year sponsored by Nikon), buses to take a selection of people out to the pylons each morning and afternoon, access to most places you could want to be and a team with golf carts who will run you to wherever you want to go (provided you can find them since they are kept busy!).

The parts of the show are very interesting in themselves. Exploring the pits is a great thing to do. The main pit area has the Unlimited racers and the T-6s. The jets are at the far end of the field and always seem isolated to me. However, more fun can be had walking through the hangars for the Sport, Bi-Plane and Formula One classes. Here you will see small teams of people beavering away on their pride and joy. With a lot less people coming through, you can get a lot more access to what they are doing.

When it comes down to it though, the racing is what it is all about. Shooting from the pits and the stands is fine and it gives a certain perspective on the races but shooting from the pylons is something else. Being right inside the turn as aircraft zip by at high speed and low altitude is really impressive. Sometimes you want to just stand and watch rather than see it all through a viewfinder. However, the races are not long and, if you have a variety of shots that you are looking for, you have to get them quickly.

Moreover, sometimes you need to get in the groove. The slower types are easier to calibrate yourself for but the jets and the Unlimiteds are really motoring and you don’t have much time to get in practice. You may want shots of everything but there are certain planes that you know are going to be required for coverage and whether you get them looking good, in good light and sharp in the brief windows available is a combination of practice and luck – plenty of the latter in my case!

It is a fun event to be at and one that will leave you pretty exhausted. Getting there early for the sunrise lighting and being around to get whatever opens up at the end of the day followed by downloading everything and cataloging it before cleaning your gear up – that dust gets everywhere – charging anything that needs charging and also remembering to eat and suddenly the sleep feels awfully short. It’s only a few days though. Is there somewhere else you would rather be?

Up Close and Personal with an Enstrom

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I was visiting a helicopter operator as part of an article that I am working on at the moment. Unconnected with the subject I was covering are some other operations that they undertake including some flying training activities. One of the customers was converting onto the Enstrom while I was there so I took the time to get some shots.

The Enstrom is a cute looking machine to my eye. The shape of the fuselage is emphasized by getting as close as you can to it. The best place to be was low and just off the pad. I was in a safe spot where I was and I knew the capabilities of those in control so was happy to get the shot. The hardest thing about shooting here is that the downwash is strong so holding steady is tricky.

When the sortie was over, they came back and taxied low across the site so I managed to grab a few more shots. What better way to spend time on a lovely sunny day?

Blur That Prop!

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Ask any aviation photographer about camera settings and they will quickly turn to shutter speed for prop aircraft. The goal is a nicely blurred prop and no frozen blades. This requires a slow shutter speed and this can have downsides. If you are using a long lens, getting a sharp shot of a moving target with a low shutter speed can be tricky. A bit of spray and pray with the shutter button can be required. Interestingly, if you are closer to the aircraft and using a shorter focal length, things are not necessarily better. When you are close in, the different parts of the airframe are actually moving at different speeds and angular rates to you so one part might be sharp when another isn’t. Sometimes this looks okay but often it just looks crap.

I have become less focused on gaining the great blur for ground shots. Air to air it is something a lot more worthwhile since the other plane is not moving relative to you – well, hopefully not that much. Therefore, you can experiment going slower with hopefully some good results. Similarly, when I am shooting helicopters close in and hovering, I will give it a go too.

Recently, I was at the Waukegan show and I decided that, since what I was shooting was not something that I had to get (either I would have other chances or I wasn’t so bothered anyway), I would play with some really low speeds. I ended up shooting at 1/80^th of a second which, on a 500mm lens is a stretch. Needless to say, you are not going to see the failures. When I have played like this before, I have had times when not one of the shots was of any use. However, this time I did get a few lucky results – yes, they were luck. You can have great panning technique (which is not always true for me) but the math is not in your favor when doing this. Therefore, I shall be happy with the results this time around. I won’t be doing this all of the time but playing around is an important thing to do when you have the chance. Just don’t do it when you really want to have a shot you can keep.

Team SHAR

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I have spent time with Art Nalls and his Team SHAR at various events over the years but it had been a while since we had last crossed paths. Therefore, it was good to see Art and the guys again at Gary for the Chicago Air and Water Show. This year has been a busy year for the team. Not only have they got themselves well established on the show circuit but the lack of military participation has meant a relatively modern fast jet is in high demand to fill the gap left by the normal front line fighters. Add to that, the difference that a Harrier brings and you can see why their calendar has been filling up.

I caught up with Art early in the day and ended up running some errands with him for a while. However, I didn’t want to miss other acts on the ground so left them for a while to do some other stuff. I did get back later in the day and chatted to the guys for a while and watched the launch and recovery. With the jet on the ground, I also took the time to get some shots of it while no one was working on it. On the final day of the show, I did head back to the beach to try and catch it in action too.

It was, as always, great to hang out with the team. They did a great job and closed out the show nicely. I hope it isn’t as long before I next see them!

Chicago Air and Water Show

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Middle of August means the Chicago Air and Water Show is back. This year’s show, like all other shows in the US, was always going to be a bit different since the US military was not going to be taking part. That means a shift in emphasis from normal with a lot more civilian acts. With no headlining team this year (normally the Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds alternate), there was a question as to whether the attendance would be significantly reduced. It is a free show so you might think it isn’t that big a deal but the sponsorship is important and that requires people to show so it was going to be interesting to see how things shaped up.

There were some jets to add some noise and speed to the proceedings. Art Nalls brought his Sea Harrier and Paul Wood brought the A-4 Skyhawk. Both displayed twice on the show days to add a hint of military jets to things. Of course, these are not operational fighters and are nursed a little more carefully than a front line jet which the pilot can swap for another if he breaks anything. However, they still are able to up the tempo a bit.

I mixed my time between the flying on the beach in Chicago and Gary airport where everyone was staging from. It is fun to get the mix of the actual displays and the activity around launching and recovering the planes. The shots are a mix of those. I got to spend a lot of time with Team SHAR and will have a separate post about that in due course. From what I saw and heard, the attendance on the beach was pretty strong, if a little down on previous years. It looks like the show does indeed go on!