Tag Archives: Leonardo

Portugal’s Merlins Just Look Better

The AW101 is a great looking helicopter. I saw the original prototypes fly in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s including one that was configured as a civilian passenger type (sadly never to have the demand to make it to production). Since that time, I have liked to get photos of them wherever possible. The Canadian Cormorants look great in their yellow paint, and I finally got shots of them last year. Normally they are not painted in a very exciting way.

However, the Portuguese Merlin came to display at RIAT this year and it was way better looking than the average. It has a camouflage finish which seems to be a rarity these days. The colours of the camo were also quite vibrant, and it made for a striking subject. It certainly helped that the crew were throwing it around quite energetically and performed on more than one occasion, so I got plenty of shots of it.

An air show is an opportunity to see an airframe performing in ways that you wouldn’t normally get but it is also a rather sterile environment. These helicopters are used for search and rescue along the coastline of Portugal, and I imagine it would be really nice to get to photograph them in their “natural habitat” with cliffs and the see behind them. Maybe I might find myself out there one day.

Is This Wildcat Carrying Enough?

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RIAT was visited by a number of AW159 Wildcats for the show. The Navy and Army brought examples with the Navy showing theirs as part of the Black Cats team. Midway through the show, another Navy example showed up. Unlike the others, this one was carrying external stores. The original Lynx looked heavily loaded if it was carrying four Sea Skuas, but this one really did look like it was ready for anything. I’m not sure if this is the Martlet missile installation or something else but, whatever it is, there was no shortage of capability on display.

A Bit of a Royal Flypast

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I was walking in the fields near our house once evening when I heard the sound of a helicopter above me. I searched the skies for it and picked up what appeared to be a dark AW139. I didn’t think it would be a military unit since the UK doesn’t have military 139s. I grabbed a bunch of shots from a distance. Lighting wasn’t ideal but, you don’t always get to chose the conditions you get. I think pulled up FR24 to see if it showed up and, sure enough, it did. It belongs to the King’s Flight and was heading to London from Culdrose in Cornwall. I guess the dark colours I was seeing were the maroon colours used by the royal helicopters. No idea if he was onboard or not.

Something is Missing from This AW189

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I posted some shots of an Irish Coast Guard AW189 that I saw at Lee on Solent. As I was getting ready to head home, I saw another one being towed out on to the ramp. This was a UK coast guard example, and I got excited by the idea that it might fly too. Then I put the camera up to my eye and realised that there was little likelihood that this airframe was flying on this day. A few bits were absent that seemed like they might be crucial!

An Irish Coast Guard AW189 Delivery

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I mentioned in a previous post that I had been to Lee on Solent and seen and AW189 on the coastguard ramp. Chatting with a few of the locals, I found out that this one was due for delivery to the Irish Coast Guard that day. I was in the café and thought I would notice it as it fired up for departure. Sadly, I was wrong about this. While eating some lunch, I look at FR24 and saw that it was taxiing. Just as I stood up, I saw it out of the window as it lifted and flew off. I was a bit annoyed with missing it but went outside anyway. The guys told me it might be back shortly and, sure enough, it flew a brief sortie and then came back.

After it touched down, the word was that they were finalising some last-minute snags and that it would depart to Ireland. The team seemed to be loading up some items and the beacons were still on so I hoped it would not be too long before they got going. Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait too long for them to fire up. There was a small rise between where I was and where they taxied which was a little frustrating but, before too long, they were ready to lift and then a quick turn and they climbed out before turning en route. No sign of them returning this time and they were gone. Nice looking helicopter and the normal style of coast guard colours was improved by the nice green stripe.

Sadly, the AMXs Are Gone

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The Italian Air Force recently retired their AMX fleet. I remember seeing early AMX demonstration flights at Farnborough, so this is another one of those moments when you realize you are old enough to have seen the entire life cycle of an aircraft. The “joys” of aging, I guess. Anyway, I figured that, while I hadn’t seen a lot of AMXs over their time, I would reflect the few encounters that I had with them.

The Cormorant Beats Me Again

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One of my goals for going to the air show at Abbotsford this year was to see a Cormorant fly. I know this would sound like my normal interest in the bird species but this time it means the AW101 version that is flown for Search and Rescue by Canada. Sure, I have seen plenty of 101s over the years with the British and Italian examples, but I have never seen a Canadian one before. It was due to display during the show. When I got there, I was delighted to see it sitting on the operating ramp.

However, my optimism was unjustified. There was no announcement during the show about what had happened to the SAR demo, but it just didn’t happen. The day shows did get the demo, but the Friday evening show was a no go. It was a fun show, so I wasn’t too disappointed, but it was a little frustrating to still have never seen a Cormorant airborne. One day…

Merlin Tormenting Me

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During our stay in Longparish, we could hear the sound of helicopters on a regular basis. We weren’t far from both RAF Odiham and Middle Wallop so getting military movements was to be expected. Getting a camera to hand when they came over was another thing. However, while on one walk, we did see a Royal Navy Merlin operating across the fields and behind some trees. Getting a clear look at it was very difficult and, as we got closer to where it was on our walk, it naturally moved off somewhere else. I never got a good shot. Here is the best I could manage as they taunted me by remaining just out of reach.

Various Ways To Stitch A Panorama

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Lightroom has three methods for stitching the panoramas together. I tend to use one but for some shots, a different style is beneficial. I was flipping through some shots of an HH-101 Caesar helicopter that I took at RIAT in 2019. I also had a Danish AW101 that I had shot in pano format. The Danish airframe had not been shot as well as it could have been and I did not have sufficient coverage. I decided to try different versions of the stitching to see which one gave the best result. Some result in a more natural look while others look more fish eyed. I can also stitch in Photoshop which gives me more capability for filling in gaps but, with the tricky areas being the rotors, that wasn’t going to work well since the AI is not going to work that out. Stitching also allows some warping to fill edge gaps but this can mess with the alignment of the main part of the image. I tried a couple of versions and they are compared here.

Life Flight Thinking About Flying

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The UH-34 wasn’t the only helicopter flying at Brewster. As I was driving towards the exit, I heard the sound of a turbine whining. I pulled over to the side of the road and saw that the Life Flight helicopter was running up. I headed to a piece of higher ground that overlooked their space. The Agusta 119 Koala was sitting on a trailer and warming up. It then pulled up in to a hover and transitioned to the grass. A moment later, back to the hover and back to the trailer. This was repeated a couple of times. It didn’t seem like they were actually going flying unfortunately. As they ran down the RPMs, I figured it was time to move on again.