The Aviation Enthusiasts Thread!

[bassteban]

The Valkyrie kinda reminds me of the alien craft from the 1953 version of *War of the Worlds*

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Contrast & compare...

 

[bmc]

What a bunch of propeller heads.

 

[Relic]

What a bunch of propeller heads.

Pot callin' the kettle black, huh?

 

[hbarcat]

Killer Neuron, those are some spectacular pictures you've taken - particularly considering the difficulty of the subject.

What photography gear are you using? Any particular techniques for shooting flying aircraft?

Give us shutterbug/aviation enthusiasts the details.

 

[KillerNeuron]

Killer Neuron, those are some spectacular pictures you've taken - particularly considering the difficulty of the subject.

What photography gear are you using? Any particular techniques for shooting flying aircraft?

Give us shutterbug/aviation enthusiasts the details.

Haha thanks! I actually have a pretty cheap set up... Canon 500D with a stock 18-55mm lens and a cheap as hell 55-250mm telephoto f/4-5.6... its slow as HELL and definitely not appropriate for aviation photography, but I am poor so there you go!

In order to make up for my slow lens, I keep the aperture open and the shutter fast, and set my camera on continuous shooting. Just hold the shutter button down and try to pan with the passing aircraft as closely as possible to its traveling speed. Monopod is also a must!

here are a few more shots I managed to snag with my ghetto-cam

and, my personal favorite:

And yes, the Viper West guys thought that was pretty hilarious. They claim he was talking about Pecan Pie...

 

[hbarcat]

Sah-weeeeet!

 

[poorbassist15]

Kinda ironic if you're aware of the tragic crash involving the XB-70 & an F-104 chase plane...

I am. I didn't notice that...

 

[Michael Jewels]

Hello, all.

Here's a video I think you will all enjoy.

It's of a South African Airways 747SP that's being retired at an airport with a very short and narrow runway.

The pilot has to get the landing right the first time, due to the shortness of the runway, hence the two precautionary approaches.

Here it is: Last flight of 747SP south african airways. - YouTube

Personally, I hate when most people add music to their amateur videos, because the music they choose is too brash and distracting.


But, I like the music in this video, and I think it fits well.

Enjoy.

Mike

 

[Tegzsa]

Here's the opposite, a fast taxi that became an accidental takeoff:

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[Michael Jewels]

Here's the opposite, a fast taxi that became an accidental takeoff:

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WOW!

Who was at the controls?

Mike

 

[Tegzsa]

WOW!

Who was at the controls?

Mike

I don't know the pilot's name, but it was a planned taxi that turned into a seriously Brown Trouser moment during a "Cold War Jets Open Day":

"3 May 2009: During a "fast taxi" run at Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome, XM715 made an unplanned brief flight, reaching a height of about 30 ft (9 m) at maximum. The aircraft did not have a permit to fly; however, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) stated that they would not be conducting an investigation. The co-pilot had failed to reply to the command "throttles back", the pilot then had to control the throttles himself, the confusion temporarily disrupting firm control of the aircraft."[wikipedia]

This is Teasin' Tina's sister, Lusty Lindy at the York Aircraft Museum (quite why 200,000 lb atom-bombers have such coquettish names remains a mystery):

 

[Michael Jewels]

OK, here's are some mixed WW2 and jet links I think most of you will like.

Some British planes.

First, a chart with the size differences among the three British heavy bombers of WW2, the Short Stirling, The Handley Page Halifax, and the Avro Lancaster. I built model kits of all three when I was a kid, but never realized how much bigger the Stirling was compared with the other two.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/British_WW2_bombers_comparison.png

For lovers of the Lancaster, a clip from it's most famous movie:
The Dambusters - The First Dam - YouTube

A De Havilland Vampire.
De Havilland 100 Vampire High speed low pass Kjeller Norway - YouTube

This one's for Relic.
F-104 Starfighter Max Performance Climb - YouTube

Mike

 

[Relic]

How about this one:

 

[bmc]

Two Mirages from the French Air Force screamed over our quite country place in France last month. No afterburners. Just cruising along on their way back to the Dijon air base.

A year after we bought the place, we're now learning that we're right in the middle of a training area, which explains the jet noise during the week. It's not often, maybe one occurance a week. But my wife hates it. As for myself, I get to see the lads up close at low level. That formation pass was no more than 400 feet above us. Sharp looking machines, just like the old F-102.

Here. Go full screen and enjoy:

 

[Relic]

I've always loved the French Mirage series along with it's derivatives. The thing that strikes me as odd about them though - I swear that it looks like the French took an F-104 fuselage and popped F-102/F-106 wings on it!! I really wonder if there was an influence there when the French were designing it...

 

[EdHunter]

I live more or less right under the flightpath of the pair of JU-52s, which are housed at an airfield c.20km away. Most days, they come over at treetop level above my house, out to the mountains. It's quite an enjoyable sight (not to mention sound), and I'll try to get a picture of it sometime.

The place where our band room is quite close to their home field, and so we sometimes see them overhead there. Once, it was late-evening (setting summer sun ) , they were in formation at exceptionally low level, and we were in an advanced state of mind, so that was quite something...

 

[bmc]

Ed...are they based at ZRH? I saw the Classic flight DC-3 here on the ramp last week. The Super Constellation was in town (Geneva) last month.

 

[EdHunter]

They're at Dubendorf, a little south of Kloten. I saw the Connie on it's way over, it flew at the height of my house (I'm about 100m above the lake) right over the lake, maybe 2km out form me.

 

[bmc]

Ed...you gotta make your way out to Bex airport. Here's the webcam link. Busy field on Saturdays. Uncontrolled field with gliders, aerobatics, transients, homebuilts, high speed passes, etc. It's literally an airshow. Check out the picnic tables by the field. A frosty beer in hand, watching this activity from 100 feet off of centerline. Something the FAA would choke on.

This little baby is based there. The guy uses every inch of runway to take off and and to stop it. It is critical he nails it on the numbers when landing. High speed approach on a short strip. Furthermore, looking at the view from the webcam, the runway drops on the left side. Here's the airplane. It's the only one of its type that is currently airworthy:

Also based at Bex, tucked away in a hangar is one of these:

It's all silver. It was a restored recently and I'm not sure if they've flown it yet. Big machine.

Also on that field is a big yellow Dornier DO27.

A good buddy of mine keeps his Extra 300L in the same hangar as the C36. This is his machine, G-IIMI. Google it.

 

[EdHunter]

I've seen the Dewotoine at a coupla shows (were you at Emmen last summer for the 100 years of Swiss aviation show? It was pretty good).

Here's G-DORN at my old stomping ground - Bournemouth, some time ago:
G-DORN C-552 Dornier (EKW) C-3605 Swiss Air Force | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
I've known that plane ever since I was walking, nice to know it's followed me!