Off Topic: Duxford Air Show - Many Pics!

[PrivateCustard]

Hey Guys, this is a little off topic, but you all seem to love all things aviation, so I thought you'd like these!

On Saturday, a friend and I visited the Duxford Air Show. This was my third air show this year........and the third time I've been to Duxford. I absolutely adore that place.

Saturday was also the day I finally decided that it was time for me to change systems from Olympus to a nice Canon 7D and 100-400L. The Oly gear is just too limited now.

All ground shots were taken with the E3 and Sigma 18-50 2.8. I reverted back to the old faithful E510 and 50-500 for the airborne shots. Here are the pics..........lots of them!

The 2012 display Hawk, with an RAF Valley Hawk and Gnat to the sides.





A T-28 Fennec and Tucano





Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star








Snafu/War Eagle








A Sea King.....shot at 23mm as it landed whilst we were airside!





XH558





Consolidated Catalina





Bücker Bü 131





Sally B

[PrivateCustard]

Cont'd

Fokker DR.1





Royal Aircraft Factory RE8





Nieuport 17





Albatros DV.a





Ferocious Frankie





Hispano HA-1112 Buchon





Hurricane





The 2012 Display Hawk








Fairey Swordfish MkII

[AndyE1976]

Great shots! Going to be back in the UK for a month soon and Duxford is on my list of places to get to, it's a regular destination for my dad and I.

[PrivateCustard]

Great shots! Going to be back in the UK for a month soon and Duxford is on my list of places to get to, it's a regular destination for my dad and I.

Cheers

If you have a couple of days spare, not too far away from Duxford is the Shuttleworth Collection. I plan to visit at some point, probably next summer.

http://www.shuttleworth.org/

[AusWilko]

Very cool shots

Thanks for sharing :salute:

[Mr.Mugel]

Looks like a great time there! Still got to see a P-47 myself. Vulcan has got to be pretty stunning, too!

Would have liked 2 airshows this year, but due to learning and work, it´s not possible, so thanks for sharing some impressions!

[robertorizzo]

...4 sharing :salute::salute:

[Gdavis101]

Fantastic! Thanks for sharing. :salute:

[Ferry_vO]

Thanks, great photos!

[PrivateCustard]

Thanks guys, glad you like the shots. I'm curious as to how many of these aircraft have been repainted in FSX, by people on this very forum!

Vulcan has got to be pretty stunning, too!

It's always lovely to see XH558, she's a stunning aircraft.

The display on Saturday was muted at times though. She arrived from the east, sneaking in almost silently, just to prove that stealthy approaches are possible! The throttles were ripped open quite a few times though, with the typical Vulcan howl as awesome as ever!

It's be lovely to see all three 'V' bombers in the air at once. That's my Euromillions folly if I ever win, see if I can get a Victor and a Valiant airworthy!

[Ian Warren]

That chap in the Swordfish is really enjoying himself ... That P-47 ...oh boy dose that look menacing I'm sure the Vulcan stole the show tho . <input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><input jscode="leoInternalChangeDone()" onclick="if(typeof(jsCall)=='function'){jsCall();} else{setTimeout('jsCall()',500);}" id="jsProxy" type="hidden">

[Sundog]

Thanks for sharing the pics. I really enjoyed them. But tell us, where did you really take them? You aren't fooling me with those blue skies!

[PrivateCustard]

That chap in the Swordfish is really enjoying himself ... That P-47 ...oh boy dose that look menacing I'm sure the Vulcan stole the show tho . <input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><input jscode="leoInternalChangeDone()" onclick="if(typeof(jsCall)=='function'){jsCall();} else{setTimeout('jsCall()',500);}" id="jsProxy" type="hidden">

Snafu sure is a beautiful bird. They should be incredibly pleased with the restoration

The swordfish is always a great aircraft to watch too. I have a few shots that, when viewed at 100%, show the guy at the rear holding a GoPro HD. Probably filming for the Air Show DVD.

A great tale about the Swordfish. Fire control systems on enemy ships had been tuned for incoming aircraft. Anyone that's ever done any sort of moving target shooting (clays, skeet etc...) will understand the theory of shooting ahead of a target. Anyway, they didn't realise just how bloody slow the Swordfish was, so they were all shooting waay too far in front. The Swordfish flew so low on approach than many guns couldn't depress enough to hit them!

Amazingly, according to the expert on the tannoy at Duxford, the Swordfish was considered fairly old-school during the early stages of the war. Yet the three man crew managed to dive from 5000ft down to just 18ft and launch a torpedo that would cripple the Bismarck.

Duxford is one of the few places that I actually enjoy the commentary while the air show goes on. Every aircraft has so much history, it's mind boggling.

[PrivateCustard]

Thanks for sharing the pics. I really enjoyed them. But tell us, where did you really take them? You aren't fooling me with those blue skies!

To be honest, I was amazed at the heat. It was so warm that shooting at range with the 500mm was very problematic, what with the atmospheric distortion.

Normally I'd soldier on all day and deal with the slight sunburn later on........but I was using factor 50 that day!

[ryanbatc]

Cool pics... what were the ones in the air taken with? I just rented a 100-400L for our airshow coming up and was hoping it would be much better than my Tamron 70-300 which is pretty bad. The flying ones look a little soft so I was wondering if the 100-400L took those? It could be the post processing or low lighting... what shutter speed?

[Dimus]

Cheers

If you have a couple of days spare, not too far away from Duxford is the Shuttleworth Collection. I plan to visit at some point, probably next summer.

http://www.shuttleworth.org/

Thank you very much for the shots! I loved them all!

I have visited Shuttleworth twice, and I don't live in England. It is really worth it. They had a rough season with most of their shows cancelled due to weather. The tragic news though is the loss of one of their popular display pilots, Trevor Roche, in a crash of a DH53 Humming Bird, during one of their shows in July. It would be a good idea to attend any of their remaining shows this year, just for support.