Sub £100 Nikon Lens for Airshows

[Haydn1971]

Friend of mine against my better judgement bought a second hand Nikon D40 with a 18-55mm kit lens - we are heading off to a few airshows this summer and he wants a better lens - I'm thinking an old Nikon prime might suit his needs well in the 100-200mm range - looking at less than £100 - any ideas ?

[Sporgon]

By 'old' and under £100 I presume you're referring to AiS manual lenses. Not sure if the D40 has the manual aperture finder required. Seem to remember you had to go more up Market to get this feature, but may be wrong 

[Haydn1971]

So potentially the older faster primes are going to be a non starter - any thoughts on the cheapo 55-200 ?

[Mt Spokane Photography]

So potentially the older faster primes are going to be a non starter - any thoughts on the cheapo 55-200 ?

 
The old non VR  55-200 has reasonable resolution for the price, its a bit cheaply constructed, so don't batter it around.
 
Its going to be a struggle as far as AF and shutter  speed, a slow aperture and limited ability to use high ISO settings before noise becomes a problem.
It sounds like the best compromise for your buck, a manual focus lens might be pretty frustrating for flying aircraft, but for those on the ground, it should be easy.  Just make sure he keeps his shutter speed to 1/250 or more when zoomed out. 
A rental of a faster lens might also be something to consider, but it won't be cheap either.
 
Here is a review. 
 
http://www.photozone.de/nikon--nikkor-aps-c-lens-tests/245-nikkor-af-s-55-200mm-f4-56-g-ed-dx-review--test-report