Military Aircraft: airshows, operational, whatever, lets see what you have!
- Thread starter Viper28
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dhr90 said:
Search for "mach loop". It's in Wales. RAF low flying route that draws in aircraft from all over the country. They've got other routes elsewhere in the country but the beauty of this one is that there are 'pinch points' that force the aircraft close to the valley sides (how close? close enough that a 300mm lens is fine), along with easy access for the likes of us to hike up and get level with, or even above, the aircraft.
The two points that most recommend going to are The Bwlch (good visability means plenty of warning of approaching aircraft) and Cad West (shots of aircraft banking onto their side). Both are easy to get to with nearby carparking.
They publish schedules. These bear no relation at all to what happens. Useless. Ignore them. Weather, maintenance, the whim of whoever is in charge... who knows. Note that they only fly these routes on weekdays.
This summer I unknowingly rented a lovely holiday cottage right underneath it. Hawks, Typhoons, Tornadoes and F-15s roaring over us at 250ft throughout the week. Best was the Hercules, banked at near 90 degrees 250ft above me. Absolutely awesome. Luckily the baby wasn't bothered at all by the noise.
Was a family holiday (with a new baby) so I had little chance to get any shots - spent one day up on a mountainside (with three other poor photogs) but that was the one day that nothing went up the valley :
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Viper28 said:Slight change of country: F/A18C's of the Swiss Airforce at the Axalp demo(and this one you have to climb to 7,000-feet for)
Would I be right in thinking that this is a bit of crowd pleasing as they know that the photographers are there?
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Playing with an old Sigma 400/5.6, one that no longer plays nice with Canon cameras. At the beach on NAS Pensacola when one of these came by. I'll have to head down the National Museum of Naval Aviation with my 6D and play with the RokSamBow 14mm, I'll revisit this thread after that. Not far from here is an Air Force Armament Museum with an SR-71 Blackbird on display....also worth a trip.
Other photo from inside the museum for a dedication ceremony attended by John Glenn, Gene Cernan, Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Gene Kranz. Fred Haise, talking about being ill on Apollo 13 and commenting on the scene from the movie. "I wasn't as ill as they made it look and Jim Lovell definitely did NOT hug me. You don't spend four days cooped up in a space capsule with a Navy guy and let him hug you!"
Other photo from inside the museum for a dedication ceremony attended by John Glenn, Gene Cernan, Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Gene Kranz. Fred Haise, talking about being ill on Apollo 13 and commenting on the scene from the movie. "I wasn't as ill as they made it look and Jim Lovell definitely did NOT hug me. You don't spend four days cooped up in a space capsule with a Navy guy and let him hug you!"
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Hesbehindyou said:dhr90 said:
Search for "mach loop". It's in Wales. RAF low flying route that draws in aircraft from all over the country. They've got other routes elsewhere in the country but the beauty of this one is that there are 'pinch points' that force the aircraft close to the valley sides (how close? close enough that a 300mm lens is fine), along with easy access for the likes of us to hike up and get level with, or even above, the aircraft.
The two points that most recommend going to are The Bwlch (good visability means plenty of warning of approaching aircraft) and Cad West (shots of aircraft banking onto their side). Both are easy to get to with nearby carparking.
They publish schedules. These bear no relation at all to what happens. Useless. Ignore them. Weather, maintenance, the whim of whoever is in charge... who knows. Note that they only fly these routes on weekdays.
This summer I unknowingly rented a lovely holiday cottage right underneath it. Hawks, Typhoons, Tornadoes and F-15s roaring over us at 250ft throughout the week. Best was the Hercules, banked at near 90 degrees 250ft above me. Absolutely awesome. Luckily the baby wasn't bothered at all by the noise.
Was a family holiday (with a new baby) so I had little chance to get any shots - spent one day up on a mountainside (with three other poor photogs) but that was the one day that nothing went up the valley :
Basically what he says. The original C130 pics I posted are from the Bwlch (exit) and the Harrier ones from Cad West. The Mach Loop is part of the Low Fly Area-7 (LFA-7) in mid-Wales it covers all of Snowdonia but the north loop is a compression point. In the Lake District you have LFA-14 and there is another in Scotland (LFA-27 I think).
There is no published schedule for the LFA (the ones on line are for LFA-T which is different), it purely depends on operational requirements and weather. Usually flying is weekday daylight hours but they are also used at night (C130's in particular). What you see (if anything) is pure luck most of the time. Its a 200-mile each way trip for me (plus the climb) so I don't get there as much as I'd like
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Harry Muff said:
Axalp is a yearly firepower demo by the Swiss airforce, primarily over two days. If your willing to climb up to the range at 2500m your welcome to watch. The first pair of F/A18's come in like that dropping flares, to warn that the next pair (already popping up) are coming in with live rounds to strafe the targets, you literally have 20mm cannon rounds going over your head:
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Great thread, finally!
And great photographs!
Please take a look at some pictures of mine:
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Regards!
Leszek
And great photographs!
Please take a look at some pictures of mine:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Regards!
Leszek
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Sweet Pic!Half Way To Nothing said:
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wsmith96 said:Sweet Pic!Half Way To Nothing said:
so what were you flying when you took this pic, talent I tell ya a great pic at one of the toughest flight maneuvers in the world....you must have 6 arms and 4 eyes...
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