Off to Duxford......

It all depends on the Great British Weather, Erich....

 

Ah - the first Airshow of the season is starting to appear over the horizon !

http://duxford.iwm.org.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.2391

 

maybe Martin go lost in the huge corwds at the recent gathering....from friends in the UK and a truckload of films

from the 361st fg, Yellowjackets

 

another shot of a great looking 78th fg, 83rd sq, Stang. Originally flown from January 45 till war's end, pilot Hubert Davis's "Twighlight Tear" where he scored 1 damaged and three aerial victories in his 35 missions flown.

 

Last show of the season at Duxford again this Sunday before the warbirds are 'put to bed' for the winter.

And I'll be back there again the following weekend because I won a raffle prize ( really ! It must be the first time ever .....) and ten lucky winners are being treated to a 'VIP Day' to meet some of the display pilots plus the opportunity to get much closer to the aircraft than is usually allowed.

Which, I must admit, is something to look forward to ( )

 

Pictures please sir? Pretty please.

 

I just received the days itinerary which actually states : 'Picture taking is encouraged so bring plenty of batteries and memory cards...'

Looks like I got my digital camera in the nick of time !

 

This was in this morning's papers. Looks like we missed a superb show Martin!
First light and Spitfires are ready to roar.

 

A nice, low-key show - but the finest weather I've ever had at the October Duxford. Usually, it's so bad that I can't be bothered to attend.....

So here's a little selection of shots from my new toy. None of them are 'photoshopped' or retouched ( because I don't know how to ! )

A nice atmosphere as the mist started to clear...

Spitfires

By the time flying started, the sun was very bright indeed. This is P-51D 'Twilight Tear' - a machine which actually flew in these colours from Duxford in WWII...

Twilight Tear

And here she is again following the display...

T/T in the sun

Among the tradestands, veterans were signing books and prints. Here's Ulrich Steinhilper, who flew 109s in the Battle of Britain and was shot down while doing so....

Steinhilper

B-17 'Sally B' wasn't flying today, instead taking a rest in the sun....

Sally B

And one of my all-time favourite airshow performers was undergoing end-of-season maintenance with The Fighter Collection. This is 'No Guts, No Glory', Europe's only airworthy P-47 -

P-47 NGNG

But this piece of heavy US metal was flying....

Corsair

Lastly, it's nothing exciting, but I rather like the atmosphere of this shot of some of the TFC guys looking skyward in the Autumn light: -

TFC groundcrew

I'm having some fun with this camera....

[ 17. October 2005, 11:11 AM: Message edited by: Martin Bull ]

 

I cannot wait until I get home tonight so I can see the pictures. I cannot view the pictures from work. Love the picture of the Spitfires in the news article from Gordon.

 

*bumped* due to ( Ta152's ) popular demand....

 

Very good !! I think I like the P-47 picture the best. Really shows off the size. Must cost a small fortune to fill it's gas tanks.
The Spitfire pictures are good but I just don't get a good feeling looking at a silver spitfire with red stripes. I also like the detail on the B-17, you can count the rivets and everything !!
Post more if you have them Martin.

 

I only have 2 left which are even half worth posting ( everyone sighs with relief ) and they're both P-51s...

OFMC's P-51D 'Ferocious Frankie'

Frankie

And - a rare sight over here - TFC's P-51C 'Princess Elizabeth' in 352nd FG colours :

Princess Elizabeth

And that's it - until next year !

 

Wonderful pictures Martin. I think you did a great job with them. I think I can tell you were and experienced film photographer before going digital. Not only are the planes magnificent but the framing and composition are outstanding as well. Thank you so much. One question. Are these really all of the pictures, or just the presentable ones?

Love the P-51C. I have only seen pictures of them in flying condition here on the forum or linked places. It looks cool but I am happy for the pilots that the majority of the production runs were with the bubble canopy. What a blind spot the P-51C must have had.

 

Brilliant pictures, Martin! Some of us can only look on in envy.............

 

Dang ! He's caught me out - I deleted the other 537 images....

The only problems I had - due to the brightness of the day - was with overexposure when I was trying out the 'manual' modes. For that reason I doubled ( and trebled ) several images to see what would work best - I actually took 40 shots during the day.

To be truthful, I'm really pleased with the results which really are due to the technology of the camera ( thanks for the compliments, but I must be honest.... ) . It has a digital stabiliser which prevents any kind of camera shake ( brilliantly ! ). And the speed of the autofocus and auto exposure is remarkable. As you can see from the pix, the Leica lens is beyond criticism. I love the camera !

But you're right, bigiceman - the best advice I read from a pro aviation photographer was to compose the shots as if you're using 'real' film - don't rely on the delete function or photoshop to cover up errors. That's why I really needed a camera with eye-level viewfinder.

Much fun yet to come from this toy....

 

Almost too much of a good thing - ten lucky prize draw winners ( including me ! ) were treated to a 'VIP Day' at Duxford today with lunch and all the trimmings, plus a guided tour of the aircraft from Flt. Lt. Charlie Brown, one of the UK's leading 'warbird' display pilots. We were all allowed to get very close to a Spitfire and Hurricane.

Here's Charlie explaining some of the Spitfire's intricacies....

Charlie Brown

Oh - and here's me ( ), cuddling up a little closer to the P-47 which I was drooling over last week !

me'n'NGNG

 

Great stuff, martin! You lucky so-and-so! VIP treatment no less! I am sure you had a great time. You sure look like you had one! Hreat pics! And the tour by Mr. Brown must have been a real treat. I think I saw him on a DIscovery doc not too long ago....

 

Ah well - some of the other 'VIPs' ( ) have emailed me their photos : so here's Charlie Brown showing me the ropes. It's taken me years to get to sit in a Spitfire....

Spitfire002

Spitfire003

Now - how about a Lancaster & Bf109...?

 

Martin, How often have you sat in a Mossie????