Warbirds Over Wanaka 2010

[Steve H]

A few shots from the airshow down my way here in New Zealand this Easter weekend...













A few more over here (I mean a LOT more) over here, and bigger sizes.

http://teanautourist.zenfolio.com/p205398808

(Recommend using the "Dim the Lights" function of Zenfolio by hovering mouse over top left corner of a photo and selecting).

[Dave Humphries]

Steve,

They're all excellent - all 97 I mean

You are soooooo lucky with that backdrop, beats the urban sprawl and grey skies of say, Farnborough any day.

Looks like you got an elevated (tower?) perch for Day 2 as well.

I'd recommend F11 before using Dim the Lights for the ultimate viewing experience.

Gobsmacked,

[ScoutR]

They're all excellent - all 97 I mean

Gobsmacked

SECONDED! Amazing all of them

[arith]

So how exactly do you get a photo like #4; are you flying behind. RAF training colours but I don't recognise the aircraft. Best aircraft photo's anywhere by the way. cheers

[Steve H]

Thanks Guys (and girls),
Yes Dave I was in the silver stand for day 2 so had a bit of elevation (you can just see the corner of it in the first shot with the Herc screaming past at 20' over the runway!), great view but had to contend with the VHF antenna's on the mobile control tower in front.
What does F11 do by the way? I'm on a mac and f11 for me turns the volume down.

Thanks Wendy!

Cheers steve - it's a North American Harvard and no I wasn't flying (wish I was!) just taken from the side of the strip with a 18-200 lens on takeoff. Wanaka is well known for being able to get up real close to the aircraft, you can see in this shot they taxi right past the crowd on the way back to the parking (which is also very accessible).

[ScoutR]

What does F11 do by the way? I'm on a mac and f11 for me turns the volume down.

On Windows F11 is full screen.

It's a North American Harvard

We have a group here that take the Harvards out once and awhile. I'm not sure if they are local or they just fly in for some other event. I usually alway see (hear) them on Rememberance day, but other times throughout the year too. They are bright yellow though, which suits them because they sound like giant bees. Nothing else sounds like a Harvard.

I thought for sure you must have had some VIP seating to get shots like that. They are all excellent, but many of them are downright incredible.

I'd recommend that everyone check out the link.

[carregwen]

Very good shots, Steve. My favourite is #10 on the slides. And you have a good range of style (I like some of the closeups).

[Colin Southern]

Lucky B^stard

One day I'll get down that way for the long weekend

The first shot with the C130 gives an excellent example of long-lens compression - well either that, or ATC just lost a couple of aerials!

I was lucky to spend a bit of time on the flight deck of RNZAF C130 - for the uninitiated, those Allison turbine engines are rated at 4500 EACH (that's 18,000 HP for the whole aircraft) (although they're not allowed to use full power as they over-torgue the engine mounts). One day we were flying VFR (Visual Flight Rules) @ 1500 feet direct Blenheim to Ohakea when we approached some cloud - wanting to remain VFR the pilot advanced the power levers - pulled back - and I (who was standing behind the pilot's seat at the time) almost buckeled at the knees! (PS: Thanks for the warning guys!). Man those things have some grunt.

[Steve H]

Very good shots, Steve. My favourite is #10 on the slides. And you have a good range of style (I like some of the closeups).

Thanks Rob, yes #10 is one of my favourites as well (also #12 - similar composition) and I like to get in close and get detail on the statics, block out background etc, (probably stemming from my aircraft engineering background).

If you're interested, I rattled off about 870 photo's over the 2 days and after the first scan I got about 100 which I'm pretty happy with, there may be more but I'm all 'post processed' out at the moment. I saw a lot of guys at the show with HUGE white glass and I thought my little old D90 and 18-200 wouldn't cut it but I think it held up quite well, particularly for this airshow where you can get quite close though I can see that for other airshows and faster jets one might need about 3-400mm and 2.8

Lucky B^stard

One day I'll get down that way for the long weekend

Haha, (was expecting that response)

The first shot with the C130 gives an excellent example of long-lens compression - well either that, or ATC just lost a couple of aerials!

Yeah, bit of compression at work there but he was FAST and LOW - very impressive.

I was lucky to spend a bit of time on the flight deck of RNZAF C130

Great fun isn't it. I've also had the privilege of touring around the globe a bit on the flight station of a P3. A 'rigging run' on a ship 'somewhere' in the oceans North of Australia or a takeoff and landing from sitting on the radar cabinet behind the pilots seat is quite thrilling (dodging CB's on descent into a tropical atoll is fun too )