Aerial night photos

[leprechaun]

Hello all CiC members, sorry I have not posted anything for quite a while but in reality I have not picked up the camera in months. Any thing I did take were not worth posting. Actually there is nothing around here worth photographing to my way of thinking.
I do however browse the latest threads daily and take great pleasure in viewing your efforts.

Now I am looking for advise/guidance from you.

On December 6th I will be going on a night flight curtsy of the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada and the Royal Canadian Air-force.
I am a volunteer with the museum in the restoration shop currently working on completing a Bellance Aircruiser which was used in Canada in the 1930s'. This is a gull wing aircraft with a 65 foot wingspan. (it looks like a flying 'W')

We will be flying over Winnipeg to view the Christmas lights and I am hoping to get a few shots.
We will be flying in a Hercules C130J and there are not very many windows.
I do not suppose that the pilot will lower the ramp and go on a steep climb so that we could take pic through the back of the a/c.

I am looking forward to it as it will be over 50 years since I flew in the herc. but in those army days I had to jump off the ramp. This could be the first time I will take off and land in a herc.

Has anyone got any suggestions on what ISO, Speed & aperture that could be used?

I am still using my Nikon 3200 and have a 50mm f1.8 prime, the 18-50mm F5.6 kit lens and a 55-200 f4 lens.
So if any of you bright sparks have a suggestion I'd love to hear it.
It I get any half decent photos I post them,
Thanks
Pat

[purplehaze]

Wow, Pat, that sounds like fun! I will keep my eyes and ears peeled for you. I’m going to guess that you are going to want to use your fastest lens, either fully open or nearly so, but we’ll see if the experts agree.

[xpatUSA]

On December 6th I will be going on a night flight courtesy of the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada and the Royal Canadian Air-force.

We will be flying over Winnipeg to view the Christmas lights and I am hoping to get a few shots.
We will be flying in a Hercules C130J and there are not very many windows.

Had a few flights in Hercs while in the RAF long ago. Noisy, uncomfortable beasts at best. Take ear defenders.

So if any of you bright sparks have a suggestion I'd love to hear it.

Based on no personal experience whatsoever in taking night shots out of an airplane:

1) clean the window

2) shade the window somehow from the cabin lighting.

3) if possible, establish good camera settings beforehand by shooting a town from a hillside.

3a) City lights are bright but sparse - practice manual exposure and chimping.

3b) Of course, beware aircraft external lighting, strobes and stuff . . .

HTH

[Tronhard]

Why ruin a good record...?
JUMP out of the back of the Herc, and as you descend gently with your parachute you can get shots of the receding aircraft, then some great images of the city lights over the next minute or two (depending on your exit height), then some great shots of the RCMP racing up to take you into custody!

[leprechaun]

Thanks for the comments.
Trev, If I was waiting for our RCMP I'd probably be dead from exposure and my next medical check up would be in the morgue (HA Ha). I presume that we will only be flying at around 1500/2000 ft and the flight will only be about 20/30 minutes so I am thinking of going with the 50mm prime and setting the auto max iso to 1600. Depth of field should be no problem.
I am interested to see what the results will be.

[leprechaun]

Janis, you sure lucked out on your Churchill trip weather wise, it has not been that cold only -8c this morning. Looking forward to seeing a story and photos from your experience.
And yes, I am looking forward to the flight. There will be two flights between 6:30 and 8:30 PM on the Wednesday, don't know what one I will be on. Also I am taking my wife along as she has never been on a military air craft.
As the museum is right at the airport the RCAF will be bringing the herc up to the museum for boarding.

[leprechaun]

Ted, thanks for the tips.
I'd forgotten about the noise and the nav lights. Hopefully I won't have to clean any windows as there are not very fuse windows in a herc.
I'll be sure to take some ear plugs.
Pat