Vulcan Farewell Night Photography Belgian Sea Kings C-130 Hercules Tribute Hellenic Air Force Open Days
Welcome to the first issue of Spotter. The digital revolution has provided us with many possibilities in our hobby, and this allows us to share our aviation experiences in a way never previously possible. Whilst thanking the contributors who believed in the publication on its first issue, we look forward to receiving your contributions for future issues. In the meantime, please enjoy the content of our first issue. Mark Zerafa Editor
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COVER PHOTO A C-47 and an F-84 soak up the sun at Tanagra AB, Greece (Mark Zerafa)
Contents Hellenic Air Force Open Days
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Belgian Sea Kings
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C-130 Hercules – A Photo Tribute
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A Guide to Nightshots
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Marrakech Air Show
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Farewell, Vulcan
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The Flying Bulls
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Heathrow Throwbacks
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Credits Mark Zerafa Massimiliano Zammit, Anthony F. Seychell, Ruben Zammit, Mike Derycke, Lawrence Brincat, Richard J Caruana
Turkish Airlines 737-800 taxiing in at Malta International Airport (Mark Zerafa)
Hellenic Air Force The Open Days held every November at every airbase of the Hellenic Air Force offers one of the few possibilities of viewing the interesting inventory, past and present, fielded by the Greeks.
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Canadair CL-215, Elefsis AB Embraer EMB-145H, Elefsis AB F-16D Block 52, Araxos AB Rockwell T-2 Buckeye, Kalamata AB
Open Days 2014-5 These shots were taken during the past two editions, where we visited Andravida, Elefsina, Araxos, Kalamata, Tanagra, Tatoi, Tripolis Nea Anghialos and Larissa. All photos by Mark Zerafa
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Dassault Mirage 2000, Tanagra AB Dassault Mirage F.1, Tanagra AB, F-4E Phantom, Araxos AB C-130B Hercules, Tanagra AB
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T-6A Texan, Kalamata AB F-86 Sabre, ‘Hellenic Flame’ scheme Tatoi AB A-7 Corsair, ‘A-7 Farewell’ scheme, Araxos AB C-47 Dakota, Tanagra AB
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5. F-84 Thunderjet, Tripolis AB 6. Northrop F-5A, Tanagra AB 7. RF-4E Phantom, Larissa AB 8. F-104 ‘Olypos’ special scheme, Tatoi AB (main spread) Nord Noratlas, Tatoi AB (Mark Zerafa)
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Belgium’s Sea Kings Next October, Belgium’s Sea Kings will be celebrating 40 years in service. With deliveries of its replacement, the NH-90, already underway, RS-01 has been retired at the Brussels Air Museum, RS-03 is in storage at Koksijde. RS-02. RS04 and RS-05 are scheduled to remain in service till 2018. Mike Derycke shares some of his amazing shots of this beautiful helicopter.
Lockheed C-130 Hercules – A Photo Tribute Lockheed’s airlifter keeps going from strength to strength, now in production for more than half the era of powered flight. The list of operators keeps increasing, as older Hercs get passed on to other operators, and new ones replace the legacy versions with their original operators.
In this feature we will present as many Herc operators from around the world as possible. All photos by Mark Zerafa unless otherwise credited.
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1. Spanish Air Force 2. Romanian Air Force 3. Qatar Air Force 4. Portughese Air Force 5. Royal Canadian Air Force 6. Royal Air Force 7. Oman Air Force 8.
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Swedish Air Force Turkish Air Force UAE Air Force Venezuelan Air Force Saudi Air Force Royal Norweigan Air Force Royal Netherlands Air Force Royal Jordanian Air Force Royal Danish Air Force
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Kuwait Air Force Aeronautica Militare Italiana Egyptian Air Force Polish Air Force Colombian Air Force Israeli Air Force Hellenic Air Force Armee de l’Air Brazilian Air Force
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United States Navy (Ruben Zammit) South African Air Force (Ruben Zammit) Tunisian Air Force (Ruben Zammit) South Korean Air Force (Anthony Seychell) United States Air Force Chilean Air Force Algerian Air Force Austrian Air Force Free Libyan Air Force
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Nightshots Just because the sun goes down, doesn’t mean that you have to pack your bag and head home from the airport. It’s just a different set of rules, but if you follow some very basic principles, you are in for some pretty dramatic shots. Mark Zerafa shares his experience. Equipment The only additional piece of equipment you will need is a sturdy tripod. When choosing a tripod and the associated tripod head mount, make sure that it is rated to carry the weight of your camera and lens. When mounting your camera on the tripod, wherever possible please mount your lens on the tripod, and not your SLR body. This reduces stresses on the lens mounting ring on your SLR and reduces the possible vibrations of the camera during the actual exposure.
The Right Settings First of all, there is no perfect camera setting for all nightshots. You will need to select your ISO, aperture and shutter speed depending on every situation you will face: It is generally agreed that ISO is only to be increased as a last resort. As long as you can achieve a sharp, well-focussed shot using aperture and shutter speed settings at your lowest ISO, please stick to that.
Another possible luxury is a cable- or radio-operated shutter release trigger, but that is very much optional and not really much of a necessity. The Basics Nightshots need the exact opposite of what an aviation photographer usually looks for – total lack of movement. Ideally, the aircraft needs to be at a complete standstill. Nothing between you and the aircraft should be moving either, especially vehicles with lights or taxiing aircraft. The essence of any photograph is to expose your sensor to the right amount of light – not too little (under-exposed result) and not too much (over-exposed result). There are three factors which determine the amount of light captured by the sensor – aperture, shutter speed and ISO. Aperture is measured in the F-stops on your lens. The lower, the FStop number, the more light the lens will let through. The best lenses can open up to F Stops as low as f2.8 or f1.8, but this is not usually an issue with nightshots, as will be elaborated later. Shutter speed is the duration for which the camera’s shutter will be open, thus allowing light to hit the sensor. The higher the shutter speed, the less time there is for light to hit the sensor. Shutter speeds are measured as fractions of a second. Thus, Shutter Speed 250 is 1/250 of a second, Shutter Speed 1000 is 1/1000 of a second, and so on. For nightshots, we will want to go to the opposite side of the range, with most cameras allowing exposures as long as 30 seconds. ISO refers to the sensitivity of the sensor for light. Set at ISO 400, a sensor will need much less light for a correct exposure than it would need at ISO 100. Most SLRs will have a range from 100 to 64,000. As a general rule, photographers try to use the lowest ISO possible, as image quality is superior at lower ISOs.
Air Malta A319 9H-AEL on a night-time turnaround at Malta International Airport (Mark Zerafa)
If you are in a situation where it is windy, raining, or there is a considerable flow of traffic between yourself and the subject, you will need the shortest exposure time possible. Increasing the time of your exposure will increase the chances of a gust of wind shaking your camera, or an aircraft taxiing in front of your subject, ruining the shot. In such an instance, you will need a wide aperture, to allow sufficient light to hit your sensor On the other hand, an image captured using a wide aperture will be less sharp than one shot with a narrow aperture. The reason for this is the phenomenon known as depth of field. The narrower the aperture, the better your chances that your image will be perfectly sharp and focussed, and all parts of the aircraft will be equally in focus. A word of warning however, narrow apertures will make sensor dust-spots more evident, so a sensor clean is always a good idea. For all tripod-mounted shots, switch off the vibrationreduction / image stabilisation function on your lens or camera. Stabilisation systems assume that there will always be some extent of motion, so mounting it on a stable tripod tends to confuse the system, leading to blurry results.
Positioning So, it is generally agreed that, in an ideal world, we would be shooting as long an exposure as long as possible to allow a narrow aperture, which will give us a sharply-focussed photo, even at a low ISO setting. Now we need to see about positioning ourselves to take our shot. Most airport ramps tend to be well lit, but this does not always work to the photographer’s advantage. Check the light sources in your frame. Are they all pointing at the aircraft? Is there any light source exposed in the frame? Having a floodlight in your picture will potentially ruin the shot, and you will need to compensate for it. First of all, try to re-position yourself to hide the floodlight with the aircraft itself, especially the tail. If you’re not working on fully-manual mode, set a narrow light-metering mode and move the metering point to an area of the aircraft which is not particularly well-lit. That should help your camera work towards exposing the aircraft correctly, but you may still have to fine-tune your settings by opting for full Manual mode or programming some aperture compensation. Another special word of warning concerning lights facing your camera. These could be anything from headlamps of ground vehicles to landing lights and floodlights. Using a very narrow exposure will lead to a ‘star-effect’ in the lights. Of course, this could be a beautiful effect in a photo, but could also be a bit distracting, so make sure you have the right settings to control this effect. If it gets too pronounced, go for a wider aperture. Timing Finally, a word about timing a photo. Airliners have a relatively rapid turnaround, so you will probably want to capture the aircraft with the least clutter around it as possible, which is usually around start-up. It is highly recommended that you position yourself and prepare your camera well in advance, taking a few test shots along the way, in order to ensure that in those few minutes between the aircraft being fully clear and it actually starting to move, you already have all the settings to take your shot. Take your picture as quickly as possible, as once the taxi-ing lights or landing lights are on, you will have to reprogram your camera completely! Practice, Practice, Practice! And finally, the usual last piece of advice. Practice is the only way you will learn to deal with nightshot situations quickly and effectively. Don’t wait till there’s something rare at your airport to take your first nightshot – practice on the Easyjets and Ryanairs. That way you will be ready when a real star comes along!
One of the last ever visits by an Austrian MD to Malta International Airport. This was shot through double-glazed glass from the viewing gallery, with the camera being covered with a thick black jacket to blank out the internal reflections. (Mark Zerafa)
Black Cats Lynx, Malta International Airshow 2015. This photo was problematic due to the strong light-source on the nose of the helicopter. Be prepared to compromise. (Mark Zerafa)
Another aishow nightshot, this time a NATO E-3. I had to raise the tripod well above the normal height to avoid the objects which would have otherwise covered part of the fuselage. Live view mode is handy in such cases. (Mark Zerafa)
White fuselages are particularly challenging as they reflect a lot of light, so expect some over-exposure in some areas (Mark Zerafa)
It is perfectly feasible to shoot through a fence, as long as the centre of your lens is looking through a hole in the fence, and there is no light source shining on the fence. (Mark Zerafa)
Sometimes, you just get lucky, with the plane in the right spot under some good lighting, like this Armee de l’Air C-130 at Apron 4, Malta International Airport. (Mark Zerafa)
When shooting against a light source, it is important that you meter on the aircraft, and nowhere near the light source. This may require some compromise on how well you can actually expose the aircraft. (Mark Zerafa)
Marrakech Air Show The bi-annual airshow at Marrakech, Morocco offers a rare opportunity to see a selection of types operated by the Morroccan Air Force. Lawrence Brincat shares a few of the delights he has seen at this year’s edition. 2.
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1. CL-415s are based at Kenitra AB 2. 4 C-27Js are currently in service 3. Three squadrons of F-16s are based at Ben Guerir AB 4. AB-205s are based at Rabat-Sale AB (main photo) Morocco operates the Alpha Jet for training and cloud seeding missions
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Farewell, Vulcan Last year, one of the most loved aircraft on the airshow circuits has landed for the last time. With no expense spared in its restoration and upkeep, we will fondly remember Avro Vulcan XH558 as she howled overhead on the run-in into her display.
Vulcan B.Mk.2 XH558 in its final form as the last flying example of its type, reconverted to B.2 standard from K.2. Dark Sea Grey/Dark Green wrapround camouflage overall with 'Tactical' national markings; No. 1 Group Panther's Head on fuselage sides, Lincoln Coat of Arms on fin. Black serial; Union Jack, outlined in white, on fin. Note fin RWR housing is Dark Green not black, as usual. (Richard J. Caruana)
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Inside the Vulcan: 1. Captain’s station. The Vulcan was one of the few bombers where the pilots had fighter-style sticks, not yokes. 2. General cockpit view. On XH558, non-essential instrumentation was eliminated to save weight, thus reducing stresses on the airframe. 3. Co-pilot’s station 4. Bomb-aimer’s position. The monkey plushie has been in the aircraft since the days of the Vulcan Display Flight. 5. The bomb-bay
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The Flying Bulls Whilst their drinks may not be to everyone’s taste, Red Bull certainly have got the aviation world’s attention. The Flying Bulls collection of warbirds is based at Salzburg Maxglan’s Hangar Seven, and includes a number of unique warbirds in the European airshow circuit. Mark Zerafa shares these shots taken at the Air Power Zeltweg Airshow, Austria.
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Douglas DC-6 OE-LDM was built in 1958 and delivered to Yugoslav airline JAT, where it became the personal aircraft of Marshall Tito. It was later transferred to Zambia, again as a presidential transport. 2. F-4U-4 Corsair c/n 9149 has flown with the US Navy and the Honduran Air Force. Recovered in 1979, it is now registered OE-EAS 3. Assembled just one day before the bombing of Hiroshima, this B-25J remained in USAF service till 1958 in a number of roles. Following a stint as an aerial fire-fighter aircraft, this aircraft was one of the first in the collection, arriving in Austria in 1997 (main) P-38L Lightning wore the US serial 44-53254 before being declared surplus in September 1945. Converted into a racer, it was clocked at 440 mph, the fastest speed ever recorded for a P-38.
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The Red Bill fleet includes four ex-Luftwaffe Alpha Jets. They have now been transferred to the Austrian civil register. The diminutive Bede BD-5 was the sole airworthy survivor of the handful which were produced, the world’s smallest jet aircraft. It was lost in an accident in May 2013.
(main spread) Two AH-1 Huey Cobras and two Bo-105s are also owned by Red Bull, the Bo-105 being a regular in the European Airshow circuit.
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Oldies at Heathrow It is more likely to see the latest airliners at London Heathrow, but there remain a number of airlines who, for some reason or another, continue to operate older types long after other operators have retired them. Mark Zerafa takes a nostalgic look at a number of airliners shot over the years at this major European hub.
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Boeing 747-400, Cathay Pacific Concorde G-BOAB, a long-time Heathrow resident Olympc A-340. The aircraft has since been broken for spares in Athens. 4. Iran Air A-300. With the lifting of sanctions, the days for the airline’s older types are numbered. 5. KLM’s Fokker 50 was the last prop flying into Heathrow on a regular basis. 6. SAS has since retired its MD80 series aircraft. 7. Sudan Airways A300 8. British Airways used the 757 on its internal flights to Mancheter and Edinburgh 9. Kuwait Airways A-300 10. Yemenia Airbus A-310 (main spread) Biman Bangladesh Airbus A-310
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Bringing Your Planespotting Dreams to Life since 2006 It started as a little adventure ten years ago. Now we’ve visited 53 airfields, driven 12,000 kms, and we’re still looking forward to offering you more new thrills in the years to come.
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