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WoW
Jan 29, 2011 1:37:57 GMT -5
Post by nikkortorokkor on Jan 29, 2011 1:37:57 GMT -5
A hint from experience - when you go to a biennial airshow, remember your camera's spare batteries. These are a few of the interesting birds I shot at the Wings Over Wairarapa Airshow (WoW) before the Oly ran out of juice. What did I miss? Corsair, RNZAF Herc & Huey, WW I & WWII dogfights, tanks, Yaks and a Venom... A special feature of the show was a fly in by a huge flock of Cessna 180/185s to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 185. This is an historic Mt Cook Airlines 185 ski plane. These take off on hard airfields and land on glaciers, carrying skiers and other tourists onto the snow. To facilitate this, Harry Wigley developed the retractable ski - seen clearly in this pic (as is the ski rack under the left wing). ZK-AMY "Lady Jane" up from Christchurch on an excursion flight More of "Lady Jane" Can you ever see too much DC3? All Black captain Ritchie McCaw did his twin engine hours on ZK-AMY and is patron of the trust which operates her. She is ex-US Airforce, and dropped paratroopers over the Philippines during WWII. Simply sublime, the Vintage Aviator Co reproduction BE2c Reproduction and Restoration, the BE-2c followed by a restored BE-2f Craftsmanship of unbelievable fidelity Hope you enjoyed these. Michael.
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WoW
Jan 29, 2011 1:53:54 GMT -5
Post by olroy2044 on Jan 29, 2011 1:53:54 GMT -5
Awesome, Mike! Great shots of some terrific aircraft! Thanks for posting them!
Roy
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photax
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WoW
Jan 29, 2011 2:24:55 GMT -5
Post by photax on Jan 29, 2011 2:24:55 GMT -5
Michael, great shots ! I admire the people who are restoring or rebuilding such old planes. And I like the classical shape of the DC-3 MIK
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mickeyobe
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WoW
Jan 29, 2011 4:13:38 GMT -5
Post by mickeyobe on Jan 29, 2011 4:13:38 GMT -5
Michael,
WOW! indeed.
Mickey
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WoW
Jan 29, 2011 7:03:07 GMT -5
Post by nikonbob on Jan 29, 2011 7:03:07 GMT -5
I don't know who is more disappointed, you or me, that you forgot your spare batteries. Thanks for sharing these.
Bob
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PeterW
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WoW
Jan 29, 2011 8:30:22 GMT -5
Post by PeterW on Jan 29, 2011 8:30:22 GMT -5
Michael,
Wonderful shots of the WoW airshow. I just love old aeroplanes.
When I was in the RAF in the 1940s we had a Warrant Officer, one of the most skilled fitters, engines and airframes, that I have ever met. He used to come and sit in the crewroom sometimes when all the planes were away on navigational training flights and chat with the lads over a cuppa or two.
He joined the RAF as a 16 year old boy entrant just after it changed from the RFC in 1917 and was coming to the end of his 30 years service. He had some wonderful stories about old-time aircraft.
He told us about the anti-tip skis sticking out the front like the ones on the restored BE2c in your pictures. Most peple assume that they were there to stop the plane from tipping over on its nose during a rough landing. This idea grew up because a single ski was fitted to the Avro 504 which became the RAF's early primary trainer. But he said that wasn't their main purpose.
He said they were there in case pilots taxi-ing, or engine fitters ground running the engine, forgot to hold the control stick well back, or anchor the tail down, when taking the engine up above half throttle.
If they leaned forward, and took the stick with them, the slipstream from the prop would tip the aeroplane smartly over on to its nose, with damage that sometimes meant it was a write-off.
On later, faster, biplanes the skis interfered with the aerodynamics so they were discontinued. Anyone in charge of an aeroplane while the engine was running just had to remember.
Tipping a plane over meant a court martial enquiry to decide whether or not it was because of "conduct whereby one of His Majesty's aircraft was severely damaged".
This was still in RAF Standing Orders in the 1940s because the same thing, albeit very infrequently, used to happen even then.
Thanks for bringing back memories.
PeterW
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WoW
Jan 29, 2011 13:11:08 GMT -5
Post by vintageslrs on Jan 29, 2011 13:11:08 GMT -5
Michael--Nice job!
Pix to be proud of! Thanks for sharing. Can you share with us the camera and the lens? And perhaps exposure info.?
Bob
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daveh
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WoW
Jan 30, 2011 6:05:10 GMT -5
Post by daveh on Jan 30, 2011 6:05:10 GMT -5
Mike,
Great photos! I wonder how many DC3s are still flying in commercial airlines for passenger transport. The DC3 must have the greatest longevity of all. Ditto to the remark of who is the more disappointed at your lack of battery power.
I have a battery grip on each of Canon Digital SLR, so I never really have a problem with batteries as I can take about 1,600 photos on one fully charged set. There is also a magazine that fits in that takes 5 x AA batteries, and that is in the camera bag just in case. So no problems on that front with me........well, except when we went to France eighteen months ago. I had already determined not to take the magazine. I recharged battery 1, then put battery 2 on charge. We were in Kent before I realised that I had put the other battery in the grip. Even worse I hadn't even packed the charger. While in France we went into one of the big hypermarkets and found a universal charger for about £12 - taking all manner of batteries and usable on mains or from the car. Problem over! It's just a shame that the latest Canon batteries can not be charged on it.
...and thanks to Peter for his memories.
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WoW
Jan 30, 2011 14:23:35 GMT -5
Post by nikkortorokkor on Jan 30, 2011 14:23:35 GMT -5
Thanks all for the kind comments.
All photos were taken on my now-very-dated Olympus C750UZ, a ca. 2003 enthusiast level compact "ultrazoom" which might, in some ways, be seen as an early ancestor of the Digital Pen.
All photos were taken on program, using around +1 exposure comp. The Oly is very controllable, one can basically access all the controls of a manual, 35mm SLR except for multi-exposure and bulb. Unfortunately, in line with many high-end compacts of the era, these controls are often clunky and difficult to access via buttons which serve multiple functions. Not so EV compensation, which, in Program, is intuitive to use. For fast shooting at an airshow, Program and exposure comp. was the low-stress way to shoot!
The downside of this is that Program tends to bang the aperture wide open, and use as high a shutter speed as possible, revealing the limits of the Zuiko 10x ED zoom. In these shooting conditions (small aeroplanes, big sky) the result is vignetting and purple fringes (see the bottom right corner of the last photo). Cropping these faults out (which I've mostly done) reveals the limits of the 4 megapixel CCD.
Still, I have to remind myself of just how competent the old Oly is. The results cannot foot it technically with state-of-the-art pro gear, but if I compare what can be done with this compact dig compared to, say, a 1960s fixed lens rangefinder or (ack!) a 1990s point and shoot compact zoom, It is a remarkable tool.
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WoW
Jan 30, 2011 15:02:23 GMT -5
Post by nikonbob on Jan 30, 2011 15:02:23 GMT -5
Michael
I think you are right on all counts and have done very well. You knowing your equipment makes a big difference. It is amazing how far these cameras have come in a short time and how useful they can still be. I have an Oly C5050 from roughly the same time period and it will still deliver nice 8x10 inch prints despite being obsolete.
Bob
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daveh
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WoW
Jan 30, 2011 15:15:11 GMT -5
Post by daveh on Jan 30, 2011 15:15:11 GMT -5
Megapixels matter, but I would argue other things matter more.One, as Bob has said is knowing the camera. I can just see the little bit of colour fringing in the last photo. I'm sure you could virtually eliminate that by using photoshop.
Dave.
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daveh
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WoW
Jan 30, 2011 15:45:08 GMT -5
Post by daveh on Jan 30, 2011 15:45:08 GMT -5
Megapixels matter, but I would argue other things matter more.One, as Bob has said is knowing the camera. I can just see the little bit of colour fringing in the last photo. You can virtually eliminate that by using photoshop. Whether it's worth the effort or not is another matter! Dave.
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