Mixed RAF stuff

[Circuit Hero]

Been going through some stuff from a few years ago and found these, thought they might be of interest in here.

Tornado air/air sortie for the 95th Anniversary of 41(R)Sqn. Aircraft is a GR4 (ZA600) painted with a commemorative tail. Shot from a Hawk of 100Sqn.

BTS shot - shows all the things that are working against you on an air/air photo sortie!

One of the final images, cruising along the white cliffs:

Typhoon on QRA duty after returning from Op Ellamy (note bomb markings), shot for a news piece on QRA.

Typhoons during the Diamond-nine flypast for the Queen's jubilee, heading over RAF Cranwell.

Couple of Spitfires to end with, both taken from the rear gun of the Lancaster (one on each side):

 

[Box Brownie]

Always nice to see your air to air images and thanks for sharing

PS A minor nit would be most just too tight in the frame.

 

[Circuit Hero]

Yeah that's probably fair crit to be honest - I should have pointed out that most of these were images I never used, shot in among jobs where I chose to publish other images instead. The others did tend to have a bit more breathing space around them.

For example the Tornado shoot:

Spitfire:

 

[bensherman2]

I'm not envious in the slightest!!!! Thank you for sharing these.

 

[Box Brownie]

^^ these two are superb

I especially like the Spitfire with the shadows of the BBMF on the field below.

PS The ride in the Lancaster must have been quite something compared to the 'normal' seats you get in? Would love to even see inside one as my dad told me he was repatriated after the war in one with many other PoWs and talked about sitting in the bomb bay and climbing over the structure of the wing inside.

 

[Circuit Hero]

Cheers

Yeah the Lancaster really is something else, by far and away the best working week I've ever had. I spent a week onboard as they toured the South coast and Channel Islands, a surreal experience but utterly brilliant. I was lucky enough to spend time in just about every spot on the aircraft but I have to admit there is something about the solitude in the rear gun that I loved, especially as we headed South and dropped over the white cliffs. Trying to spot the fighters forming up on us, even when you know they're there is really difficult. I can't begin to imagine what it would be like in there under fire. The Lanc in general though is like a reverse-tardis; it's absolutely tiny inside. You have to crawl on your hands and knees to get to the rear gun and the same again to get over both wing spars in the centre. As a photo-ship she's great, you can get front-on to the aircraft you're shooting which is a rarity. You're not really strapped in either so you're free to move around (as opposed to being strapped in tightly to an explosive chair!) and you have great visibility through the turrets. A bit bumpier on landing though. I love the noise she makes in the air; that iconic droning sound. At ~100ft you look down to see drivers going about their business pull onto the verges at the side of the road just to watch her fly overhead. Flying over Sea around Bournemouth meant we were flying about level with the cliff-side, so I was eye-to-eye with people walking their dogs and waving. She's such an ambassador and every moment on board genuinely feels like an utter privilege.

What always surprised me though was the muscle-memory that veterans of her displayed, no matter what state they were in as old men. We lifted a chap onboard in Jersey who was in a wheelchair, a former rear-gunner. We managed to slide him off down the small track that leads to the turret and I headed around the back outside to make sure he got in OK. As soon as his legs hit the seat he dropped straight in and knew exactly where everything was. It was only after we lifted him out I found out he was both blind and deaf, as well as not being able to walk. 70+ years later and I bet he could have still done a sortie in there if he needed!

 

[Norkie]

Absolutely wonderful story, images are making me very green with envy

 

[AdamSi]

What great photos and lovely write up to match really enjoyed reading about the veteran and how proud and privileged you just feel

 

[Circuit Hero]

Thanks guys!

 

[holty]

fantastic shots again
your one lucky bugger with a job like that

 

[Stevieraith]

Great shots. I was in the RAF for 10 years and one of my major regrets is I did not have any real interest in photography at the time. the access we had and the opportunities were amazing. Would love to go back now with a decent camera

As an aside, I used to work with 41 Sqn when they had Jaguars at Coltishall in the late 80's.

 

[cwimagery]

just wow superb selection very jealous