Plug Your Ears, The Air Force Jets Are Here!
Planes hold a unique interest for many people. What pilots can do with them holds an ever greater fascination. Whether it’s air acrobatics, or simply marvelling at the enormous military aircraft, watching them in (peaceful) action is incredible.
Last weekend was the Australian Defence Force Air Show at Amberley RAAF Base, outside Brisbane, Australia. It was an incredible day. Here is a photograph of the soon to be decommissioned F1-11 doing a dump and burn:
Seeing all these aircraft up close was a first for me. I’ve seen similar planes in movies, but standing right next to one, you realise the size and just what they’re engineered to do. Photographing them while stationery on the ground was one thing (I only had to try and avoid crowds of people), but up in the air, that was another story.
Nearly all the planes that were part of the air display did a slow, and a fast pass. Still, for planes like the F1-11 and the Hawk, even their slow pass was fast enough when trying to get a sharp photograph.
I ended up shooting in Av Mode for all of the air show, and for the most part, it was successful. The other hindrance was that it was an extremely bright, hot day, and even with a polarising filter on my lens, the photos are still a little more washed out than I would have liked. Still, it was a great sight!
Finally, the C17 coming in to land. This display showed how quickly this beast of an aircraft can be brought to a stop. It didn’t look any longer than 200m from the moment its wheels touched down, to when it was completely still. Incredible!
