You Had to be There (Right Place, Right Time)...

Eurocopter AS.332 Super-Puma of the Swiss Air Force (T-311), at a golf course in the Leuk region in Valais, Switzerland on August 19, 2003. During the early evening of 14th August 2003 the forest fire began. Still burning by the 19th the Swiss Air Force were called in. They were using a small lake on a local golf course (it's a green in the foreground!) to pick up water. Just before I took this picture the bamby bucket was in the wrong position to drop into the water, and the pilot needed to manoeuvre for some minutes to refill it. This delay meant that the second Puma (T-314) arrived to refill at the same time, making this the best picture. I used my Olympus Digital C-40 zoom at ISO 100, f5.6 and at 1/320. Copyright © Dany Gaule, 2003 (This is a remarkable picture, so unusual and really well framed, can you see the wing mirrors fitted to T-311? - PS)

 

Aerospatiale SA-330 Puma (19504) of Portuguese Air Force at Faro, Portugal on 21st November 2003. I was using a Canon EOS D60 and Canon 28-135mm IS lens. It was hand held at 1/3sec, f 5.0, ISO 800. I used Neat Image to reduce the grain and Photoshop to adjust levels and sharpness. I was at my office at the airport operations when I was aware that an air force Puma was coming to Faro to perform a medical evacuation. I picked up my camera and went to the ramp to plan my shot at the assigned parking position. I didn't have a tripod with me so I had to increase ISO to 800 and pray that I would have a steady hand. I just waited a few minutes for its arrival and while it was entering stand A06 I took some photos. Copyright © Luis Rosa, 2003

 

Concorde (F-BTSD) of Air France departing JFK on 31st May 2003. I was using my Nikon D100 with a Nikkor 80-400mm f4.5-5.6 at focal length 400mm (digital x1.5 factor = 600mm) at 1/400th, f8, exposure comp +0.7 and ISO 200. This was the last departing Air France Concorde from JFK. Rotten weather made worse by changing runways to 31L, left me too far away from the subject to shoot. My position was for a 22R departure, but that's Concorde, she could just change runways at will. I looked for some sort of opportunity to salvage the moment and found it when the plane banked to the left behind the two jetBlue A320s. Copyright © Mike Primamore, 2003 (I don't know if this is right place, right time, but Mike certainly saw a good picture - PS)

 

MH-53 (73-1630) of USAF/21 SOS at Phoenix Park, Dublin City, Ireland on 10th December 2000. I was using a Yashica 108 with a Sigma 80-210mm zoom and Fujichrome 100 ASA film. President Clinton's last visit to Ireland was in December 2000 and on that occasion three MH-53s from Mildenhall formed part of the fleet of helicopters transporting various support personnel. The Sunday preceding the visit was a cold and showery day and a rehearsal for the trip from Dublin Airport to the Ambassador's residence at Phoenix Park was planned for mid-day. I took the chance that we might get a good view of the proceedings if we took up position near the likely landing area.

As the appointed time approached the weather improved to give crisp and clear conditions as a formation of two MH-53s, a CH-47 and two VH-60s came into sight and landed right in front of me. They remained on the ground for several minutes with rotors turning before lifting off towards us, passing almost over our heads as they departed. This made for an unforgettable spectacle and some nice photos. Copyright © Fergal Goodman, 2000

 

Eurocopter AS.532UL Cougar of the Swiss Air Force (T-340), lifting off from car park in Crans-Montana, Valais, Switzerland on 27th June 2003 at 08:39 a.m. I used my Olympus Digital C-40 zoom hand held at ISO 100, f5.6 and at 1/400. The Cougar arrived empty to pick up VIP passengers attending the Crans-Montana Forum to transfer them to Bern. As I was working nearby I heard the helicopter approach and was able to capture the image as it departed. A very nice surprise and great effect made by the rotors! Copyright © Dany Gaule, 2003 (It pays to keep your camera with you at all times! - PS)

 

NAMC YS-11A-207 (JA8701) of Japan - Coast Guard taken at Haneda International, Tokyo on 23rd January, 2004. I used my Canon EOS D60 with the Canon EF 100-400mm L IS zoom (at max zoom, so effectively 640mm). I am not into non-commercial airliners, and so it was a lucky shot. Copyright © Paul Spijkers, 2004. Paul has his own website dedicated to the ATL-98 Carvair at www.geocities.com/anjapaul

 

F-16C (6) and Captain Chris Stricklin of the Thunderbirds display team at the Gunfighter Skies air show, Mountain Home AFB on 14th September 2003, less than 1 second before impact. I'm a still photographer for the USAF and was stationed at Mountain Home AFB during the air show. I was on the catwalk of the tower and followed Thunderbird 6 from takeoff and watched as he pulled into his manoeuvre. I then noticed something seemed to be wrong, his direction was a little off; he was pulling out and heading right towards the tower. I waited for the aircraft to level and clicked the shutter. He was using a Nikon D1X camera with a 300mm f2.8 lens set at f2.8 with a shutter speeds of around 1/1000+. The wreckage eventually stopped just 100 feet short of the tower. The pilot safely ejected but it was reported that the crash was as a result of pilot error, the pilot misjudging the altitude needed before beginning the manoeuvre. Photograph by Staff Sgt. Bennie J Davis III, U.S. Air Force 2003.

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