Spadeadam Mon 25 Feb 2013 - day of the graceful heavies

[catkins]

Mondays = quiet days, was my first thought.
Sun and blue sky = good for photography was my second thought.
And once there, Wow = Wow was my final thought!.

What a wonderful day to be on the range - two individual USAF MC-130H Combat Talon II of 352SOG/7SOS Mildenhall (callsigns Mission 71 and Shadow 61 I think), with the first providing some great photo opportunities and the second unfortunately playing to the north end of the range.

Then a fantastic, almost aerobatic, display by an RAF C-130 (callsign Ascot ?) which was a fabulous treat to watch let alone photograph.

Then to cap off the day came the sight of a very usual shape at Spade and a first for me, a USAF HH-60 Pave Hawk (callsign Jolly 71) which again provided some excellent photo opportunities with some really varied and nicely planned runs (!)

All those pilots and crew deserve one hell of a big thank you for keeping two very cold photographers very happy, so

With the bitterly cold wind and the bright sunlight only later being affected by occasional cloud, the variety of runs by most of the 'graceful heavies' also meant lots of chances to try to deal with the contrasty lighting on the aircraft, so hopefully once I've reviewed my shots there will be a few posted to this forum over the next day or so.

[Chris Procter]

Waiting to see some piccies... lucky beggars
hope you are well
maybe see you in 6-8 weeks up there
Chris

[catkins]

Chris P - "Lucky beggars"?
Don't be daft, I call it excellent planning!!
(while on the QT totally agreeing with you!)

Just to add to the IDs:
Lockheed MC-130H Combat Talon II - 87-0023
Lockheed MC-130H Combat Talon II - not IDed as too distant
RAF C-130K - XV209
HH-60G - LN USAF 26208

Photos probably should be uploaded tomorrow and I'll update the fact here - in the meanwhile I'm just enjoying looking through them!

[catkins]

'The day of the graceful heavies'
Spadeadam on a good day, despite the bitter wind, can be a very good place to be. And when the graveful heavies of the USAF and the RAF decide to practise their evasive arts, then the photography can be fun, challenging and rewarding.
For those who know the red and white control caravan (now all new version) at Wiley Sike, you know that when the caravan is in shot, the aircraft is low! This is an elderly RAF C-130K really showing that the oldies can strut their stuff!
I'll post this photo here as a little taster for Spadeadam regulars.

[Chris Procter]

On this evidence looking forward to seeing the rest,,, looks like you had quite a show

[catkins]

Well the editing is virtually done after a day of welcome interuptions, numerous coffee breaks, etc., etc.
I'll leave the main uploading to PhotoBucket and this Forum until tomorrow, but here's another taster image to give a feel of the day (although this was about the closest they got)! Definitely need a better LCD screen on my Olympus E-30 as the results were difficult to access on-site, but the old Oly did okay - anyone got a Canon 5D mkIII to let me try out!!
I think at last that I've just about managed the rotor blur, and there's a higher number of keeps for a change due to the fabulous light - downside though is trying to sort out which to post.

USAF HH-60 Pave Hawk (callsign Jolly 71) - Tail ID: LN USAF 26208 - Some great photo opportunities provided by this crew and much appreciated!

[catkins]

Loads of photos at long last uploaded to the Forum at http://fightercontrol.co.uk/forum/viewt ... 16&t=75231" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Bit of a contrast to today (Wed 27th) which was unfortunately a very quiet day!

Many thanks for the various comments here, to my 'Justswanningaround Imagery' Facebook page and personally - I hope you enjoy some or all of the photos.

Regards
Chris