All in all, a lot of things have gone in my favour as far as this hobby goes, it really picked up for me in July/August when I moved closer to Fairford and got myself a set of wheels of my own - I consider myself quite lucky for that!
Not a great deal happened before June, I was living in Brighton for my university studies without a car and so I didn't have the opportunity to get out besides shooting a few civvies in January.
I'd hoped to see the Wildcat with Martlet Missiles on the hardpoints when visiting the Leonardo Helicopter Facility at Yeovil, and I'm glad I did - even though it wasn't the head on I was hoping for I like this angle.
AW.159 Wildcat ZZ415, Yeovil, 5/6/20 by Oliver Curtis, on FlickrI made one of my first trips to Fairford on a non Airshow Day and achieved a long term goal of mine, some shots of a U-2, close up with the added bonus of it being fitted with the SYERS nose
68-10337 U-2S, RAF Fairford, 20/8/20 by Oliver Curtis, on FlickrEast Kirkby in August was the first 'hint' of a show, which had taxi runs of the Lancaster and Mosquito along with a flypast from this Spitfire
Untitled by Oliver Curtis, on FlickrBack to Fairford now with the Bomber Task Force Deployment, I spent many hours down on the fence there for this and loved every moment of it! Even caught the 'slick' U-2 used for circuits, which to me is far less predictable than the mission birds!
80-1083 U-2S, RAF Fairford, 09/04/20 by Oliver Curtis, on Flickr
B-52H Stratofortress 61-0034, 04/09/20RAF Fairford, by Oliver Curtis, on Flickr
B-52H 61-0034, RAF Fairford, 08/09/20 by Oliver Curtis, on Flickr
B-52H Stratofortress 'Charger 21' 60-0005, RAF Fairford, 21/09/20 by Oliver Curtis, on FlickrI did my first trip to Shuttleworth for a show, something I've been meaning to do for ages, their drive in model was fantastic and in some ways better than regular shows!
Westland Lysander, Shuttleworth Drive In Airshow, 06/09/20 by Oliver Curtis, on Flickr
DHC Chipmunk, Shuttleworth Drive In Airshow, 06/09/20 by Oliver Curtis, on Flickr
Hawker Hurricane, Shuttleworth Drive In Airshow, 06/09/20 by Oliver Curtis, on Flickr
Supermarine Spitfire, Shuttleworth Drive In Airshow, 06/09/20 by Oliver Curtis, on FlickrDown the road at Staverton Airport, a few interesting things popped by, including this Royal Flight 146 which gave me a nice dose of jet blast once it took off!
BAe 146 CC.2 ZE700, Staverton Airport, 29/9/20 by Oliver Curtis, on FlickrMore U-2s. I love the angle you get on them from Rhymes!
U-2S 68-10337, RAF Fairford, 13/10/20 by Oliver Curtis, on Flickr
U-2S 'NUMA 01' 68-10337, RAF Fairford, 26/10/20 by Oliver Curtis, on FlickrThe 'stand out' trip for me was Marham, for Crimson Warrior just before going into lockdown and on the last day of the Exercise... everything came together perfectly!
F-35B, RAF Marham, 4/11/20 by Oliver Curtis, on Flickr
F-35B, RAF Marham, 4/11/20 by Oliver Curtis, on Flickr
F-35B, RAF Marham, 4/11/20 by Oliver Curtis, on Flickr
F-35B, RAF Marham, 4/11/20 by Oliver Curtis, on FlickrTo finish, I'm glad to have also caught an RAF C-130J at Brize. These won't be around forever and I've not got a great deal of photos of them in action! Best make the most of it while we can...
C130J Hercules ZH872 - RAF Brize Norton - 17/12/20 by Oliver Curtis, on FlickrThanks all for looking - wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. See you in 2021!
