RAF Cosford... in the air

Another post from RAF Cosford, this time from the flying display, and a much longer post too.

Camera-wise I was relying on an increasingly outdated Canon 350 as it is the only body which takes the Sigma zoom lens... might have to buy a decent lens to fit the Nikons we now use as standard.  The camera was frankly struggling a lot of the time, not helped by the very changeable lighting.  That said, in the right conditions, with the zoom lens, it does work nicely for some photography like this, so for the time being I'll continue with it...

The display program opened as ever with the RAF Falcons parachute display team, making a very impressive drop; all the more so considering the high wind speeds.

The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight sent over a wing of 3 Spitfires and a Hurricane, which looked good against the patches of blue...

...but the camera again struggling with the odd lighting from a very mixed sky as they passed round.

I do like the above shot of the invasion-striped Spitfire diving though, with the almost silhouette effect the camera took against a nearly glowing sky.

The Westland Whirlwind rescue helicopter making its lift.

An interesting consequence of the tragic Hunter crash at an airshow last year is that because of the proximity of roads and population centres, the Red Arrows (and RAF Typhoon) had to display away from the runway.  There were a lot of complaints before the event from people when this news was released (a great many from people who watch from outside the airfield without a ticket apparently), but leaving aside the safety precaution, it also hugely benefited us because we were well placed to see the action.

The Reds always give a good show, and indeed the Youngest Child (wearing a flightsuit she insisted on getting last time) has set her heart on flying with the Red Arrows when she grows up...

Another shot where the glowing sky, and struggling camera, created a nice silhouette shot...

With the USAF Over Here rattling the sabre a bit at the moment (partly to train their crews in flying over Europe, also apparently to remind Europe who wears the trousers in NATO, according to a pilot I know), they sent a couple of bombers over on a flypast.  The B1 Lancer is something I used to see a lot of, living near an American bomber station in Gloucestershire in the late 1990's, and it was as impressive as ever, setting off car alarms.  The weather had closed in, it was pissing down with rain, and the plane came in low and slow out of the clouds with no warning, which was a tad spooky.

Less militaristic, The Childs were fascinated by the Wing Walkers in their display.

My earlier comments (in the last blog) about how ugly the Apache is still stand, but it is undeniably impressive.  The brutal looks being something of a statement of purpose I suppose.  It was flying in one of three displays on the day involving pyrotechnic elements, basically simulated rocket strikes...

...hence the drifting smoke.

Unfortunately we didn't have a cracking view of the pyro effects from where we were (or for the Strikemaster jets beforehand) so we planned on getting closer for the finale...

The Red Tail P51 was impressive; not just a repaint, but an actual genuine Red Tail fighter.  For those who don't know, look them up- the first African-American fighter squadron for the Americans.

Speaking of Second World War Americans, the B17 "Sally B" (which doubled as "Memphis Belle" in the excellent film of the same name from the early 1990's).

The sky stayed blue for a while, and this rather graceful plane put on a nice show...

Somewhat in contrast, the successor to the B-17 came hammering over next, another USAF flypast, and another plane I used to see a lot of in the 1990's living in Gloucestershire.  The venerable B-52 (from the earlier days of the Cold War and still in service) made two passes of the airfield.

The RAF Typhoon having broken, and with the RAF somewhat under-resourced these days and not contributing anything else in the air, the sole display by a fast jet was left to this Tornado from the Italians... but they didn't half put on a good show, with a uniquely-liveried jet celebrating the anniversary of their squadron.

Unsurprisingly, and very deservedly, they won the trophy for best solo display afterwards.

Personal highlight for me (as a movie nerd) was the 1960's battlefield support demonstration was the big finish of the show, as it has the Huey and Loach flypasts... fans of the film "Apocalypse Now" will recognise both, indeed if it is a Vietnam film, it will have a Huey in it...

This late into the show a lot of people were already leaving to beat the inevitable traffic jams, but we decided to stay for this (even with a 4hour drive back to Yorkshire on the cards), and it also meant we could get down to the front, which meant...

...we got to see the simulated bombing run by the Bronco.  Shame about that helicopter parked up at the front, but couldn't be helped.

The absolute finale, was the ever impressive Chinook display, which was as mad as ever (some very impressive aerobatics from such a huge vehicle).

Overall it was a decent show this year, though the lack of modern aircraft was noticeable, but then it is a somewhat stripped-back RAF defending the country these days.  The display program had changed a bit too, with some planes unable to attend, or dropping out, or having to fly at different times.  A personal disappointment was the sole flying Sea Vixen was written off in a landing accident a couple of weeks before the show- the pilot walked away from the crash, but it has meant the project I was going to photograph it as research for will have to wait a bit.  The weather wasn't as bad as predicted, there was plenty to look at, The Childs enjoyed it, and we'll probably be back next year for the 100th Anniversary of the RAF show.