# RAF Cosford air show, June 9th



## Airframes (May 21, 2013)

Any UK members going to this air show at the RAF Museum, Cosford?
I'll be going with my mate Mick, and meeting up with Karl (rochie). 
Gates open at 10.00 on the Sunday morning, and confirmed 'acts' are the Vulcan, the BBMF Lanc, Spit etc, B-17 'Sally B' and of course the Scampton Darts Team (aka The Red Arrows), as well as other noisy modern stuff. The BBMF will also be on view on the ground, as well as a couple of Jaguar GR3s, which will probably do some taxiing.
The entrance fee includes access to the RAF Museum displays, and are a touch cheaper if ordered on -line.
Just hoping the rain takes a holiday for a few hours at least!


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## Crimea_River (May 24, 2013)

Have a great time guys. Hope the weather co-operates.


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## rochie (May 24, 2013)

Long range forecast is good but this is England !

Looking forward to it and am proud my Daughter chose to come along rather than go to a wedding Fayre with the wife and sister in law !


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## Airframes (May 24, 2013)

Looking forward to it - and my first air show on the 'public side' for many years (more used to being 'air side.).
Just ordered spare batteries for both cameras, checked all the kit, and practicing the 'Sun Dance', in the hope it works and brings a dry, and hopefully sunny day!
Oh, and I've decided to pay the 'donation' fee, and reserve a 'Dalek' to help get around the field - no one will be safe with me around on an electric scooter!
Seek, Locate, Destroy!!


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## nuuumannn (May 24, 2013)

Looking forward to pictures, guys.


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## vikingBerserker (May 24, 2013)

I'm jealous.


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## Airframes (May 25, 2013)

Not a 'major' air show by, for example, Duxford standards, and in fact the 'acts' and the static displays are fairly limited. Not much in the way of 'war birds', compared, again, to Duxford, but if all goes to plan, the following should be flying, with those marked (*) also being on display on the ground.

Avro Vulcan.
BBMF Lanc, Spit and Hurricane (*)
B-17G 'Sally B' (*)
The Red Arrows
Eurofighter Typhoon
The Blades (*) (ex Red Arrows pilots in 'Extras' [I think] doing formation aerobatics).
Some helicopter stuff and others.
Sepecat Jaguars on static display, and also taxiing - hopefully.

It'll be worth it just to see the Vulcan display - and to get some detail shots of the Jaguars.


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## rochie (May 25, 2013)

I would turn up just for the Vulcan to be honest !

April has already said I could borrow her camera as it is better than mine !

Cheeky litlle ******* !


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## Marcel (May 25, 2013)

Would like to be there, but I will not make it. One day I'll be at Duxford. though. Looking forward to the pics, guys.


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## Airframes (May 25, 2013)

I'm keeping my fingers straight (they're normally crossed due to arthritis!) that I actually _get_ some good pics! 
I haven't quite got to grips with all the controls on the recently purchased Nikon DSLR and lenses - lots of fiddly stuff, when I'm more used to traditional, nicely engineered Olympus 35mm SLRs and lenses. Nothing wrong with the Nikon of course, but ergonomically, for me, it's a bit clumsy, and the lay out of the controls even if I was wholly familiar with them, is not particularly conducive to rapid selection.
No doubt I'll find out on June 9th - and I've always got the Fuji 'bridge camera' as a back-up.


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## Marcel (May 26, 2013)

One suggestion, Terry, before the show starts, try the camera for the right white balance. It'll help you to get the nice colours you want. I usually only play with the shutter times to get some prop blurr and use the servo to keep things sharp. Make lots of pictures, most will be crap, but you'll get some nice ones in between. For instance, at Oostwold I made 800 pictures. About 40 were publishable. The rest was either the same or just plain crap.


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## Airframes (May 26, 2013)

Yep, I'll be doing that Marcel. I'll be experimenting with shutter speed and aperture - mainly the latter, to cope with aircraft against a (hopefully!) bright sky, but I'll also try some on full auto. I've never really been a fan of auto, but having had a 'play' with the camera at Manchester airport, it seems to cope reasonably well.
And as for taking lots of shots - I always do (and did, even with film cameras). 
If just one shot in a sequence is usable, I'm happy, and with digital, there's no problem running out of film, or having the expense of processing loads of film! (OK, once upon a time it didn't cost me anything to have them processed, but it was still a pain!). In the days when I used to produce twin, or multi-projector AV shows, to obtain the average 160 transparencies required normally entailed making around 400 or more exposures.
Of course, I'll get used to the camera the more I use it, but if I was to have one criticism, it would be that too much information is displayed, spread around different parts of the screen (or viewfinder), much of which is not needed. But once I become accustomed to what's what, and how to switch between the various modes and options, it should become second nature - I hope. At the moment, I'm still wanting to change aperture, for example, on the lens barrel, when everything is selected by the various menu buttons., but, with practice, and use, this should come naturally eventually.


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## Wayne Little (May 26, 2013)

Hope it works out weatherwise Terry, then we will get some great shots, between you and Karl should be well covered!


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## Airframes (May 26, 2013)

Hope so mate - and don't forget April (Karl's daughter), and her new, all singing, all dancing, coffee making, donut cooking camera !


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## Vic Balshaw (May 26, 2013)

Had it all planned, plane flights. trains, Wolverhampton accommodation, the grand meet-up......................and the bl**dy Lotto didn't come in.

Have a great day guys and I hope for a changer you get some real nice Aussie type weather.


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## rochie (May 27, 2013)

Airframes said:


> Hope so mate - and don't forget April (Karl's daughter), and her new, all singing, all dancing, coffee making, donut cooking camera !


You are correct mate, had a go with it last night, vdry confusing and difficult to use easily


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## Wayne Little (May 27, 2013)

let April use the Bl**dy thing.....you point and she shoots...that's what I'd do....with my daughter saying you old fart, try reading the instructions...!


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## Airframes (May 27, 2013)

Instructions? AH, that's what that thing was - I thought it was just packing material ..........


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## A4K (May 28, 2013)

Hope yas have beautiful sunshine for the day... (...so the crowds will disperse from around the Lincoln and Terry can get me nice clear shots!  ) 
Seriously though, have a great one guys, wish I could join yas!


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## Airframes (May 28, 2013)

Good news Evan - I found out that the museum itself is remaining open until 18.30 hrs and, as we'll be in no rush to leave to join the traffic jams, I should have plenty of time to get you some Lincoln shots!


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## A4K (May 28, 2013)

That would be great if you can Terry, thanks mate! (Can I make an additional request for a shot on the radiator intake btw?  )


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## Airframes (May 28, 2013)

Consider it done! 
E-mail me a list of specific details you want, and I'll do my best - or better if I can get permission to cross the line (doubtful on air show day though).
And clean your PM box - tried to reply re your PM about posting metal items, but couldn't as your boxes are full!


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## A4K (May 29, 2013)

Cheers mate! 
Just those I asked for ('Just'?  ) would be great if possible: undercarriage legs, air intakes/radiators, nose interior (turret and passage from below), and flight engineers station. Cheers mate!


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## Airframes (May 29, 2013)

OK mate. Highly unlikely I'll be able to get interior shots, as it's not normally open for internal viewing. 
BUT! The next 'Open Cockpit' night they have, I'll see if I can get there. The FE station was basically the same as the Lanc, and access to the nose compartment was the same too - duck, contort, and squeeze under the instrument panel, down one step (on top of the de-icer tank), although of course everything forward of this was different, due to the glazing and lack of turret. The layout is shown in that cutaway I sent you, although not that clear in details.


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## A4K (May 29, 2013)

Yep, almost the same, but the FE panel was moved forward adjacent the pilot, necessitating a more complicated seat folding mechanism (not completely clear in the drawing)
Just a minor detail though (but you know me...!), will be happy with whatever you can get though!


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## Hotntot (May 29, 2013)

Sounds like this'll be fun - even if it isn't Duxford. A Tempting trip. Good luck with the photo's Terry. From post 12 I can see you know exactly what you're doing. Worked for a photo studio myself once and we never expected more than a couple of usable transparencies per roll.


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## Airframes (May 29, 2013)

Cheers mate. Yes, I was fully trained in Professional, studio and audio-visual photography, with a bit of motion-picture thrown in, before moving onto a Specialist job in Graphics/Reproduction photography and printing, working for that well-known photographic manufacturer. Got me into some interesting places, both as a Specialist and a photographer!
The problem with the Nikon DSLR, from my viewpoint, is that there are too may unneccessary features, which means some functions can't be accessed as rapidly as they could on film SLRs, a very real requirement for aviation photography. Obviously designed to make the camera more 'creative' for amateurs, and no doubt I'll get used to it eventually. I have to say though, the little Fuji 'bridge camera' I've been using for the last four years, apart from being easier to use, and handle, is not only more robust in construction but, for artificial light, 'table top' shots, it turns out better images, first time, than the Nikon!
OK, my knackered hands don't help things, but I find the Nikon somewhat clumsy, and off-balance, and I have the feeling that even able-bodied users might experience some handling problems. That said, it's quite nice overall, and hopefully will do the job for 'action' shots at a distance.


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## Hotntot (May 29, 2013)

Yep - I've got a Nikon FE which I've really enjoyed in the past but, of course, have moved on to digital - but only with a compact camera. So it's about time I got back into SLR with a digital unit as the results are really pleasing. I agree with about too many features on the DSLR's and not being able to 'get the shot' on the fly really quickly. That's one thing I really enjoyed with the film SLR. The FE is built around a chassis too making it really robust with a balanced weight and good ergonomics.


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## Airframes (May 29, 2013)

I know exactly what you mean. I used these for thirty years - beautifully engineered, precision instruments - well balanced, extremely robust chassis, but light and easy to handle. They were easier to use for air to air shots than the Nikon F1 I also had, as they could be gripped well during high 'g' manouvres without wanting to go on an independent flight, or try to break your wrists! 
I must have put literally thousands of rolls of film through both the OM1 bodies and they never let me down, and were still like new when I sold them last year - and I wish now I hadn't!!
The other two pics show the recently purchased Nikon and lenses, and the nice little Fuji bridge camera - a delight to use, and on 'full zoom' delivers some great long-distance shots, but not quite fully suitable for high-speed action shots of aircraft, due to the 'black-out' of the viewfinder between exposures.


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## A4K (May 30, 2013)

I'm definitely not an expert photographer, but the best photos I ever took were when I had my old (manual) Zenit. Provided I adjusted for the light correctly, it took some beautiful clear shots, even better than Ivett's little digital camera which we now use!
Where the digital shines of course is no film being required, large photo storage, and ability to instantly check how the shot came out...

Nice looking camera there btw Terry. (And as an aside... what film do/did you guys prefer to use? I preferred Fuji 200)


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## Hotntot (May 30, 2013)

> Airframes: I must have put literally thousands of rolls of film through both the OM1 bodies



Ah, The trusty old OM1. I had one of those as well before the Nikon and it was a great camera to use. I would take it with me on my travels and it never let me down. Got rid of mine too, I think, and should have kept it as a back up. Thinking about purchasing a Nikkon one day - maybe a D700 but the Fuji camera looks like a nifty unit.



> A4K...what film do/did you guys prefer to use? I preferred Fuji 200



Fuji 200 is good. Used to work on a principle that Fuji was more biased towards the greens (good for landscape and nature) and Kodak more biased towards the reds (good for portraits). Don't know what you think on that Terry? Would it be fair enough as a general rule? There's Fujicolour Pro print film and also Velvia or Sensia - transparency films - which you'd probably only use for a special project because of the cost of processing. You get fantastic results, though, and it was the medium in the past for supplying photo libraries. 

Of course, digital allows you to just keep on shooting without a thought to processing costs which is great for airshows as you can keep going until you 'get that shot'. But it still pays to know the rules of photography to get you there - and know how to break them. The great thing about my SLRs was finding my way around a manual camera which forced me to learn about aperture, speed, f-stops, focal lengths, etc and techniques like panning which give some great results for action/motion shots. And don't forget, polarizers and other (subtle) filters have their use.


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## Airframes (May 30, 2013)

Yes, that's a fair assessment of the colour balances. I used Ektachrome, in various ASA ratings, and Kodachrome 64 for trannies, with Vericolour VPS for the few negative films I used. But then, guess who I worked for ! Film mostly on my stock budget, or cheap, and processing either free (done by me) or heavily discounted!


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