Watching them fly...

What is it with men (and sometimes the female folk too!) that get them excited with machinery with big engines?   

One of the best local days out in the annual calendar is the air show, in my case it’s the RAF Leuchars air show held annually around September just outside St Andrews on the east coast of Scotland.  RAF Leuchars is one of only three operating aircraft bases in Scotland, unfortunately due to spending reviews and cutbacks due to the worldwide recession it will be closing to the RAF in 2013, plans are in place to remodel the base into an army barracks.  Although this is somewhat good news as it still allows money to come into the local economy, there are worries that St Andrews does not hold the infrastructure to accommodate such an explosion in the population.

During the aircraft displays it is possible to see a wide range of modern military jets put through their paces by incredibly high trained individuals; pilots, aircraft and teams come from various countries, not just the UK.

Alphajet

The highlight of many people from around the UK in going to an air show is to see the Red Arrows.

The Red Arrows are the aerobatic display team of the Royal Air Force, the precision manoeuvres are second to none and will frequently take your breath away as the British Aerospace Hawk T1’s fly in formations that seem ridiculously too close.

No Introduction Required.

The 2011 Red Arrows display was tinged by sadness this year as a few months previously during a display at the Bournemouth Air Festival one of the display aircraft crashed as it was returning to Bournemouth Airport to land.  As a mark of respect, the team would continue the rest of the years flying schedule, but in an eight plane formation.  In many of the manoeuvres the space where the ninth aircraft would have been was left just as that, a space.


Photograph title: Alphajet
Subject: Alphajet aircraft from the Patrouille De France aerobatic display team.
Date taken: 10th September 2011
Camera Nikon D90
Exposure 0.002 sec (1/640)
Aperture f/8.o
Focal Length 300 mm


Photograph title: No Introduction Required.
Subject: Hawk T1 jet from the RAF Aerobatic Display Team - The Red Arrows.
Date taken: 10th September 2011
Camera Nikon D90
Exposure 0.001 sec (1/1250)
Aperture f/8.o
Focal Length 400 mm