photoartflightF117 Stealth Fighter FlyBy
Posted on April 9, 2024
Now that I am retired I have more time to work on the PhotoArtFlight blog. These are images taken years ago with an early Digital Nikon D1X camera with a 400mm lens. The Nikon D1X had a cropped 1.5x sensor so the field of view would be ~600mm. I used to photograph a lot of Aviation images at airshows. Before Digital Cameras I would shoot 20 to 3o rolls of Ektachrome film so you were always reloading the camera with film. Digital made it easier to get the shots without reloading the camera and getting better and more images as the planes wizzed by. The F-117 Nighthawk was the world’s first operational stealth aircraft. The F117 subsonic twin-engine stealth attack aircraft developed by Lockheed’s secretive Skunk Works was not really a Fighter aircraft but more a ground attack aircraft. F-117s saw extensive combat use, from the incursion into Panama in 1989 through the Persian Gulf War of 1990–91 to the Iraqi War of 2003–11. It was fun to have the chance to photograph the F117 Stealth Fighter up close!
B2 Bomber & F117 STealth Fighter
Posted on February 23, 2024
Back in the Day I used to do a lot of Aviation Photography. I started with film but really did more with the early Digital Cameras like the FujiFilm S2 Pro & Nikon D1. The FujiFilm S2 also used Nikon Lenses. The Digital cameras were Great for this because you did not have to keep reloading the film for the fast paced FlyBys. Photographers around me were not used to not see me not reloading film. The AutoFocus sometimes had a hard time focusing on the Steatlh planes so I mostly used manual focus. Which was pretty much at infinity anyway.
World War I Replica Fighter Aircraft
Posted on May 11, 2022
I had posted before that I used to photograph aircraft at a lot of Airshows. Now that I am retired I am going through my array of backup hard drives cleaning out images no longer needed and making room for new images. But while doing that I am finding images that are interesting to post here. These are images taken at a Fly-In & Airshow in Geneseo, NY in 2001. Back then this was the early days of digital photography. Here I was using a Nikon D1X with an 80-400mm lens & a Fuji S2 Pro with a 100-300mm lens. The Fuji s2 Pro also used a Nikon mount lens. Both of these early digital cameras had a 1.5 cropped sensor so at 100mm it would be like using a 150mm focal length view on a Full Frame camera. The Featured Image was taken with the Nikon D1X @400mm.
UkraInian Demonstration FlyBys At US Airshow Back In The Day
Posted on May 2, 2022
I used to do a lot of Aviation Photography back in the day before I transitioned to Landscapes & Birds. In May 1992, two Ukrainian Air Force MiG-29 fighters departed for North America to participate in the 100th anniversary celebration of Ukrainian immigration to America. Russamerica Airshow Incorporated sponsored the tour and the aircraft, one MIG-29A (Single-Seater) and one MiG-29UB (2 Seater) , were transferred in a disassembled condition onboard an Antonov An-124 cargo plane to Canada. On May 8, the aircraft arrived at Namao Air Base, in Edmonton, Canada and were reassembled in a record time of just two days. On May 16, they flew for the first time at the same air base. Then they went on tour through the US at various Air Shows. The images here were taken at one of the Airshows I usually photographed each year. Back then these were taken on Canon F1N film cameras with Kodak Ektachome 200 slide film & then scanned for Digital Files. This was a few years before my studio transitioned to Digital Cameras. I was used to photographing the US Thunderbirds & Blue Angels Demonstration Teams & the Canadian Snowbirds which usually would do group Fly Bys and some other displays for the show. Then regroup and fly by again sometimes towards each other and Pull-up and Climb straight up. The Ukrainian Air Force MiG-29’s show was unlike the shows I usually saw. They were almost always in view on the main airshow area and would flyby show center, then climb, rotate and go back the other way. So it was fun to watch and see different flight maneuvers and displays of the Ukrainian Team.
WWII Japanese “Zero” Fighter
Posted on February 23, 2022
I used to photograph a lot of aircraft & aviation events, especially at Air Shows. This was a faux World War Mitsubishi Zero fighter modified from an WWII North American AT-6 Trainer to look like a Japanese Zero Fighter for Airshows. Image taken years ago with a Nikon D1x with an 80-400mm lens @ 400mm. The D1X had a 1.5X crop factor, so the FOV with the Nikon D1X is approximately like a 600mm lens. I am going through my backup hard drives to clear up storage space to remove unneeded images and to make room for more recent images instead of adding even more hard drives.
Russian Yak-9 Reproduction WWII Fighter Plane Takeoff
Posted on July 5, 2020
I was surprised to see a Yak 9-UM reproduction WWII Russian premier fighter plane at an air show many years ago. I liked the moisture swirls in the air from the propeller on takeoff. Researching I found out it was 1 of 10 Yak-9’s reproduced by the Yakovlev factory in the 1990’s. The plane was built in the original factory and machining from WWII. But this time it is a 2 seater with full dual controls. The original Yak 9 was the ultimate Russian WWII fighter plane. It sort of had P-51 Mustang performance at half the price for warbird flying enthusiasts! It was a very humid morning so the propeller made interest swirls in the air on takeoff!
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