F117 Stealth Fighter FlyBy

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

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.

F117 Stealth Fighter CloseUp

2003 Geneseo Airshow – Mig 17T FlyBy

One of the different planes that showed up at this 2003 Airshow was a Russian Mig17T Jet. It was built in 1957 at the State Aircraft Factories in Russia. Now owned by a pilot from Minnesota and flies at Airshows under Experimental Aircraft.

MIG 17T, Nikon D1X, 80-400mm lens @ 95mm (with the D1X having a 1.5x cropped sensor Field of View equivalent to 142mm lens)
Mig 17T, Tail Image as it was taxiing by me, Nikon D1X, 80-400mm lens @135mm (with the D1X having a 1.5x cropped sensor Field of View equivalent to 202mm lens)
Mig 17T FlyBy with Afterburner On, Nikon D1X, Nikon 80-400mm lens @ 400mm. With the Nikon D1X having a 1.5X cropped sensor Field of View equivalent to 600mm lens.
Mig 17T FlyBy with Speed Brake out, Nikon D1X, Nikon 80-400mm lens @ 400mm. With the Nikon D1X having a 1.5X cropped sensor Field of View equivalent to 600mm lens.

World War I Replica Fighter Aircraft

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.

Fokker DR1 Replica Taxiing before take-off (100-400mm @ 400mm)
Fokker DR1 Triplane Flying Overhead, 400mm, Nikon D1x, 80-400mm @ 400mm
British SE5A Replica (this replica is actually only 80 percent of full size SE5A Aircraft)
French Spad 7 Replica, 400mm, Nikon D1X
Fokker DR1 Triplane & SE5A Moving to get Ready for TakOff, Nikon D1X, 80-400mm lens @ 200mm