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.
2003 Geneseo Airshow – Mig 17T FlyBy
Posted on May 17, 2022
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.
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.
WWII B17G “Yankee Lady” Climbing After TakeOff
Posted on April 22, 2022
Many years ago I used to go to a lot of airshows to photograph the planes in flight. It is almost like seeing History fly by you. The images in this post are of a WWII Boeing B-17G Heavy Bomber. Photographing these planes, especially flying, brings that History to life. The B-17G, named Yankee Lady is now owned by the Yankee Air Force, doing business as the Yankee Air Museum. And is flown for flight experience rides and airshow appearances. In 1946 this aircraft was one of 16 “Flying Fortresses” that were transferred to the the U.S. Coast Guard. In 1985 the airplane was among four other B-17s that were put up for sale at an auction held by Globe Air. The airplane remained unsold until the Yankee Air Force purchased it for $250,000 in June 1986. After several test hops, the aircraft was flown from Mesa, Arizona to the Willow Run Airport in Ypsilanti, Michigan on July 2, 1986. It was not to fly again for nine years during a restoration of volunteers to rebuild the plane. The “Yankee Lady” name and nose art do not replicate that of a known combat veteran B-17, but rather are meant to be representative of the era. The restoration work was accomplished almost entirely by dedicated Yankee Air Force volunteers who generously donated time, talents, and financial resources to what was a labor of love. The first post-restoration flight took place on July 13, 1995. The images here were taken at an Air Show in 2003 with an early digital Nikon D1x and a Nikon 80-400mm lens @ 370mm (Full Frame Equivalent Camera FOV ~ 555mm) The Nikon D1X had a 1.5X cropped sensor.
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.
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