Action shots, need help.

I find it easier to pan action shots with a monopod rather than a tripod.

If a monopod is not an option I suggest using a tennis ball with a hole cut out. If you cut the hole just right, you will be able to fit bottom of all three legs of the tripod tightly into the tennis ball, and voila you have an instant monopod! Use disposable plastic ties to tie down the legs together at 2-3 places along its lenght, that will make the legs more rigid and act more like a monopod. You can always cut these off when you require a full tripod, and if you carry spare ties in your camera bag, you can convert the tripod back to a “monopod” if required.

When using a tripod I find that a ball head works better for me than a pan/tilt head for panning shots. Being that you have a $300 tripod it probably has interchangeable heads. If you don’t already have both types go to a camera shop and try the other one out. You can then decide which head works best for you. The really good (expensive) heads will allow you to level your camera properly with built-in spirit levels. However with digital photography and post-processing this is not as important a consideration though IMO as compared to film imaging. You can always correct the horizon in pp. There will be some cropping after the horizon is corrected, but this should be minimal as long as you are reasonable careful when composing the photograph.

You can pan your shot for a sharper picture at a lower speed now that you have a trusty tripod

Thanks for the advise guys!
Vulcan: mate I have a very nice tripod rather than a steady hand, it cost over $300 and was a christmas present 🙂 The only thing is, getting the pilots to hold the plane in position while I get the shot using shuch a slow speed on the camera.

Shutter speed of around 320th down to 250th work well for most flying shots .
as for props spinning on the ground static you can go lower for a fuller prop circle.200th down to 125th or lower if you have a steady hand.

Yes, to create a prop ‘blur’ you need a slower shutter speed. About 1/200th or slower should give you the desired effect. Obviously, the slower your shutter speed the more blurred the props will look. But then you have to take into account that it’ll require better panning, to keep the rest of the aircraft sharp.

As an example, here is one I shot at 1/200th http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=552766&showexif=1#exifshow