On Friday 18th Dec, I turned 40 🙁 Rather than an expensive party and a hangover, I decided on a trip with a few mates to two great aircraft museums, IWM Duxford in Cambridge, and the RAF Museum at Hendon.
19th Dec – IWM Duxford
I was rather disappointed at Duxford as only the ‘Airspace’ hangar was open due to 1/2 to 1 inch of snow. Everything else was closed on the grounds of Health and Safety. It had been open the day before, as another forumite had posted some pictures, so I’m guessing someone fell over, broke themselves, and then sued the IWM. With only one hangar open, the entry price was reduced accordingly, but you would have throught they could afford a bag of salt of two?
I’d gone with my DSLR particularly to see and photograph the airworthy aircraft in pieces for winter maintenance, but as I was limited to Airspace, it made me take a second look at the exhibits there, and to try and be creative ( a bit ), with the lens in the crowded space. So without further delay, here’s a selection of the Duxford pictures.
By: steve rowell - 2nd January 2010 at 06:17
Some fascinating aircraft there
By: Arabella-Cox - 30th December 2009 at 12:29
Wellington. This aircraft is going for restoration soon apparently.
By: Arabella-Cox - 30th December 2009 at 12:27
Oxford.
Vulcan XL318
By: Arabella-Cox - 30th December 2009 at 12:23
Heinkel He 162A-2. Not quite sure why this is in the Bomber Hall?
Lancaster, S for Sugar
By: Arabella-Cox - 30th December 2009 at 12:16
The Halifax. Much has been said on this forum about this aircraft over the years. Now that there’s a composite aircraft at Elvington and a fully restored version in Canada, I’m happy to see this aircraft remain in the crash diorama, so long as its condition is monitored.
By: Arabella-Cox - 29th December 2009 at 22:02
Fw190
By: Arabella-Cox - 29th December 2009 at 21:28
Be2
Fe2b
By: Arabella-Cox - 29th December 2009 at 21:25
By: Arabella-Cox - 29th December 2009 at 21:24
Moving on to the Bomber Hall now, working through alphabetically.
By: Arabella-Cox - 29th December 2009 at 12:00
Blenheim and Tiger Moth
By: Arabella-Cox - 29th December 2009 at 11:58
Junkers Ju87 and Ju88
By: Arabella-Cox - 28th December 2009 at 22:50
Gladiator
and the two Hurricanes
By: Arabella-Cox - 28th December 2009 at 22:43
Fiat CR42 was bigger than I remember.
By: Arabella-Cox - 28th December 2009 at 22:38
From the Bf109 to the Bf110 and He111. One good thing about a late December visit is that there weren’t a huge number of visitors getting in the way of taking long exposures, although there were a few numbtys about.
By: Arabella-Cox - 28th December 2009 at 22:32
At the darker end of the hall, the 13 minute video presentation didn’t hold things up too much. It may be inconvenient for photographers, but still gives 45 minutes out of every hour for pictures. The old lighting is in the process of being converted to LED lighting for reduced running costs and more flexibility ( so I was told ), so we’ll have to wait an see how that turns out.
The small spotlights on the aircraft did cause a few photographic problems in that correct exposure of the aircraft results in blown out detail from the spots. I didn’t have the time to take multiple exposures of each aircraft to create a composite image.
By: Arabella-Cox - 28th December 2009 at 22:24
The Sunderland is a big lump to capture without a wide angle lens!
By: roberto_yeager - 28th December 2009 at 16:37
I was here the 22 of December!!!
I was some days at London on holydays!!
It´s impressive!!
1Saludo
By: Arabella-Cox - 27th December 2009 at 23:25
I ran out of time to post pics today, so only a couple of pics from the ‘Wings Over Water’ display in the glass end of the BoB hangar.
By: Arabella-Cox - 26th December 2009 at 20:58
Tomorrow, I’ll move on to the Battle of Britain Hall
By: Arabella-Cox - 26th December 2009 at 20:53
Tabloid and Triplane
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December 23, 2009 at 10:17 pm