RAFM Hendon 11th March 2006

Exhibits tend to flow freely from Cosford to Hendon but not the other way, somthing to do with Cosford being north of Watford I think.

The Tempest would have been logical for the cold War hall surely?

Cant understand why the museum insist on having 2 Gladiators and 2 Tempests on site logic would be move the Tempest 2 and the Gladiator fuselage to Cosford?

Interesting thought.

Probably because they are all representing very different things – although they may be two of a kind to an aviation enthusiast, a wrecked Glad with a significant history is telling a very different story to the general public than the complete example of no great service achievement. A brightly painted target tug aircraft is doing likewise something different to the 2nd TAF example in the main hall.

Spend a bit of time listening and talking to the general public in a museum you’ll realise that paint and completeness are way more important than a similar name on the placard.

Personally I thought it a good thing when the RAF collection was a bit more widespread, (St Athan etc.) but there you go.

Cant understand why the museum insist on having 2 Gladiators and 2 Tempests on site logic would be move the Tempest 2 and the Gladiator fuselage to Cosford?

Here’s the Mossie picture I took in June 2004.

Dennis

And a couple of more angles here.

Hi,

When I was there a couple of years ago it was next to the Bulldog. I took photos of the two Harts, Bulldog and both Gladiators. We had to go to the hall with the resturant for the completed Gladiator, so all the others would be in the main hall I guess.

A couple of photos of their other Glad and the Hart trainer.

Alex

Not the easiest aircraft to get a photo of (couldn’t get a picture of the Mossie at all)

Here’s the Mossie picture I took in June 2004.

Dennis

Cheers markansell, i’m currently still tinkering about with brightening the pictures up etc. Nice pics Alex, where was the Gladiator wreck? Don’t remember seeing that

Hi,

I was at Hendon in August 2004 and took the following pics with my 1.3m digital camera. The photos were taken from underneath the Hart at arms length and quite a bit of zoom. I got some good detailed shots. Othe photos of the Ju88 did not turn out so good even when taken close up.

I’ve also added a couple of their Gladiator N5628.

Alex

You can always brighten it up via software.
Here’s a quick try from your Blenheim pic try using the levels feature of Photoshop Element 2.
Cheers,
Mark

Great photo Snaps

Sounds like a good idea actually, would be useful in the Bomber Command hall and other places where the aircraft are crammed in. If it wasn’t for the light conditions getting a good pic of the Blenheim wouldn’t be that bad, especially with the upstairs gallery meaning you can get some good pics if your camera is set up properly, just about all of the aircraft in the Battle of Britain hall are in a good position for photos if the light is alright or you change the settings on the camera, especially from the overhead gallery if you’ve got a good zoom. I was quite happy with this pic I took from the overhead gallery of the Blenheim, bit dark but I like it

😀

My “invention” is to have a digital camera with a seperate/remote screen. The camera body/lens would be mounted on one end of a telescopic pole down which a cable would run to the viewscreen and a shutter mounted at, roughly, eye-level. The pole/camera could be raised to 12-15 ft (or more?) so a semi-aerial photograph could be taken over any obstructions.

It’s called ‘an arm’ in the short 3 ft version, and ‘a tripod’ in the other version, 5 ft, which is usuallly enough. 😉

Just one ‘for instance’: I’ve managed to get a photo of the Stranraer at the RAF MUSEUM by holding my digibox over the bannister on the first floor gallery, on the end of the tripod acting a mono-pod, and roughly aiming it by ‘eyeballing’ the angle of the lens, and checking the result and trying again until it came out right. The photo turned out fine, and was published in our book on the Walrus & Stranraer, MMP.

I regularly hold the camera at full reach (high) to shoot over / down on a crowd, and eyeball the position. If you need to use a viewfinder all the time, you are lacking initiative as a photographer – some of the world’s great photos have been taken remotely, and using a little luck. With digital technology a lot of that luck-needing element has been removed.

Cheers!

Entrepenureal(?) Opportunity

The difficulty of getting a half decent photo of, for example, the Blenheim is, as we know, far from unique.

Maybe here is an opportunity for an entrepeneur (sorry haven’t got a dictionary handy) out there.

My “invention” is to have a digital camera with a seperate/remote screen. The camera body/lens would be mounted on one end of a telescopic pole down which a cable would run to the viewscreen and a shutter mounted at, roughly, eye-level. The pole/camera could be raised to 12-15 ft (or more?) so a semi-aerial photograph could be taken over any obstructions.

Should I patent the idea 🙂

Roger Smith.

Thanks for sharing your pictures.

I visited on the 7th Feb 2006 and the Grahame White building was closed as was the upstairs gallery above the Sunderland and the area around where the Valiant used to be while they are moving things around and reassembling the Liberator.

For my pictures in the Battle of Britain Hall I preferred not using any flash but using a long time exposure on a steady tripod with remote shutter release. The attached picture of the Blenheim was taken at 27mm F10 100ASA and a time exposure of 20 seconds. Some darker areas of the German aircraft in the BoB Hall were taken at 30 seconds. All taken with a Canon EOS20D digital SLR.

Good to see a Liberator at Hendon at last.

Cheers

Cees

Thanks for sharing your pictures.

I visited on the 7th Feb 2006 and the Grahame White building was closed as was the upstairs gallery above the Sunderland and the area around where the Valiant used to be while they are moving things around and reassembling the Liberator.

For my pictures in the Battle of Britain Hall I preferred not using any flash but using a long time exposure on a steady tripod with remote shutter release. The attached picture of the Blenheim was taken at 27mm F10 100ASA and a time exposure of 20 seconds. Some darker areas of the German aircraft in the BoB Hall were taken at 30 seconds. All taken with a Canon EOS20D digital SLR.

The hart in the first picture was the one my grandfather flew in the 1930’s and here it is.

Hope that works!

Good photos by the way, despite the lighting 🙂

Thanks robbo i’ll give that a try, as you’re pics look like they should be and not four shades of grey like my prvious attempts.

curlyboy

Cheers, i’ll try it out

Whoa, nice pics – I’m getting myself an SLR!