Wessex FanLike Manc I have been using a 70 to 300 mm IS lens for a few years now and have found it to be a super lens, however like Manc I find it a bit short, consequently I hope to purchase the 100 to 400mm IS ‘L’ series Lens.
It all comes down to money, 100 to 400mm lens is over £1000 here compared to approx £400 for the 70 to 300mm IS lens
Cheers
Wessex FanIt does Robbo, I have written an article for a local magazine in which the runway identity comes up, having looked at the pilot’s notes on the Old Warden Web site, I wanted to confirm that my interpretation was correct.
Nice picture by the way!
I’ve attached a picture I want to use with the piece.
Blue Skies
Wessex FanDamn, was away, missed that – hardly watch any TV so I tend to miss the occasional goody. Coincidentally, on Wednesday morning on R4 (?) I listened to a short interview with the US author of the original novel on which this film is based, James Salter. His original name was James Horowitz, West Point class of 1945, a genuine F-86 pilot who shot down at least one MiG himself, in 1952. He is very little known in this country, but possibly worth looking into.
hps
For anyone interested, the film is still available on DVD.
Blue Skies
Eric
Wessex FanThe problem is what’s ‘reasonable’? If you pay above the market rate in the field, or more than what you can afford to do (generally staff costs are your biggest continuing cost) you go bust. It’s a narrow window.
James
I hate to say this but up to a point the marketplace will decide the rate for the job! I make the point with distaste as we are constantly told that the marketplace dictates the disgusting quantities of money being paid to the big earners in the City and the world of sport to name two groups!
Dave is quite correct we do need to train more wood and fabric workers in the old skills, the question at the moment still remains who is going to do the training?
Cheers
Eric
Wessex FanYes the squid was the replacement for the long serving ‘hedgehog’ which laid a pattern of propelled depth charges in front of the attacking ship before ASDIC lost contact with the sub, Hedgehog was contact fused so would only explode on contact with the sub, where squid had a larger charge and would explode at a preset depth.
The use of Squid was later discontinued on some ships especially in the far east as the launchers were too dangerous and fragile to survive air attack and could easily sink the ship it was mounted too, squid was also fitted to some of the navies battleships who had them removed as they had to be trained by the big gun turret they were sitting on and had to be unloaded before the main armament could be fired due to the vibration of the guns firing may cause them to cook off.
curlyboy
Hi All
In his position as an Admiralty overseer my late father was involved in test firing one of these infernal devices on a frigate, it blew the deck in and broke every piece of crockery on the ship!
Blue Skys
Eric
Wessex FanHow many youngsters are learning the artisan skills of aircraft woodworking? Where do they learn it? How can they afford to learn it? I see a major skill shortage looming.
H
Hi all,
I have been reading this thread with particular interest; I am a product of the now largely defunct British engineering industry, having been an indentured electrical apprentice for five years at the end of the 1960’s / the start of the 1970’s, I might add that I then spent another five or more years training as a draughtsman, in the days when we still used drawing boards!
In those days the bigger companies had apprentice schemes that ultimately fed the countries need for skilled people. Sadly the pool of skilled people declined along with the United Kingdoms decline as a manufacturer. Over the period of decline a belief arose that it was the government’s responsibility to bridge the skill gap, this they did under various banners, sadly I believe rather badly. Be that as it may, the labour market gained poorly trained people on the cheap and the pool of apprenticeships got even smaller. .
In the past, preservation based companies would have relied on bigger employers to provide the pool of skilled labour, sadly all too often the companies who provided the pool of what these days can only described as specialist labour no longer exist.
The answer surely must lie in organisations like “The Shuttleworth Collection”, hatching apprentice schemes to develop the all important skills in house.
The above apart, I’ve noted the comments made by Damien and James regarding paying the rate for the job. I have sympathy with both points of view; however I suspect that any company who failed to pay a reasonable rate for job would eventually see their investment disappearing to pastures new!
Blue Skies
Eric
Wessex FanI am very sad to announce that short of a major Lottery win I will never have the funds available to preserve one aircraft let alone a small fleet. This being the case Peter, thanks for the pleasure I have derived from seeing your aircraft grace the Old Warden sky!
I am looking forward with anticipation to this summer’s cornucopia of delights!
Eric
Wessex FanBattle of Britain remembered Vol 5
Battle of Britain remembered Vol 5 is available from the Battle of Britain Historical Society for the small sum of £5-00 plus postage and packing.
http://battleofbritain.net/bobhsoc/index.html
And yes it is bloody good value for money!
Cheers
Eric
Wessex FanIn pursuit of the perfect picture!
This was one discussion that I was a bit reticent to get involved in; however as obtaining a nice prop blur is a fundamental issue for all lovers of proper aeroplanes I thought I would get involved.
First things first, we have two interrelated issues shutter speed and aperture , one will get the blur the other will in combination with the shutter speed govern the amount of light reaching the cameras CCD / CMOS, along the way it will determine your ‘depth of field’. The important thing to remember is think about the sort of picture you wish to end up with, then think “how am I going to get that image”, to get the answer think about the following:-
The subject — is it dull, is it shiny, is it a single aircraft or is it an aircraft formation, is it fast or slow!
The Available light – is it a dull or bright day, where is the main light source, behind you in a lot of cases will be a great deal more desirable than seeing your favourite aircraft coming out of the Sun like some avenging angle!
Shutter speed – The aspect of the equation that directly affects the amount of prop blur you will get. Be warned lens aperture and shutter speed have a relationship.
Lens Aperture —- The function that controls dept of field, setting the aperture at f1.8 will have a number of effects, (one)> the aperture will be fully open letting lots of light in, (two)> the ‘in focus’ distance between the front and back elements of the photograph will be very small (better known as dept of field) (three)> shutter speed will need to be adjusted in order to obtain a correctly exposed image. In this case we would need a fastish shutter speed to avoid over exposure.
However setting the aperture at say f22 will produce different results (one)> the aperture will be almost fully closed, letting only a small amount of light into the camera. (Two) the in focus distance between the front and back elements of the photograph will be large (the depth of field will be large and you should be capable of getting most elements of the picture in focus. (Three)> Shutter speed would again need to be adjusted; in this case, we would almost certainly need to reduce the speed
The important thing in both of the above is to consider the conditions and the type of image required. Next make the shutter and aperture adjustments you think you need to obtain your image (Be warned compromise my be necessary) finally press the button!
Do not get sucked into the idea that prop movement is everything in an image, you do not need to walk round an air show snapping everything at a 60th of a second or less, in fact I would strongly advise you not to! I would however strongly advise you to walk round the air show using all the suggested elements; some will be strong on speed, some on aperture. At the end of the show you will have some good pictures, the odd great picture and a few awful pictures. As you train yourself the proportion of each will hopefully change.
Happy Picture taking!
Eric
Wessex FanMany happy returns John, hope the Hendon picture looks good on the wall!
Eric
Wessex FanFrom a generation that put the Great into ‘Great Britain’.
Blue Skies Alex!
Wessex Fan……….wessex,
that’s probably why it’s not recognised as a belfast hgr then – too much modernisation of it, and the fact that it was so severly damaged thereby reducing it to a 1/3rd of it’s size!
tim
GWRCO
I have to disagree, the Belfast Truss system may now be hidden from view, but it still exists. The ‘Dept of Environment & Heritage’ would certainly disagree with your assertion, as they scheduled the building because of the Belfast Truss System.
Wessex Fan🙁
……..there are no belfast truss hangars in existence anymore at raf aldergrove. However, the former guardroom (now occupied by P & SS Northern Ireland) is one of two still remaining and original 1stww period buildings on the station.
The former 72 sqn hangar (opposite the former guardroom) is of 1stww period, but is not a belfast hangar!tim
p.s. was stationed at aldergrove 1992 to 1995
Sorry to contradict you on this one, but the old 72 Sqn Hangar (No 6 Hangar), does have a Belfast Truss type roof structure, if memory serves me correctly it is the largest surviving single span. The building was constructed for the Belfast shipbuilders Harland & Wolff, the buildings purpose being to provide covered space for the assembly of Handley-Page V1500 four engined bombers, the attached pictures show the complete hangar in its 1918 condition and a close-up of a V1500 in front of open Hangar doors.
The hangar was severally damaged during a storm in the mid 1920’s; consequently what exists today is only a portion of the original. At some point in the buildings history, it gained a ceiling, hence the Belfast truss system cannot be seen, however it still exists in very good condition.
Wessex FanOne of the best books I have read on the subject was titled “FIASCO” by John Deane Potter. The description of the Swordfish attack will bring tears to your eyes.
Eric
My hat comes off to these guys; they really were the bravest of the brave!
Wessex FanWhat are the clues?
Emma,
I must admit I am getting ready to be shot down on this one, but it has the feel of that part of the province, looking at the barely discernable background I am reminded of what you see when looking across Lough Foyle towards Donegal from a number of former World War II airfields in that general area.
I have copied the picture to a friend who is much more knowledgeable in this area than I am!
Cheers
Eric
Ps: The more I look at the picture, the more I am convinced that the picture was taken at one of the coastal airfields in the north of the province, the background just says Donegal to me!
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