Hi Martin, some really lovely shots there. I have to ask was that a 500 or 600mm lens you were shooting with?

I had a 300mm, but was mainly working video, and with the 300mm it was large pull on some shots.

The shot of the Spitfire and Typhoon is really nice, and the tonality and clarity on the other images is really impressive too, which is why I think the lens was quite long?

My view was here:

of the Spitfire and Typhoon and shooting into the rain with a 300mm on a Nikon D3, the tonal range in yours is much better than this one.

Really like the 1st and 2nd F-16 images, as I do the Red Arrows formation. Very nice.

Cheers, MP

One of the best P-51 Mustang clips ever made and in HD too!

http://www.airshowbuzz.com/videos/view.php?v=8

Hmmmm, now I see what you are looking for, one point I would certainly like to have looked at is, keeping the Narration overlay and music very limited.

Now, by that I of course don’t mean that what is going on shouldn’t be explained, but one thing very,very rarely done in a Documentary is to actual ‘listen’ to the plane.

Rarely have I seen a documentary where you can listen to the plane start-up, taxi, build up speed inside and outside of the cockpit and the actually hear the plane take-off, flyby…..all without any Narration or music.

The reason I would want to see a documentary is to hear original pilots talk about the plane, it’s peculiarities, it’s quirk, things that were fixed after feedback. If the series is about renovationa dn restoration, then lets hear those pilots (where they still exist) describe what we are seeing be renovated.

Then, when it comes to the actual pre-flight checks and startup, lets just have the Narrrator say what is going to happen, then finish with “and lets hear the process from start to finish…..”

Honestly, so many programmes/films have banal music and Narration which is really not needed by enthusiasts.

Take for example any airshow you got to. The most annoying thing is hearing the plane you have waited to see (for me the P-51 or P-47) and then the commentator says “yes ladies and gentlemen, here comes the famous P-47, lsten as it approaches the runway with that huge Radial engine growling. It’ now passing overhead and that engine sounds so impresive, and now there it goes rising into the sky, just listen to………” I WANT TO!!! SHUT UP!!!!

Enthusiasts want to hear what the plane sounded like, and that is why I can’t stand going to airshows anymore. I just want the commentator to say, the next plane in the display will be the P-47, listen and enjoy. One day, maybe….one day 🙁

Anyway, if there is a chance to hear the plane, that for me would be a bonus in any footage, just my two-pence 😉

Cheers, MP

Well, as they would have time to commission and shoot it, how about this.

On September 15th 2010, it will be 70-years since “The Battle of Britain”.

Now would be the time to get any last surviving pilots, German and British to discuss their memories of the events, and maybe also to get them in the same room and show, using models etc or getting guys to re-create battles in Combat Simulators, to show the tactics they used to defeat or get the advantage on the enemy.

To hear this from both sides would be superb.

The series could run over 12 Episodes and be made up of the year 1940, each episode covering month of the year, or 6-episodes with September being the final one?

To have an in-depth documentary, recreating battles from the memories of the pilots still living, and also famous ones from books like Stanford Tuck, Wellum, Bader, Mölders, Galland and Wick, to be honest that would be an amazing tribute to all who flew and possibly the final chapter to show the legacy they have left behind.

I also like the idea of getting the surviving pilots to talk about and maybe sit in the planes that they flew to re-live their experiences and talk about advantages and disadvantages that the planes they flew in faced.

Finally to have them visiting their airfields (even if they have been re-developed) would be quite poignant as it would bring home the fact that it was so many years ago that they flew combat in the skies.

Just my honest thought.

However, if there was ever a chance to commission a new series, I think a “Band of Brothers” style series, focusing on one Fighter Group for each side (as an example No.92 (Stanford Tuck)) for British and JG 26 or 51 for the Luftwaffe.

It’s just an idea, but Aviation has been sadly forgotten in so many schedules, with only the History Channel showing any interest with “Dogfights”.

Cheers, MP.