Hi

I just found this thread and wanted to pitch in what I know about the transfer of the Danish TTT Merlins to the RAF.

The Royal Danish Air Force have taken delivery of all the 8 SAR Merlins that it had ordered, and training is well under way with crews converting from the Sea King to the Merlin. The Merlin is expected to begin taking over the SAR duty from about August next year.

As it has been mentioned in this thread one of the reasons that Denmark agreed to let the RAF get the Merlins before them, is that the RDAF does not have enough pilots train to fly the 6 TTT Merlins. Also the TTT models are not needed as badly as the SAR versions are.

Regards
Søren Augustesen

Hi

Since it is proberly true that none/very few of the people in this forum will ever fly the Super Hornet, I found this rather interesting articel written by an Australian defence analyst, how got a backseat ride in a F model:

http://www.saunalahti.fi/fta/aviat-5.htm

Regards
Søren Augustesen

D rebel over the Nikon D-70 i’d go with the nikon… has a faster shutter speed so better for military action… almost same price…

the sigma lens must be a bitch to buy… how can you afford such a thing…??? i’m assuming your not a pro photographer.

The D Rebel and Nikon D70 has roughly got the same shutter speeds in the area you would normally use (1/250s – 1/1000s). The Nikon is however better at continues shoting when you just hold down the button at click away. Image quality is about the same.

The sigma lens was not to bad. I paid about £500 for it some 5 years ago, toke me quite a while to save up for it as photography is just my hobby.

How far were you standing from the planes?

The Super Hornet, Fokker 60 and second Mirage 2000 picture was taken at the departures day at RIAT at fairford where you a pretty close to the runway – 2-300 meters I guess. The first Mirage 2000 and the F-16 picture, the planes were quite high, and I have cropped a lot of air around the planes away.

Regards

Hi

Great thread, and nice pictures.

Here are some of my best shots from 2004:

Regards
Søren Augustesen

Hi Matt

Im not going to say that I can give you the perfect guideline to how to take great aviation pictures, but I can give you a few tips.

On the ground:

1. Practice

2. If you are using a digital camera – take tons of pictures from all angles and don’t be afraid to experiment – you can always delete the pictures

3. Practice

In the air:

1. Practice

2. Learn how to “pan” – that is follow the aircraft in the viewfinder and take the picture when it looks good in the viewfinder.
This will take some pratice to get really good at it. Start with short exposure time 1/500s or faster, and as you get better you can try slower speeds to get the blured back ground.

3. Practice

4. Luck. A bit of luck always helps. The more you practice the less
luck you need to get a great shot.

5. Practice

Well I hope you can use this list – and happy shooting 😀

Regards

This link should work:

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/view/72531/1/.html

Regards
Søren Augustesen

If you set national emotions aside, I think the problem with the “wait until 2006-7 and buy another fighter” idea, is that if the Czechs wait until 06-07 to order the JSF for example they will properly have to wait until 2009-10 before they can be delivered, and I think it will be very hard and expensive to keep the MiG-21s flying that long – most likely more expensive that leasing Gripens.

Then in 10 years time when the lease expeiers they are free to buy another fighter i they want to, and by that time planes like the JSF will be available faster, and the need to replace the Gripen will not be as urgent as the need to replace the MiG-21’s are now.

Well just my two cents on this.

Happy hollidays to all 🙂

Regards
Søren Augustesen