Ken Middleton Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 Some really great photos here. Ken and Gary both make me wish I'd had a digital camera back in the day, awesome photography there, buds! Here's some I shot on Kodachrome a couple of years ago you may find of interest: thank you Scott! You did very well with film, much better than I did. Love the old school Eagle shots - thanks for posting them! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gary1701 Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 Hi, Some lovely shots there. Makes you realise how long the F-15 has been going. Seeing them brings up a question that has bugged me for years - perhaps somebody can help. In the early F-15 days the centreline tank only seemed standard, with wing tanks rare and I would guess the ferry fit. I was certainly seeing the 493rd in the UK flying that as standard well into the late 90's. Yet in the 00's wing tanks now seem the standard fit, with the centreline rare (the 493rd only usually fly their two 'Ds in that configuration over here). Apologises if already asked somewhere but have been curious about that for ages. Gary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EFD3 Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 Good friend of mine is a Boeing test pilot who has flown every version of the Eagle. He told me the center line only drop tank actually makes the aircraft a little unstable. So flying with the 2 wing tanks takes care of that problem. He told me this several years ago when I asked him the same question as to why they went to the wing tank configuration. Hope that helps. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nev Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 Lovely shots Ken, and you get such a superb backdrop there as well. They seem to have a right age difference of C and D models there, from one extreme to the other. Here's a few shot on the approach at Lakenheath yesterday with the 48th FW and what was their last flying day over here before Christmas. Only got there late morning as the forecast for this corner of the UK was cloud and grey skies. By the time I realised that was rather wrong and set out it was getting on a bit. 492nd FS jets, unusually all carrying SNIPER which is only occasionaly seen during routine sorties out of Lakenheath. Great shots as usual Gary, I'm guessing I saw 2 of them myself that day. Walked out of work at ~1130 that day to see two F-15s dogfighting hard right overhead. Started at about ~2000ft I reckon, 5 minutes of turning and burning later they were down to about 1000ft before they bugged out. Clear skies, very noisy and very impressive. Even the office girls going for lunch were slack-jawed :) I work right next to the Humber estuary and a couple of times a year you might see F-15s or Typhoons or Tornados going at it over the river, but I've never seen them that low before. Great way to finish for Christmas! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gary1701 Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 Thanks for the info about the external tanks, interesting stuff. Nev, It's virtually certain that you saw the same jets that I photographed on recovery as I never got to Lakenheath until gone 11AM (blame the damn forecast for that!) and I photographed three pairs of E models returning in the next hour or so, which was it until the next flights launched early afternoon. I was quite chuffed to get one last shoot in before the end of the year as I normally get little time for it in the winter months. Gary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gary1701 Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 (edited) Gents, A little Christmas update from a couple of hours ago. The 48th at Lakenheath often puts up a few sorties between Christmas and New Year, and managed to catch a few jets in a little late light today. These guys did a little air-to-air over East Anglia, went and met a tanker out of Mildenhall before some more ACM and then returning home just before dusk. Pretty much an excuse to try out my new radio reciever! I can't help thinking that the guy that got the jet fitted with the tanks was at a slight disadvantage! Aircraft '156 is a double Serbian Mig-29 killer from 1999. Gary Edited December 28, 2011 by gary1701 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HOLMES Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 Beautiful stuff, Ken ... I like the cloudy conditions ... You handled it well and it adds to the shots ... Very dramatic ... Thanks for Sharing and Merry Christmas to you and your's, ken ... Gregg Gregg I agree with you ,,These shots are EXCELLENT and JUST SUPERBLY caught.. Ken They are AMAZING photos as always...BEAUTIFULLY taken.. Gary et al, your Photos are LOVELY too..Thank you ALL for sharing them.. hoo hoo HAPPY NEW YEAR to you ALL... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EagleAviation Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 Nice pictures, thanks for sharing! What kind of equipment do you use? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gary1701 Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 (edited) Nice pictures, thanks for sharing! What kind of equipment do you use? Hi, and thanks. These were taken on a Canon 7D DSLR with the Canon 100-400L IS fitted. They were mostly taken on a manual setting, as I knew I was going to be shooting with very little light left, and went for 1/640 and F7.1 selected, ISO 250. I try and avoid the semi auto modes (AV and TV) because they're so easily mislead by a slight change in the light in the viewfinder, even glare or a landing light can throw the exposure off so I try and find an exposure I'm happy with and select it in advance. You have to constantly update your settings though if the light changes, as these were taken between 45-30 minutes prior to dusk and the exposure on the last one was sllightly different. I was hoping they would come back earlier, and when they came out minus tanks with a couple of hours of daylight left, I thought my luck was in as that's normally 45 minutes max around here, but then they called in their flightplan which included visiting the tanker that had just departed Mildenhall, so they were a lot later than I expected. Gary Edited December 28, 2011 by gary1701 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ken Middleton Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 Gents, A little Christmas update from a couple of hours ago. The 48th at Lakenheath often puts up a few sorties between Christmas and New Year, and managed to catch a few jets in a little late light today. These guys did a little air-to-air over East Anglia, went and met a tanker out of Mildenhall before some more ACM and then returning home just before dusk. Pretty much an excuse to try out my new radio reciever! I can't help thinking that the guy that got the jet fitted with the tanks was at a slight disadvantage! Aircraft '156 is a double Serbian Mig-29 killer from 1999. Gary great shots Gary! Gregg I agree with you ,,These shots are EXCELLENT and JUST SUPERBLY caught.. Ken They are AMAZING photos as always...BEAUTIFULLY taken.. thank you HOLMES Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wolfgun33 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wolfgun33 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wolfgun33 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wolfgun33 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SimFixer Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 I remember that Oregon fin flash way back when it was on Vipers! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ken Middleton Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Nice Oregon Eagle shots - thanks for sharing them Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ken Middleton Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 the 104th FW left this past Friday for Nellis and Red Flag. Here are some shots: A panoramic one made by stitching 4 images together. 6 outside and 2 inside Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ken Middleton Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 and a few take off shots the snow was great at illuminating the undersides thanks for looking, Ken Quote Link to post Share on other sites
B-1 Nut Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 (edited) Ken.....stop it....you're killing me! The panoramic shot is awesome!!! I spoke to Kenny this week and told me he was at Red Flag. I told him every time I talk to him I realize how much I hate my job. HA HA! Edited January 24, 2012 by B-1 Nut Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ken Middleton Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Ken.....stop it....you're killing me! The panoramic shot is awesome!!! I spoke to Kenny this week and told me he was at Red Flag. I told him every time I talk to him I realize how much I hate my job. HA HA! thanks a lot Jed! I "think" Jethro may have been in 158 above Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aggressor Supporter Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Nice Eagle pics Wolfgun and Ken, those pics of the Massachusetts Eagles are sharp! Especially like that first panoramic one. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JackMan Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Look at the silvering on that decal ( 173FW) Great shots, Wolf & Ken Btw, any of you able to get shots of the Singaporean birds over at Mountain Home? Especially looking for shots of crew names, tailfin logos, etc. So far the ones I've seen are the ones I found via Google. But close-ups like Wolfgun's or Ken's would be awesome. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jinxter13 Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 (edited) Ken I'm of the opinion now; that you could use a Kodak "Brownie" automatic and still show us some fantastic shots, that Panoramic view is nothing short of freakin outstanding!!!, Thanx for the new shots. It [panoramic view] showed me something I had some concern over, the MOD camo pattern on the birds; though very similar are not exactly the same on any two. So as long as I stay within the basic pattern it's all good. Thanx now I can rest easier when I do my Academy MSIP eagle....loaded for bear with missiles of course. It's too bad they don't have a missile pylon/rail setup similar to what the Navy has on Bugs, imagine an "C" with 8 slammers and the customary 4 'winders . Edited February 7, 2012 by #1 Greywolf Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ken Middleton Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 thank you guys! Jackman - I think there are some Singapore shots somewhere in this thread, or I may have seen them elsewhere - maybe an actual model build thread Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wolfgun33 Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Thanks guys! I'm no Ken when it comes to taking pics, but I try. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.