Farnborough 2006
I am a pilot, and an aviation enthusiast in general. Besides the left hand seat, there's no better place for an enthusiast than an air show. The EU's premier air show alternates between Paris and Farnborough ... every other year in Paris, and the other every other year in Farnborough, England. I was lucky to attend the Farnborough air show in July 2006. Here are the best of 550 photos I took and the color commentary.
To get to London, I used frequent flyer miles on an itinerary that represented an unnatural act. Although there is non-stop service between Seattle and London, I was routed through Los Angeles on the way over and through Chicago on the way back. Departing Los Angeles, the airport had a four hour radio communications failure. We were finally allowed to leave VFR (i.e. following Visual Flight Rules). I am reasonably sure it is rare for a 747-400 to depart Class B airspace VFR but that's how we left. The flight to and arrival in London were otherwise uneventful.
I arrived London on Wednesday, the hottest day in the last 100 years. 1911 held the previous record. By Saturday, I was over my jet lag and took the train to Farnborough (about 50 minutes). It was a brilliant, sunny, cool morning with high puffy clouds. Perfect for an air show. By show time, the clouds had become solid and black, and filled with lightning. By mid-show, it was raining pigs and chickens, hailing, and all of that sideways due to high winds. Show interrupted. Same drill on Sunday, but w/o lightning, rain, hail and wind. Just an incredibly dramatic sky.
As you'll see in the photos below, the skies were dark and dramatic, sometimes, or gray, or blue, or ... made for interesting photos and a challenge to your humble photographer.
A Note About The Photos Below: The photos have not been rotated. If a plane is in an unusual attitude, it's because it was flying in an unusual attitude!
These photos were taken with a Nikon D200.
Read MoreTo get to London, I used frequent flyer miles on an itinerary that represented an unnatural act. Although there is non-stop service between Seattle and London, I was routed through Los Angeles on the way over and through Chicago on the way back. Departing Los Angeles, the airport had a four hour radio communications failure. We were finally allowed to leave VFR (i.e. following Visual Flight Rules). I am reasonably sure it is rare for a 747-400 to depart Class B airspace VFR but that's how we left. The flight to and arrival in London were otherwise uneventful.
I arrived London on Wednesday, the hottest day in the last 100 years. 1911 held the previous record. By Saturday, I was over my jet lag and took the train to Farnborough (about 50 minutes). It was a brilliant, sunny, cool morning with high puffy clouds. Perfect for an air show. By show time, the clouds had become solid and black, and filled with lightning. By mid-show, it was raining pigs and chickens, hailing, and all of that sideways due to high winds. Show interrupted. Same drill on Sunday, but w/o lightning, rain, hail and wind. Just an incredibly dramatic sky.
As you'll see in the photos below, the skies were dark and dramatic, sometimes, or gray, or blue, or ... made for interesting photos and a challenge to your humble photographer.
A Note About The Photos Below: The photos have not been rotated. If a plane is in an unusual attitude, it's because it was flying in an unusual attitude!
These photos were taken with a Nikon D200.
