Mach Loop March 2018

Another visit to the Mach Loop in March again a mixture of weather which curtailed photo opportunities, but on the plus side created some nice winter back drops. A visit to a slate mine was inaccessible on this occasion and an attempt to find an abandoned village failed. (both on the list for next time)  Nevertheless an enjoyable visit and more aviation photos in the bag. Here are some of the images:

RAF Tornado GR4

RAF Tornado GR4, snow on the hills

USAF OSprey from RAF Mildenhall

RAF Hawk T1

RAF Tornado GR4

RAF Tornado GR4

RAF Hercules C130

RAF Typhoon

USAF Osprey

Day time Exercise with the RNLI/Coastguard

This latest exercise took place in Mounts Bay off Newlyn, although is was quite far off shore I still managed to get some images.  The training exercise seemed to run smoothly for both the RNLI and Helicopter polishing their skill-set for real emergencies. The helicopter G-MCGY is based at Newquay and the lifeboat is the Penlee Lifeboat "Ivan Ellen"

Navy Wings Nightshoot

My first aviation night shoot , normally these events are held 6hrs plus travelling time away placing them out of reach for us down in Cornwall. So held a RNAS Yeovilton I decided to fit this in with a visit to the Mach loop in Wales and call in for the night shoot on the way back. Organised by https://www.threshold.aero/ utilising airframes from the https://www.navywings.org.uk/,  RNAS Yeovilton and an EX 771 SAR Helicopter now operated by https://heliops the line up was pretty decent.

A safety briefing was given on the bus and we were off to the site. I was somewhat concerned when I heard there would be some 160 photographers (not sure if they all turned up) that said there was no panic/pushing/shoving etc everyone respected each others space and no-one hogged the prime aircraft. In truth it felt like there were about thirty people there. Hot drinks were provided and plenty of staff were on hand to advise/assist should you need anything. The lighting provided by threshold.aero was spot on all the exhibiting aircraft were well lit and spread out on the line. RNAS Yeovilton were night flying at the time so additional lighting in the background was unavoidable. (Some photoshop editing should you choose to will cure this) Arriving around 5-6pm gave opportunities to capture aircraft during the blue hour, although it was cloudy. A couple of showers threatened after nightfall but I just kept shooting, rain on the canopies looking good. All in all a fantastic evening providing an opportunity to photograph some iconic Royal Navy aircraft and some more modern. I will definately visit again. Well done to all involved.

Now onto some of the images a fully gallery can now be seen here on my website. Navy Wings Nightshoot

Royal Navy Phantom

Royal Navy Sea Vixen

HeliOps Westlands Sea King (Formerly 771 SAR Aircraft XV666)

Royal Navy Merlin MK3, RNAS Yeovilton

Royal Navy Phantom

Royal Navy Swordfish

Royal Navy Sea Fury

Royal Navy Sea Vixen

Royal Navy Merlin MK3 RNAS Yeovilton

The Beast from the East in Cornwall

A first for a long while, some substantial snow in Cornwall. I managed to get to Penzance,Porthleven and Helston. I got 4 wheel drive but  a lot of other people with incapable cars or just driving like idiots creating huge jams on the roads. Still got some scenic stuff and may try again today although forecast isn't looking to good with storm Emma on the way. The snowfall was quite heavy with Penzance been covered in about 30 minutes. Here are some shots from when the snow hit Penzance and I worked my way back towards Helston.

The new Hitachi 801 class Super Express arrived as the snow started

The snow after 15 minutes

30 minutes later

Commuter train arrives

Porthleven Harbour

Scenic view with the coast in the background

Harbour view

Sunlight breaks through the storm clouds

B/W of The Ship Inn

The Bickford-Smith Institute

Helston Boating lake starting to freeze over