Caledonian Airways was formed in April 1961 and adopted that name due to various connections with Scotland from its founders and investors. The airline grew rapidly to become the UK's leading independent airline when it bought British United Airways (BUA) in 1970 to become British Caledonian. It continued its successful growth until April 1988 when due to the economic troubles of the time, it was absorbed into BA. BAC One-Eleven 501EX G-AWYV is caught on final approach to London-Gatwick sometime during the summer of 1984. Scan from a negative taken using a Pentax ME Super fitted with a Tamron 80-210 manual focus lens.
Back to the good old days at London-Gatwick during the summer of 1985, with a line up of British Caledonian DC-10s awaiting their morning departures. In the foreground is G-BHDI that was named 'Robert the Bruce - The Scottish Warrior'. Scan from a negative taken using a Pentax ME Super fitted with a Tamron 80-210 manual focus lens.
Not just one of my best 'head on' images but probably my most memorable 'being exactly in the right place at the right time' shot too. British Army Air Corps Westland WAH-64D Apache AH1 captured during its role demo finale at RIAT 2017.
"Negative Ghost Rider, the pattern is full". The first time I saw a Tomcat display. F-14B Tomcat from VF-74 'Be-Devilers' performs a topside fast pass during the late afternoon at Air Fete '92 at RAF Mildenhall. Scan from a slide taken with a Pentax SFXn fitted with a manual focus Sigma 400mm prime lens.
Grumman F-14B Tomcat AA-106 from VF-74 'Be-Devilers' being prepared on the flight line for its display later in the day during Air Fete '92 at RAF Mildenhall. Scan from a negative taken with a Pentax ME Super fitted with a Tamron 80-210 manual focus zoom lens.
My first visit to Nellis AFB was to attend Aviation Nation 2007. USAF Lockheed-Martin F-22A Raptor 00-4017 performs its commemoration pass during its superb display on Veterans Day 11th November 2007 and in wonderful late afternoon light.
Scan from one of my negatives taken using a Pentax ME Super fitted with a Tamron 80-210 manual focus lens. Exact date not recorded but sometime during the spring of 1985.
Ilyushin IL-62 OK-GBH of CSA is just lifting its nose wheel on rotation from 28L (as it was then) at London-Heathrow. Many people in the West incorrectly referred to the IL-62 as a 'VC10 Copy' but apart from the configuration, there is actually little commonality between the two designs.
Over the weekend at the SIAD event at Prešov Air Base in Slovakia, the new Lockheed-Martin F-16C Block 70 made its public display debut. '1005' is captured on climb out to altitude at the finale of the Sunday show.
A scan of one of my slides taken with a Pentax SFXn SLR fitted with a manual focus Sigma 400mm prime lens. Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23ML Flogger 2425 (c/n 22425) from 41.slt/4.zSL of the Czech Air Force lines up to begin its display during the 1997 Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford.
A scan of one of my slides taken with a Pentax SFXn SLR fitted with a manual focus Sigma 400mm prime lens. Back to the good old days when you weren't entirely sure what would or wouldn't turn up for a show. It was listed that a North American F-100F Super Sabre from Tracor Flight Systems Inc, would arrive as an exhibit for the main show theme commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the USAF. By late afternoon with flying activity seemingly coming to an end as final preparations were taking place for the show, it had still not appeared. I was one of the few who stayed on at Park & View East in the hope it may still arrive, albeit armed with just two remaining frames of my 36 roll of film. Patience paid off, as it eventually appeared in the distance to make a straight in approach in perfect evening light. An added bonus and very lucky too, I even caught it with its strobes flashing.
One of the most impressive displays I ever saw at the Farnborough International Airshow was given by the sole British Aerospace EAP (Experimental Aircraft Program) demonstrator ZF534 that had only first flown around 3 weeks prior to the show. The aircraft is now on display at the RAF Museum at Cosford. A scan from one of my negatives taken with a Pentax ME Super fitted with a Tamron 70-210 zoom lens.
Probably the best display of a RAF Harrier that I ever saw was given by this GR7 at the 1999 Eastbourne Airshow whilst operating out of nearby Shoreham Airport. The jet performed very close to the seafront producing massive amounts of sea spray during some parts of its routine. A scan from one of my slides taken using a Pentax SFXn DSLR fitted with a manual focus Sigma 400mm prime lens.
A pair of Swedish Air Force JA-37 Viggens depart RAF Fairford on 27th July 1999 after attending RIAT '99. Taken using a Pentax SFXn DSLR fitted with a Sigma manual focus 400mm prime lens.
Czech Air Force Mil Mi-24D Hind 4011 from 51 VRP during its display at IAT '94 at RAF Fairford on 31st July 1994. A scan of one of my slides taken with a Pentax SFXn fitted with a Sigma 400mm manual focus prime lens.
