Pic(k) of the week 44: TAILDRAGGERS OVER BRUSSELS - Air to Air photography
Earlier this month I organized a "fly-out" event in Belgium, called Taildraggers over Brussels. Let's clarify a bit of the pilot banter first.
A Fly-out is an event where a group of like minded pilots get together and fly to a certain place; possibly in formation but not necessarily.
Taildraggers, is a nickname for aircraft that have the third smaller wheel at the back versus the front which is more common in newer aircraft. They are often also referred to as Tailwheel or conventional gear aircraft and are known to need a more solid pilot technique for both take-off and landing. Once in flight, they fly exactly the same.
Some of you might know, that I regularly fly a 1954 vintage Piper Super Cub in Belgium, in short the "Cub" and with the appropriate registration OO-CUB. All Belgian aircraft registrations start with "OO" by the way.
Back to photography now. I piloted the OO-CUB as the lead aircraft for the Taildraggers over Brussels fly-out, taking turns with the other pilot on board. As usual when not flying, my camera is always on my side. Either to do some aerial photography or Air to Air photography like in the image below.
Air to Air photography is a genre of photography where one shoots (with cameras only!) other aircraft from the air. Especially since we often work from a small space, it can be tricky and is best done with a normal range zoom lens like the XF18-135 to XF16-80.
Like in airshow photography one needs a slow enough shutter speed for the propellor to show motion; ideally a perfect prop arc, rather than a frozen propellor. The more blades a propellor has, the easier it becomes. Two bladed props like here, require a shutter speed of 1/125s or slower for good results. Try to shoot in burst of high speed shooting mode (CH), as vibration and turbulence often make getting sharp images a challenge. Good communication through hand signals or radio is essential to have the aircraft exactly positioned where you want them. Needless to say that all needs to be briefed pre-departure.
Image details:
- Fujifilm X-T3 with XF16-80 lens
- ISO 160, f11, 1/25s, 65mm focal length
- RAW development in Lightroom Classic
- DxO ColorEfex with gradient ND and Pro Contrast filters
The two aircraft in the shot are two friends in their respective Piper Super Cubs en-route for our first stop of the trip. We eventually flew a formation of 5 taildraggers over the international airport of Brussels; something that is not seen every day. As I was leading the formation for the part over Brussels airport, there was obviously no time to shoot images.
Friends not at the controls did however shoot plenty of images. To have a feel how the day went, I've uploaded a series of images shot by myself and other photographers in this gallery here. Credit to the photographers is given in the image caption.
Remember: "The bad news is that time flies. The good news is that you are the pilot" - Mikael Altschuler
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