It has taken me a while to process the photos - amazing how many similar photos you get when burst mode is on 5 shots per second. This ANZAC Day airshow was affected by wind, sadly. The Stampe & Tiger Moth kicked off with the 'Ribbon Cut' where they drop a roll of toilet paper and then endeavour to fly through the ribbon as many times as possible before it gets too close to the ground. This was followed by the Pfalz DIII movie queen and Nieuport Bebe. Then 3 SE5a fought 3 Fokker Triplanes and were later joined by the Camel. The P40, which is based at Hood, put on a lovely display, always impressive. Fokker DVII and two Fokker DVIII also flew.
Unfortunately the new Snipe was a no show, not even as a non-flying display, same for both Fees, Bristol Fighter, RE8, both Albatros DVa, both Pups and both BE2, so virtually all of the stars were not present
. Show finished 30 min early. Apart from the weather, the only thing that could have been improved for me was the commentary which was very loud and rambled a bit at times. Sometimes the planes speak for themselves.
I had been hoping the newly registered Albatros D.II reproduction might have been a surprise star, but it was not ready. Maybe November? I am sure it is one of Koloman Mayrhofer's reproductions so it will be very exciting when it is unveiled publicly. Patience young grasshopper . . .
I tried the shutter priority setting on my camera for the first time, in an effort to get blurred props, but unfortunately I ended up overerexposing quite a few flying shots because I didn't notice the exposure setting was all in red on the screen (speed set too slow for even the smallest aperture). It all happens so quickly when the planes are flying past, even at the low speeds of the WWI types. I'll do better next time.
Anywayhere are a few photos to give a flavour of the day
The Bebe put up a huge cloud of castor oil when it started up:
Its always instructive to see how the castor oil coats the airframe after a flight
Then it was the three SE5A's turn
Then the Camel joined in the scrap
Check out the exhaust staining under the fuselage of the Camel (which has seen a lot of flying over the years)
More to follow
