Aircoupe Air To Air

Recently a very small window of opportunity gave me the chance to get airbourne with a pair of 1960s Aircoupes. The intended plan had been to get some shots of the pair of Aircoupes together, but after take off with increasing blustery conditions and intermittent comms we decided to air on the side of caution and just photograph the aircraft individually.

Above all else the main aim was to ensure we got a few shots of G-ARHC, the Forney Aircoupe. Unfortunately due to various circumstances the current owner has had little time to fly it, and with it being put up for sale this may have been the last chance to get some airbourne photos.

With the shots of G-ARHC in the bag it was the turn of visiting Alon Aircoupe, G-HARY. Unfortunately as we hadn't been able to shoot the pair G-HARY had even less time infront of the camera, but we were able to get a few shots in the camera before G-HARY set course for home.

Full details of G-HARY can be found at http://www.ercoupe.co.uk/

Flying In A Russian Classic - The Antonov AN2 Colt - Worlds Largest Single Engined Biplane

Although I don't fly myself, many of you are aware of my passion for aviation which over the years has provided the chance to fly in a number of different types. Recently, thanks to the generosity of a friend, I had the rare opportunity to take a short flight in an Antonov An2, one of only two currently operating within the UK.

Widely recognised as the worlds largest single engined biplane, (An3 is slightly bigger, but is a modified An2) the An2 first took to the air in 1947. By the end of the production run in 1991 nearly 18,000 examples had been produced by the Soviet Union, Poland and China, the latter two countries producing the type under licence. Code named 'Colt' by NATO the An2 has been in use with many nations including Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Azerbaijan, Byelorussia, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Georgia, Germany,Hungary, Laos, Latvia, Mali, Mongolia, Nicaragua, North Korea, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovak Republic, Tadjikistan, Ukraine, USSR, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

At 6'3" USA Goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann provides some idea of the size of the An2

The example that I got the opportunity to fly on, was the Lithuanian registered LY-AUP. Based at Tattenhill this example is often seen attending airshows in the capable hands of John Calverley. On this occasion a friend had called by to say that he would be flying the AN2, with John, into Halfpenny Green the following day and that all being well there might be an opportunity to take a trip. Well the photos tell the story, although time was very tight, Marcus kindly made the trip happen.

     The business end and the back end - basic but functional.                                 Smokey start up!



John and Marcus line the An2 up for a landing on the 10 grass strip.

The flight was over all too soon, but I owe a big thank you to John for sparing the time (hope you weren't too late back to Tattenhill) and Marcus for providing the unique opportunity to sample the wonderful An2.

Ikarus Flying - But Not Too Close To the Sun !!

Personally I still smile to myself every time I get into the C42, is it only me that finds it strange that an aircraft should share the name of a character from Greek mythology that fell from the sky? Well almost shares the name - the sharp eyed ones amongst you will have course spotted that the title is spelt Ikarus, unlike Icarus the son of Daedalus.

A friend of mine operates an Ikarus C42 as part of HadAir, and knowing my love of flying and enjoyment in taking the camera aloft, I very kindly get offered the occasional jolly.

With a recent offer to go flying once again, I couldn't resist grabbing the 12mm lens and flash to see if we could get a few different 'internal' shots. I had a couple of shots in mind before we set off, a steep turn with something of interest through the window, plus a shot lit by flash looking out under the wing.

Click On Any Of The Photos To Open A Larger Copy

With the initial shots taken out over the Shropshire countryside, they were acceptable but weren't quite what I had in mind. Likewise the shots under the wing were nicely lit, but the rolling fields of Shropshire could have been any part of rural Britain. As it was only a quick 'jolly' we started to head back to the field.

On arrival back at Halfpenny Green, there was no other traffic so Steve did one more tight turn, this time over the top of the airfield. 'Click', although I didn't realise it straight away, there was the shot I'd been after, Steve looking into the tight turn and below him Halfpenny Green.

Descending into the circuit I busily checked the back of the camera, I was sure I'd now got something I was happy with, as I looked up we were just about to turn onto finals, 'click', I now had my under the wing shot.

We had only been in the air for about 30 minutes and I'd managed to get some nice shots of the C42, but it was just one of those days where it fell in to place and I got the two shots I was really after in the final 5 minutes.

The shots were intended as a bit of fun and a thank you to Steve for the odd jolly. I thought they might also be of some use for the HadAir website, but sorry Steve, Ive used them first!

Air To Air With Spirit Of Safety I

Making a welcome return to Halfpenny Green Airfield during April 2011 were two Lightship A60s in the shape of the Goodyear liveried G-HLEL and G-TLEL.

Once home to part of the Lightship Co, A60+ Blimps were a regular site at Halfpenny Green in many different advertising schemes but G-HLEL is the first to return for a number of years.

Unfortunately during its stay at Halfpenny Green the weather precluded most of the flights for G-HLEL Spirit Of Safety II but for sister ship Spirit Of Safety I the weather was a lot kinder and allowed some extensive flying on Monday 11th April.

During a very short window of time I was lucky to get airbourne to do a few air to air shots on what turned out to be G-TLELs last vip flight from Halfpenny Green before moving on.

A very big thank you to Steve for getting me airbourne and to the pilot of G-TLEL that allowed us to fly alongside and make the following images possible.