How Low Can You Go??

[Black Knight]

I think you are talking about this one. AFAIK it´s originally from a 1974 issue of A-M ... Photo credits John Rigby?

Taken by John standing on the edge of the grass at Dx right in front of the control tower.

[Steve 964]

While reading this thread I suddenly thought of the Biggin Hill Air Fair video that I made available to the forum.There is some great low level flying video footage as opposed to photographs on this tape, as those who have seen it will agree.
The primary action is of Ray Hanna in MH434 ,and Pilatus P2 G-BJAX and this is well worth seeing (You couldn't fly lower without lowering the undercarriage !!).
Unfortunately the tape was never returned,although i still have the master copy.If anyone knows where it is and anyone else wants to see it,then get in contact with whoever has it and get them to send it to you.
It really is worth seeing !.


Steve

[Mark9]

.


Do watch the most incredible video of these aircraft performing inside a large stadium in Japan. Unbelievable cross control.

http://www.boreme.com/boreme/funny-2...-flying-p1.php

Mark


Incredible flying doesn't it make you wonder "what if warbirds were this agile" just think of the gun camera footage!

Thats crazy stuff. Anna

[Septic]

Here's Ray Hanna keeping 434 close to the deck at Biggin yesterday.

Septic.

[Mark9]

Lovely shot Gary Anna

[DazDaMan]

Just been watching the video "Wings of Victory", and there's some nice low-level stuff of MH434 in there

[Propstrike]

Shamelessly pinched from PPRUNE- shot with a 50mm lens apparently!
The pilot wanted the photo taken out of circulation before his CO saw it.

[LesB]

While this is an interesting thread with some very good low flying pix, I'm not too sure that aircraft that are actually landing really qualify. Similarly for aircraft that are taking off but have been "held down" by the pilot until the end of the runway.

Anybody else feel this way?

.

[Rlangham]

Crikey, not surprising! Was that taking off/coming into land? Bet the spectators got some good pics

[Propstrike]

I know we have had plenty of Oman Jags, but I do not recall this one.

[LesB]

Crikey, not surprising! Was that taking off/coming into land? Bet the spectators got some good pics

Flaps are down, he's coming in low over the treshold.

Regarding the Omani Jags at Thumriat, I have a couple or three short, low-qual videos of these nutters in action. About 3.odd Mb.

[ALBERT ROSS]

While this is an interesting thread with some very good low flying pix, I'm not too sure that aircraft that are actually landing really qualify. Similarly for aircraft that are taking off but have been "held down" by the pilot until the end of the runway.

Anybody else feel this way?

.

Low is low! If an aircraft apparently only makes it on to the end of the runway, he is TOO LOW! Would you like to drive a double-decker bus along that road when that Phantom was landing? If a shot makes you gasp, it's worth posting!

[Propstrike]

This Neptune has been posted before, but what a shot. And it is not landing, either!

[Skyraider3D]

I know we have had plenty of Oman Jags, but I do not recall this one.

I find these shots very dodgy. For starters there's no motion blur on the background. Even at 1/2000th of a second, you'd get some blur.
Secondly, the guys in the foreground would definitely be holding on to their ears by now.

[Skyraider3D]

Great videos!
I never doubted they were flying this low (also seen the French Mirages in Chad?), just some of the photos look too perfect. The only explanation I can find for this is that an insanely fast shutterspeed was used (made possible by the scorching desert sun).

[LesB]

Low is low! If an aircraft apparently only makes it on to the end of the runway, he is TOO LOW! Would you like to drive a double-decker bus along that road when that Phantom was landing? If a shot makes you gasp, it's worth posting!

Horlicks.

[TobyV]

How about this?


I cant see for sure (even o nthe full size one) ut it looks like his leading edge droop is retracted, so his IAS must have been >225kts when this shot was taken!

[Black Knight]

Finally found the one John Rigby had to duck for!

[Skyraider3D]

Black Knight, got a bigger shot of that?


Nice Trident shot!


At Kleine Brogel in Belgium I saw an awesome low pass once of a Sabena BAe 146. Anybody got a shot of that? I was too far away to take a pic

[Black Knight]

That's the only size i can get it. Any bigger & it tells me the file is too large!

[Skyraider3D]

How very odd...
If you e-mail it to me, I'll host it!

[Herbie Knott]

Seems my picture of Ray Hanna flying under Winston Bridge, Co Durham (1988, Piece of Cake) is up here somewhere. Flattered. Don't any of you dare reprinting or downloading it, it is my copyright (prints can be purchased). But nice to know it is regarded as "classic". Dazdaman commented that he thought there could not have been more than six feet wing-clearance either side of the aircraft. Wrong. More like 30. Following a couple of dry-runs, Ray Hanna decided to go for it, holding the aircraft as low as possible over the river, to give maximum wing-clearance either side, confident in his ability to hold MH434 steady above the water, where the air-temperature, and therefore the air-currents, would be constant and predictable. The biggest problem - it was July, high-summer - was the build-up of insect debris on the Spit's screen, restricting vision. It was a one-off, Ray would not have gone for it again, and he was visibly relieved in the pub at lunch afterwards. So too, the film producers, by that point running out of funds to complete the series (Piece of Cake was eventually completed using funds from an Indemnity policy)

The picture was shot on a 24mm Nikon lens, pre-framed, using a cable-release to judge the moment, from the riverbank, and spliced into the book at the very last gasp before publication. Regrettably the publishers left only a tiny slot - it should have been a double-spread. Such is life...But we got there in time with other great stuff.

I'm still very proud of "How we made Piece of Cake". A great shame it has never been reprinted, nor was published in the USA, nor has yet been republished. It consistently sells on Amazon and Ebay well over the original published price. Volunteers to republish, Please???? Myself and Robert Eagle had an enormous amount of fun making that book and we would love to see it back in print. The fact that there is still so much interest in it, 17 years on, gives you that nice, warm, glow. The knowlege that you made a "classic"...in a few short months of hectic collaboration.

Robert and I are still great mates, a friendship that began with that series. I recently moved to Herefordshire, and he was my first London visitor. He flew up for Sunday lunch, to Shobdon, in his Auster.

Hope that satisfies curiosity...xxHerbs.

Questions, enquiries, welcome to my email. Can't promise to get back to everyone, but will do my best with intelligent messages. Over to you lot.

[Herbie Knott]

More on "Piece of Cake"...Worth pointing-out that most of the flying footage (if not all) in "Foyle's War" (current ITV drama series) is culled from the LWT "Piece of Cake" archive. The ground shots using current actors are new footage, but almost all the aerial shots are pulled from the "Piece of Cake" archive. "Piece of Cake" was ground-breaking at the time it was shot, in that it was shot on a film-format for wide-screen TV, which didn't then exist. In production values, it was light-years ahead of its time.

[Pete Truman]

More on "Piece of Cake"...Worth pointing-out that most of the flying footage (if not all) in "Foyle's War" (current ITV drama series) is culled from the LWT "Piece of Cake" archive. The ground shots using current actors are new footage, but almost all the aerial shots are pulled from the "Piece of Cake" archive. "Piece of Cake" was ground-breaking at the time it was shot, in that it was shot on a film-format for wide-screen TV, which didn't then exist. In production values, it was light-years ahead of its time.

Always thought it was an underrated production that I loved when it was shown, but critised too heavily by 'those that know'.
My one surviving episode, videod at the time off the TV is better quality than the North American DVD that my missus bought me for Christmas.
Happened to be in the right time and place to watch the train straffing scene being shot at Wansford on the Nene Valley Railway, the number of retakes considering the few seconds shown on the episode makes me appreciate how expensive it must have been to make.

[GASML]

Talking of film flying, will try to dig out a picture I've got somewhere of Derek Piggott doing the 'under the Bridge' stunt with the Fokker Triplane replica for the Blue Max. I seem to remember they needed something like 17 takes!

In the meantime, just dug out this one of a Sunderland being 'demonstrated' at Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Maybe not the lowest, but serious added points for having two props feathered!

[DazDaMan]

Always thought it was an underrated production that I loved when it was shown, but critised too heavily by 'those that know'.
My one surviving episode, videod at the time off the TV is better quality than the North American DVD that my missus bought me for Christmas.
Happened to be in the right time and place to watch the train straffing scene being shot at Wansford on the Nene Valley Railway, the number of retakes considering the few seconds shown on the episode makes me appreciate how expensive it must have been to make.

Something like £4m at the time (IIRC). Miniscule by today's standards (and Dark Blue World was made for not much more!), but still....

[Propstrike]

HK

Thanks for the robust warning about down-loading or copying your 'classic' photograph, though frankly, I doubt if anyone will be troubling you for a copy.
Perhaps you have one where the subject is in focus?

If only we could return to a pre-internet era, when copyright could be rigourously observed and maximum payment extracted on threat of prosecution. What a shame that the cat is well and truly out of the bag, and so much material is in the public domain. But for better or for worse, it is here to stay. By the way, its better.

Thankfully, there are numerous contributors to this forum who are more interested in the free exchange of information and images than pursuing monetary gain, and make their contributions here free of caveats, including those whose livlihoods depend on successfully marketing their work in other, genuinely commercial arenas.

What qualifies as an 'intelligent' message?????

[GASML]

Robust warning notwithstanding - and I agree with HK that at very least photographers should be credited for their work where possible - here are the pictures from Derek Piggott's book 'Delta Papa' of his Blue Max bridge flythroughs.

Ps. If anyone from 20th Century Fox want to sue, chase Propstrike, 'cos its his book I borrowed!

[JDK]

Thanks to Herbie for an input to the thread. There are a few other excellent 'low' shots in 'How they made Piece of Cake' and I can thoroughly reccomend it, it's one of my favourite historic aviation books, and having recently watched PoC again, I got another load of info out of the book.

Propstrike, that's hardly a friendly welcome to the forum! Herbie's at liberty to mention the old saw of copyright, and he was hardly on anyone's case. You might like to consider the stuff that no-longer happens because of the free enthusiast factor as well as all the lovely free stuff out there. Having a foot in both camps, I can see many sides to this argument, but very, very few make anything out of this publishing game. A debate for another thread though.

Cheers

[laviticus]

GASML
Dose that pick count as sheep worrying.