Good Company!
Outstanding to be in such great company… On the Hasselblad Facebook page with my good friend and wonderful photographer Manuello Paganelli.
MiG Trainer Starting Up
MIG L-29 Flug – Warsaw Pack Soviet era trainer starting up to head out and do a flight demonstration at the Palm Springs Air Museum yesterday. Turn your sound up!
MiG Invades Palm Springs
Yesterday, Friday, a day unlike any other! Because an airplane arrived that you really do not get to see, let alone see it fly. It is a MiG Flug L29, a Soviet era jet trainer that will be very spectacular to see fly today, Saturday, right after the 1:00 PM program. And the program is not to be missed…
The guys who flew the missions in the F-100 Super Sabre, the supersonic jet fighter aircraft that served with the United States Air Force from 1954 to 1971. Pilots Al Dempsey and Bob Lilac at 1:00 PM today. These men made history and have the tales to tell! Be there!
Fujifilm Flying A+
Testing out a Fujifilm X-T2 camera this week. I own Fujifilm X-T1’s along with my Hasselblad and Canon cameras. Each with their own purpose for my shooting. More often than not on a daily basis, you will see me with one of my Fujifilm cameras on hand for most uses.
The X-T2 is the latest version and with only a couple of days with it so far, I am truly impressed with the improvements. The camera loaned to me has the power booster which makes for three of the camera batteries for all day power and boosts the speed up to 11 frames per second. A much bigger viewfinder that keeps up with fast shooting for those fast movers and much faster focus tracking. I won’t go into it too much but I am seriously impressed. There are numerous other technical refinements from the prior version that someone like me who uses a camera all the time under all kinds of circumstances really appreciates.
The final results however are the photographs. This is a tight crop of a Gulfstream jet landing in Palm Springs on a flight from Portland Oregon. For you photographers, this is actually from a jpg shot in Velvia film emulation mode. No retouching etc. My opinion… WOW! Thanks Fujifilm!
MiG Lift
Perfect timing to lift a MiG-15 to it’s display location at the new hangar at the Palm Springs Air Museum. Well maybe not perfect timing because it turned into one of the very few days it rains here in Palm Springs. But neither crane nor rain stood in the way of progress! Certainly not the thing you see everyday. By the way, if you are asking, a MiG-15 without fuel weighs 8,000 pounds.
Lt. “Animal” Newman
No this is not one of those photos where Lt. “Animal” Newman got caught going through a red light. That is the name right under the canopy. A McDonnell Douglas T-45 Goshawk trainer used by the United States Navy and you can see that it is an aircraft carrier capable jet because of the tail hook. It will do 645 MPH, well into the wow category! Another day of more fun at the Palm Springs Air Museum yesterday. By the way, I bet you were thinking that Lt. “Animal” Newman is a guy. Might be, might not be.
Take To The Air
I always love seeing this plane take to the air. You can too today at the Palm Springs Air Museum throughout the day. AND NOT TO BE MISSED! The guys who flew the missions in the F-100 Super Sabre, the supersonic jet fighter aircraft that served with the United States Air Force from 1954 to 1971. Pilots Al Dempsey and Bob Lilac at 1:00 PM today. Yes I will be there!
Harrier Jump Jet
Sunday and Monday around Palm Springs you could hear a distinctly different jet aircraft sound. United States Marines Harrier “Jump Jets” were in and out a number of times. On Sunday, from a few miles away, I could see a couple of them in the pattern using the more vertical abilities they have as they used minimal amounts of runway length. Monday morning they left in the more traditional take off mode. It can be very exciting to hang around the Palm Springs Air Museum, always something going on!
Big Print
A big print rolling off my Canon Pro-2000 printer. From one of my photographs of a T-28 Trojan airplane at the Palm Springs Air Museum.
Hasselblad At High Speed
I was asked if the Hasselblad camera, my H4D-40 would keep up shooting flying at the Palm Springs Air Museum. The answer is yes as you can see in these photographs. I will say that my experience has shown me that any camera system is challenged when you are shooting objects coming at you, flying by close and leaving in the 300 mph range. I have shot with most and still the leader has been my Canon cameras. However for pure image quality, especially when shooting more general photographs, the Hasselblad is just amazing. I am now looking forward to getting more in the air for some shooting with it.
More P-38 Fun
Starting up and rolling out, a P-38 Lightning fighter plane from World War II. One of perhaps fewer than six still flying in the entire world. You can see from my video that the Palm Springs Air Museum visitors get an up close experience like none other. Not as close as I am, but right there to get their hats blown off their heads and get a good whiff of the spray of motor oil. How fun is that!
A Scene From WWII
Makes you think that you are looking at a scene from World War II. One of the very few remaining flying P-38 Lightning fighters taking off for flybys at the Palm Springs Air Museum. Photographed just yesterday against the scenic backdrop of the San Jacinto Mountains. Something to see all the time at the Air Museum and special programs and flight demonstrations on Saturdays. Be there!
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