Fluffy Blackbird
Fluffy Blackbird
Looking through some of my Kodachrome slides at the weekend, I came across this shot. Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird caught at RAF Mildenhall back in May 1986 creating an incredible amount of vapor...
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Re: Fluffy Blackbird
Was that the time when they overstressed the airframe?
Scott
Canon EOS7D, with 30D Back-up
Canon 100-400MM IS, 70-200MM plus some wide-angle/macro stuff
Canon EOS7D, with 30D Back-up
Canon 100-400MM IS, 70-200MM plus some wide-angle/macro stuff
- capercaillie
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Re: Fluffy Blackbird
Great stuff Stu, what an awesome sight it was.
Links nicely to the video
http://forums.airshows.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=54317
Surprisingly it was not 1986 but 1987 when they overstressed the aircraft.
Links nicely to the video
http://forums.airshows.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=54317
Surprisingly it was not 1986 but 1987 when they overstressed the aircraft.
Re: Fluffy Blackbird
Fine photo indeed and well done in getting it on the photographer's choice list on Airliners.net. Did you get it added as a priority upload?
My Air History photos https://www.airhistory.net/photographer ... k-Ferguson
Re: Fluffy Blackbird
DerekF wrote:Fine photo indeed and well done in getting it on the photographer's choice list on Airliners.net. Did you get it added as a priority upload?
Thanks Derek, no priority upload, shots pre-nineties get on a lot quicker.
Last edited by bigcrow on Wed 02 Oct 2013, 1:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Fluffy Blackbird
As shown by the video, this was the famous 86 'Air Fete' display in which the pilot starved the right engine of fuel & when the afterburner kicked in creating a huge ball of flames out of the exhaust.
Now you can imagine to my dismay that when the little yellow box dropped through my letter box there was a note in there stating that due to a chemical issue in the lab that the film had all been over-exposed... I was gutted... But thanks to a lot of work in photo-shop I've managed to recover it. I've a shot with the flames but that will need a lot more work...
Now you can imagine to my dismay that when the little yellow box dropped through my letter box there was a note in there stating that due to a chemical issue in the lab that the film had all been over-exposed... I was gutted... But thanks to a lot of work in photo-shop I've managed to recover it. I've a shot with the flames but that will need a lot more work...
Re: Fluffy Blackbird
I think that has to be the best SR-71 photo, I've ever seen.
6D | 7D | 60D
11-16 f/2.8 | 24-105 IS L | 70-300 IS USM | 50 f/1.4 | 100 f/2.8 | 400 f/5.6
11-16 f/2.8 | 24-105 IS L | 70-300 IS USM | 50 f/1.4 | 100 f/2.8 | 400 f/5.6
Re: Fluffy Blackbird
Brilliant Stu. To be honest I thought it was only John Dunnell that managed this fabulous image and he certainly got his name on all sorts of posters and postcards etc. Where were you for this- the mound?? You really should have marketed this one!!
You caaan't trust the system... Maaan!
Re: Fluffy Blackbird
Thanks Geoff.. As stated the slides were washed out & there was no photo editing software around at the time so didn't doing anything with them, in hind-sight probably could have sent them of to some publishers but then there was the risk that you didn't get the slides back.
As for where it was taken, shot from the press enclosure over the far side of the airfield.
As for where it was taken, shot from the press enclosure over the far side of the airfield.
- tankbuster81
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Re: Fluffy Blackbird
Pretty special,
Re: Fluffy Blackbird
that was a pretty spectacular display by the Blackbird, and I understood that was the one that was overstressed as the pilot was pulling her hard round in front of the crowd, hence the fuel supply and flames spectacle! I managed to get a couple of shots from the crowdline of the underside view of course, got the vapour and burners but not the big flames, there are photos about with the whole lot taken fro the southside, that was the best side at Mildenhall as the crowd was looking south into the sun, awesome stuff and brings back some great memories of days gone by!
Re: Fluffy Blackbird
What a sensational aeroplane! An amazing picture.
Re: Fluffy Blackbird
Phwoar!!
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