Bahrain Airshow Jan 2012 - update with Pics 23Jan12

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B2 Spirit
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Bahrain Airshow Jan 2012 - update with Pics 23Jan12

Post by B2 Spirit »

Hi All,
Not sure if any of you did venture out here to Bahrain...?
So the display list on the Sakhir airbase included the following:

1 FAF Rafale
1 RSAF Typhoon :hypno:
3 USN F-18E (from USS Carl Vincent)
1 USN MH-53 & MH-60 from Bahrain & 1 P-3
1 USAF F-15C, C130 & C17
2 UAE AF M2000
2 UAE AF F-16
9 UAE AF MB339s from the Al Fursan team
1 RBAF Cobra / Blackhawk / Bo105 / B412, Hawk, F-16 & F-5F
1 BAH royal flight RJ100 & the kings S-76
4 Su27 Russian Knights :biggrin: + IL78
4 Extra 300 RJ Falcons
1 Extra 330 Mike Jefferies
2 Twisters

Airliners
Armavia Su100 (in flying display!) :smile:
Qatar Airways B777-200LR
Bahrain Air A320 (in flying display)
Gullf Air A320
DHL ME B757F :heyhey:
Red Wings Tu204
Comlux A319 & B767
plus assorted biz jets.

Saudia Hawks cancelled
EK A380 visiting (1st whale on the island) and GF A330 doing fly pasts with RBAF fast jets plus 1 other invited airliners....!

Almost all pics of the flying items were shot to the crowd right, otherwise were more or less total shadows, as we were looking towards the setting sun.
Photos are selected from 18th preview day and show days 19th to 21st Jan.

OK - so we will start with the rare locals in the static display:

Image
641 F-5F Tiger RBAF by JaffaPix, on Flickr

Image
107 F-16 RBAF by JaffaPix, on Flickr

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501 Hawk RBAF by JaffaPix, on Flickr

Image
973 Cobra RBAF by JaffaPix, on Flickr

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336 Blackhawk RBAF by JaffaPix, on Flickr

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A9C-HRH S-76 Bahrain Royal Flight by JaffaPix, on Flickr

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A9C-AWL RJ100 Bahrain Royal Flight by JaffaPix, on Flickr

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322 B412 RBAF by JaffaPix, on Flickr

Some of the visiting aircraft:
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316 Typhoon RSAF by JaffaPix, on Flickr

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163052 MH-53 USNavy by JaffaPix, on Flickr

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167852 MH-60S USNavy by JaffaPix, on Flickr

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83-0024 F-15C USAF by JaffaPix, on Flickr

Couple of the Airliners:
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IMG_5641.RA64050.Tu204.DJ by JaffaPix, on Flickr

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EK95015 Sukhoi Su100 Supajet Armavia by JaffaPix, on Flickr

Qatar Airways' 100th Aircraft the badge on the noses states!
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A7-BBI B777-200LR Qatar Airways by JaffaPix, on Flickr

Oman Air E175 at night with fireworks before it left:
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A4O-EB E175 Oman Air by JaffaPix, on Flickr

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A4O-EB E175 Oman Air by JaffaPix, on Flickr

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A9C-DHD B757-200F DHL by JaffaPix, on Flickr
Last edited by B2 Spirit on Mon 23 Jan 2012, 7:01 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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ATrs.jules
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Re: Bahrain Airshow Jan 2012

Post by ATrs.jules »

was it any better than last year?
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B2 Spirit
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Re: Bahrain Airshow Jan 2012

Post by B2 Spirit »

ATrs.jules wrote:was it any better than last year?


I wasn't there 2 years ago, so cant really comment. All shooting was towards the sun for the flying display, so most photos were when A/C were crowd right. Saturday saw 13c temps and high winds (gusts over 30knots) and often driving sand / dust.....! hard to keep camera sheltered but almost everything still flew which was a surprise.

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B2 Spirit
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Re: Bahrain Airshow Jan 2012 - update with Pics 23Jan12

Post by B2 Spirit »

Flying display items:
This lot MIGHT be coming to RIAT 2012 the commentator mentioned.....Gold = sand / Black = oil (in case you wondered) with UAE flag underneath. This was thir first international display, since their first public display at Dubai Airshow in Nov 2011. They have worked hard. Same same as Frecce for moves of course.

Image
No1 MB-339 Al Fursan UAE by JaffaPix, on Flickr

Image
Al Fursan takeoff by JaffaPix, on Flickr

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Al Fursan by JaffaPix, on Flickr

Both the UAE M2000 & F-16 demos were very welcome additions (same as at Dubai 2011)
Image
738 M2000 UAE AF by JaffaPix, on Flickr

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738 Mirage 2000 UAE AF by JaffaPix, on Flickr

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3081 F16 UAE AF by JaffaPix, on Flickr

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3081 F-16 UAE AF by JaffaPix, on Flickr

Bahrain Air A320 took part, in a rather sedate way, after a great take off and level out at 500 feet:
Image
A9C-BAO A320 Bahrain Air takes off to display by JaffaPix, on Flickr

A Kalitta Air / DHL B747-400F was invited to make an appearance, and it did on the Saturday, inbetween dust storms. Single pass 500feet @ 280knots then onwards to Hong Kong:
Image
N743CK B747-400F Kalitta Air / DHL by JaffaPix, on Flickr

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N743CK B747-400F Kalitta Air / DHL by JaffaPix, on Flickr

The USN Rhino was an "E" model for a nice change off of a carrier in the region:
Image
166830 F-18E Rhino USNavy by JaffaPix, on Flickr

Image
166830 F-18E USNavy by JaffaPix, on Flickr

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B2 Spirit
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Re: Bahrain Airshow Jan 2012 - update with Pics 23Jan12

Post by B2 Spirit »

so finally to the star items....hope you're all with me still and not dropped off to sleep :whistle:

Gulf Air "F1" A330 Kilo Bravo made a 200feet pass each day with 8 RBAF fast jets. 4x F-16's & in trail 4x F-5's.
He then made a solo pass, and the fast jets then returned (with an extra F-16 making a diamond 9) for one or two passes on their own:

Image
Gulf Air "KB" & 4x RBAF F-16's by JaffaPix, on Flickr

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KB & the 8x fastjets by JaffaPix, on Flickr

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UAE AF Fast jets - 5x F16 & 4x F5 by JaffaPix, on Flickr

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Pair of RBAF F-5 Tigers by JaffaPix, on Flickr

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RBAF F-16 by JaffaPix, on Flickr

The Russian Knights were eagerly anticipated of course. Only a 4 ship, and no flares......but, it's still Flankers....! :biggrin:
They were the last main item at 16:15 each day, except for Saturday when they were a little earlier & Al Fursan closed the show. The setting sun was a major challenge....

Image
first pair of Flankers power into display by JaffaPix, on Flickr

Image
Flankers takeoff by JaffaPix, on Flickr

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Su-27 Flankers of the Russian Knights by JaffaPix, on Flickr

The famous mirror pass, where the tails look interlocked is also gone, but the mirror break towards each other is still there:
Image
Flankers cross by JaffaPix, on Flickr

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Russian Knights in goldern sunlight by JaffaPix, on Flickr

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Flanker in Goldern light by JaffaPix, on Flickr

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16 Su-27 Russian Knights in goldern sunlight by JaffaPix, on Flickr

UK acts Team Twister & the Red Devils both performed in mornings and at night:
Image
Twister & fireworks by JaffaPix, on Flickr

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Team Twister from UK by JaffaPix, on Flickr

....and finally, just to show how nasty the weather was at times on the Saturday:
Image
Wind & sand......! by JaffaPix, on Flickr



Thanks for looking......comments welcome.
I dont post in here very often these days, as many events are well and truely covered, so I hope this is something different for most of you.
cheers

Image
JaffaPix & Russian Knights by JaffaPix, on Flickr

jonah626
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Re: Bahrain Airshow Jan 2012 - update with Pics 23Jan12

Post by jonah626 »

so I hope this is something different for most of you


I should say so!

Fantastic to see these - and as it is unlikely that I'll ever see these subjects "in the flesh" it's much appreciated that you've taken time to post them!

The shot of the mirror break is very dramatic :ghost: Looks as if they are destined to come together...

Jonah

DeanW
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Re: Bahrain Airshow Jan 2012 - update with Pics 23Jan12

Post by DeanW »

Awesome. Like that Su27 mirror break!

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Chrisse
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Re: Bahrain Airshow Jan 2012 - update with Pics 23Jan12

Post by Chrisse »

I'll say, what a wonderful impression from this show!

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Global Ranger
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Re: Bahrain Airshow Jan 2012 - update with Pics 23Jan12

Post by Global Ranger »

Great pics and flavour of this exotic airshow. These deserve to be displayed under the Avation Photography \ Airshow Photos board though !

APG
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Re: Bahrain Airshow Jan 2012 - update with Pics 23Jan12

Post by APG »

Great shots Dave nice to see you posting them too :smile:

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Agg
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Re: Bahrain Airshow Jan 2012 - update with Pics 23Jan12

Post by Agg »

Very interesting set of some very rare birds, Im loving the block 60 Viper and the single seat Superbug. Certainly looks like a difficult show to shoot, I guess one would have to be fond of sand ;)

Flare Path
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Re: Bahrain Airshow Jan 2012 - update with Pics 23Jan12

Post by Flare Path »

Great set of photos.

What you don't see is the continued unrest in Bahrain; on the Thursday we were caught up in some tyre burning antics outside the base. :sad:

As for RIAT, I believe the UAE are planning to send Al Fursan and 'possibly' a Mirage, but don't quote me on this.

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triple_ace
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Re: Bahrain Airshow Jan 2012 - update with Pics 23Jan12

Post by triple_ace »

You did well with these shots given the tricky lighting and weather conditions.

Thanks for posting.

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B2 Spirit
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Re: Bahrain Airshow Jan 2012 - update with Pics 23Jan12

Post by B2 Spirit »

Hans Barrichello wrote:Great set of photos.
What you don't see is the continued unrest in Bahrain; on the Thursday we were caught up in some tyre burning antics outside the base. :sad:


I have some photos with the big black smoke plumes from the nearby villages, where they were trying to close down the airshow flying displays.....
Its a real shame, luckily the airshow went ahead, but I am in fear for F1...... Even today here - more protests started in the build up to the anniversary of the pearl roundabout.....

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