Civilian Aviation

Went along to Heathrow on the 17th, before the Northolt Nightshoot, getting a full day of aviation fix!!

Here's a selection of the heavies that came in, all landing on 09L. (more to come later!!)

1.

Heathrow-17032026-35 by Dan Elms, on Flickr

2.

VT-ANI by Dan Elms, on Flickr

3.

G-CIVC by Dan Elms, on Flickr

4.

N119UA by Dan Elms, on Flickr

5.

G-VFIT by Dan Elms, on Flickr

6.

N753AN by Dan Elms, on Flickr

7.

N735AT by Dan Elms, on Flickr

8.

N27903 by Dan Elms, on Flickr

9.

C-FIVW by Dan Elms, on Flickr

10.

G-CIVJ by Dan Elms, on Flickr

11.

Heathrow-17032026-291 by Dan Elms, on Flickr

12.

G-VOWS by Dan Elms, on Flickr

13.

Heathrow-17032026-341 by Dan Elms, on Flickr

14.

Heathrow-17032026-365 by Dan Elms, on Flickr

15.

PT-MUA by Dan Elms, on Flickr

16.

A6-EDG by Dan Elms, on Flickr

17.

G-VEIL by Dan Elms, on Flickr

18.

N229UA by Dan Elms, on Flickr

19.

B-2787 by Dan Elms, on Flickr

20.

N969AV by Dan Elms, on Flickr

Cheers for looking!!

Dan

Lovely shot Dan, showing the variety of heavies at Heathrow. As in your shots, I find it almost impossible to get a shot of a Virgin A340 in the new scheme without one or more engine cowlings in the old colour.

Cracking set there Dan. I have to make do with sightings over London Mon-Weds so I hope the wind changes them back to 27 this week. LCY doesn't offer the same inbound quality!

Thanks both - this was my first visit to Heathrow since last March.

Was very nice to see a lot of variation, something other than the Ryanair's and Easyjet's of Stansted!

Hopefully it won't be another 12 months before another visit.

Dan

Morning Dan,
Lovely set you have there with amazing light. They look a bit like mine! Was good meeting you, thanks for the travelling advice to Northolt.
Regards
Pete

awesome set of pictures Dan they are great

I love heathrow when they are on on 09 landings the shots seem to be soo much better than from the 27 ends, the light and the sharpness on your pictures are just right, funny one of the best weekends i spent at heathrow was march 24th 2012 and they were on 09 landings we were on the M25 slip road embankment in shirt sleeves and it produced some of my best heathrow pictures ever

tink_norfolk wrote:Morning Dan,
Lovely set you have there with amazing light. They look a bit like mine! Was good meeting you, thanks for the travelling advice to Northolt.
Regards
Pete

Thanks Pete, was good to meet you as well, and to a face to the Forum Name!!

Glad that you made it to Northolt OK, was a good evening there even with the cancellations - hope the trip back home wasn't as arduous as the trip down?

Will probably bump in to you again sometime at Stansted / Mildenhall / Lakenheath!

Dan

mach one wrote:awesome set of pictures Dan they are great

I love heathrow when they are on on 09 landings the shots seem to be soo much better than from the 27 ends, the light and the sharpness on your pictures are just right, funny one of the best weekends i spent at heathrow was march 24th 2012 and they were on 09 landings we were on the M25 slip road embankment in shirt sleeves and it produced some of my best heathrow pictures ever

This was only my second time to Heathrow, so was googling where to view from that end whilst en route... (When sat in Traffic Jams - lol). Took me a couple of missed junctions, and turnings, but found it in the end! I have to admit to almost jumping when an A380 came over the top of the car as it landed on 09R just before I got parked!

These were all taken with a Canon 70-200 F4 L lens - only had it a few weeks, and this was the first opportunity to use it properly - and am really liking the results!

Like you, I think the angles are a little better on the 09L end, certainly wasn't the weather for shirt sleeves on Thursday though - bitterly cold at times though it was sunny.

Dan

were you up on the bank by the armco barrier on the M25 slip road?

if so the higher vantage point on the bank gives you a good shooting angle

the 70-200 F/4 is a great lens did you get the is or the non is version, i had the 70-200 F/4 non is back in 2006 kept it for 3 years and traded it for the 100-400 version 1 and regretted it from the day i took the 100-400 out of the box, the 70-200 was a much better lens image quality wise than my 100-400 and i always regretted trading it in

mach one wrote:were you up on the bank by the armco barrier on the M25 slip road?

if so the higher vantage point on the bank gives you a good shooting angle

the 70-200 F/4 is a great lens did you get the is or the non is version, i had the 70-200 F/4 non is back in 2006 kept it for 3 years and traded it for the 100-400 version 1 and regretted it from the day i took the 100-400 out of the box, the 70-200 was a much better lens image quality wise than my 100-400 and i always regretted trading it in

I started off a little lower on the slope, and then moved up by the Armco barrier when it thinned out a little!

I got the non-IS version - picked up a mint 2nd hand one for under £300! I also have the Mk1 100-400L, and have a feeling that it is going to spending much more time in the bag than attached to the front of a camera body. To be honest I've not really liked it since I bought it, the 70-200 just seems so much sharper and images seem much, much better!

talldan76 wrote:I started off a little lower on the slope, and then moved up by the Armco barrier when it thinned out a little!

I got the non-IS version - picked up a mint 2nd hand one for under £300! I also have the Mk1 100-400L, and have a feeling that it is going to spending much more time in the bag than attached to the front of a camera body. To be honest I've not really liked it since I bought it, the 70-200 just seems so much sharper and images seem much, much better!

I got some great shots with my 100-400 but I thought right from day 1 that for the money it should have been a better lens, i even sent it back to canon to have it calibrated to the camera body

I sold my 100-400 last autumn and i have now gone back to using a 70-200

What a superb set!! Thanks for sharing these mate, as mentioned nice variety, I do like the Avianca 767 shot and the two Emirates 380's, well captured and all with brilliant light, better than what I got a couple of days later

A great set of shots, Lee

Few more from last Thursday...

N119UA by Dan Elms, on Flickr

G-XLEX by Dan Elms, on Flickr

D-AILU by Dan Elms, on Flickr

EI-DEO by Dan Elms, on Flickr

Thanks all for looking, and for the comments!

Dan

Very nice Dan Dan, they are very sharp

I have both the Canon 70-200 f4 Non IS and the 100-400 mk1. Would agree the 70-200 is sharp, razor sharp when the shot is right. I have had the 100-400 mk 1 about 14 months and I think it should only be expected to not be quite as sharp as the 70-200. That said I personally am surprised at how good it can be and I have come to the half conclusion when it's not tack sharp it's my technique thats failing. In my opinion both good lenses are good. The 70-200 is ideal for larger aviation subjects, sharp from f4. As my photography is not all aviation would like the f2.8 version for the superior bokeh, but have to dream at the moment.

some very good ones in the first batch but the United 747 and BA 380 in the second batch are my picks, both excellent Dan, well done
andy