Civilian Aviation

After what seems like months of poor conditions or work commitments, at last a free afternoon with reasonable weather for a little OTT spotting session.
Looking out at midday I thought I would set up my gear in the back garden and have a go.
Here are a selection of westbound transits of the afternoon.

First in the batch, a trio of Qatars out of Doha,

A couple of B773s

A7-BAL QTR725 DOH-ORD @ 32,000ft
A7-BAL by Mike (Radiostationx), on Flickr


A7-BEM QTR707 DOH-IAD @ 32,000ft

A7-BEM by Mike (Radiostationx), on Flickr

And a nice Airbus A350-9, right up there in the clean air @ 38,000ft

A7-ALM QTR743 DOH-BOS

A7-ALM by Mike (Radiostationx), on Flickr


A bit of a treat next, a shiny new dreamliner B787-9 of Air Canada sporting their new livery scheme.

C-FRTW AC84 B789 MUC-YYZ @ 36,000ft

Air Canada C-FRTW by Mike (Radiostationx), on Flickr


D-ABYI Boeing 747-830 Intercontinental sporting the special "Fanhansa Siegerflieger" World Cup Livery. (Siegerflieger translation I believe is "winners plane").

7/1/2018 DLH418 D-ABYI FRA-IAD FL320

D-ABYI Fanhansa Siegerflieger by Mike (Radiostationx), on Flickr


2000ft directly above the giant contrail of the siegerflieger, The A340 D-AIGX with Star Alliance Livery.
7/1/2018 DLH470 D-AIGX FRA-YYZ FL340

D-AIGX by Mike (Radiostationx), on Flickr


Next, An Etihad B787 Dreamliner, A6-BLD

7/1/2018 EY131 A6-BLD AUH-IAD FL360

A6-BLD by Mike (Radiostationx), on Flickr

7/1/2018 DLH482 D-AIGW A340 Star Alliance FRA-TPA FL320

D-AIGW by Mike (Radiostationx), on Flickr

Finally, Air Canada B787 Dreamliner C-GHQY

7/1/2018 AC85 C-GHQY TLV-YYZ FL360

C-GHQY by Mike (Radiostationx), on Flickr


Thanks for Looking.

Mike

excellent as always Mike. just how precise do the conditions need to be to get these standard of images?

Andy

Fantastic shots! Had Flightradar on and binoculars out here in St Annes on Sun afternoon myself-crystal clear skies for a change- thought you might be taking advantage of it-best day weatherwise we've had for quite some time.
Keep them coming!

Best Wishes
Pete

andygolfer wrote:excellent as always Mike. just how precise do the conditions need to be to get these standard of images?

Andy

Hi Andy,
From experience the best results come from days when it is cold, the colder the better actually.
The main thing that will ruin photos is heat currents rising up from the ground up to 1000ft, so in Summer, my garden is is more Tyskie than Telescope.
This is the best time of year for this sort of photography, contrail watchers in Germany and Poland get much colder weather than us, and for much longer so they have day after day of clear skies but biting cold. Most go out to NAV routes and find themselves in a field in the middle of nowhere for the day and considering temps at the mo are circa -10 at best, they are hardy lads over there !
I stick to the garden where I can retreat inside for some sustenance and wait for the next a/c to come along on the "Squawkbox" (FR24).

@EGNH1909
Thanks for the kind comment Pete, The high level Blackpool / St Annes exit to PENIL was very busy on Sunday also with lots of nice traffic passing through.
Glad you were joining in and enjoying the view.

Cheers Guys.

Mike

Excellent Mike

Thanks Paul,
It can get busy at times,
An unusual shot @ close to 3000mm focal length with a narrow field of view , 2 Lufthansa heavies sharing the same bit of sky.
2000ft vertical separation on the same airway.
D-AIGX A340 and a photobomb by D-ABYI B748.
The frame as seen in the viewfinder , no cropping.




Take a look at the photo in the main batch of the a340 D-AIGX as she passes by 2000ft above the massive contrail left behind the "siegerflieger" powering through the sky a few seconds earlier.
A duffer but an interesting one.

Nice set.

Cracking Set ... Love OTT Photos.

Need to put a telescope on my want list for the wife

Lovely....what 'tools' are you using to achieve these kind of photos?