# EX Maple Flag 2012



## WingsofFury (8 Jun 2012)

Here's a couple from this past week, the Super Hornets from NAS Lemoore have arrived and the Singapore Vipers are due in this weekend.  One week down, one to go.  Will post a few more when I can, please feel free to make requests for any aircraft related photos.  Cheers!


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## jparkin (9 Jun 2012)

Nice shots!


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## MrDy3r (11 Jun 2012)

Worth mentioning for anyone not in the know - the a/c above is the Mirage 2000 from France.  Great guys to work with.


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## aesop081 (11 Jun 2012)

MrDy3r said:
			
		

> Worth mentioning for anyone not in the know - the a/c above is the Mirage 2000 from France.  Great guys to work with.



More specifically, the first 2 photographs are Mirage 2000C and the last 2 are Mirage 2000D.


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## SkyHeff (11 Jun 2012)

And boy are they loud. Running under their departure path is fun!


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## dimsum (11 Jun 2012)

Heff18 said:
			
		

> And boy are they loud. Running under their departure path is fun!



Yep.  You could tell when they were taking off anywhere in KAF.  And KAF is a big place.


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## DonaldMcL (11 Jun 2012)

WingsofFury said:
			
		

> Here's a couple from this past week, the Super Hornets from NAS Lemoore have arrived and the Singapore Vipers are due in this weekend.  One week down, one to go.  Will post a few more when I can, please feel free to make requests for any aircraft related photos.  Cheers!



Can you grab some of the Alphas?  ;D


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## eurowing (11 Jun 2012)

You could even watch a French low level airshow in KAF.  An errant missile departed an airframe from the French Quarter, landing near the exit of Charlie Ramp.  It was quite entertaining!  The propellent burned for a few seconds after impact, putting on a fine display. Happily, no injuries or damage.


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## WingsofFury (17 Jun 2012)

Here's a few more of the jet fleet, if anyone is interested in transports and helicopters please post and I'll accommodate.

F/A-18E Super Hornet from VFA-86 at NAS Lemoore






Republic of Singapore Air Force F-16C Block 52 from the 425th Fighter Squadron out of Luke AFB






Republic of Singapore Air Force F-16D Block 52 from the 425th Fighter Squadron out of Luke AFB






Fresh out of the paint shop, a CF-18 from 409 Squadron playing Red Air






And finally, a beauty of an Alpha Jet from Top Aces


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## WingsofFury (20 Jun 2012)

Two ship Mirage 2000-5 takeoff...or just plaine jet noise.


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## PuckChaser (21 Jun 2012)

WingsofFury said:
			
		

> Here's a few more of the jet fleet, if anyone is interested in transports and helicopters please post and I'll accommodate.



Yes please!  ;D Any of the transport craft and/or attack helicopters (if they are there) would be sweet. These pictures are beautiful by the way, great job.


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## WingsofFury (21 Jun 2012)

Here we go...start with the Hercs.

RAF Special Forces C-130H 






RAF Special Forces C-130J






Brazilian C-130H






CC-130H (T) 






CC-130J Super Hercules






Other propellors....

CH-146 Griffon w/ .50 Cal mounted






French Armee de l'Air C160 Transall






And now a couple of heavies...

French Armee de l'Air E-3F Sentry 






RCAF CC-150T Polaris


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## rnkelly (21 Jun 2012)

^Looks like a C6 on the Griffon, not the GAU .50 Cal.


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## George Wallace (21 Jun 2012)

eurowing said:
			
		

> You could even watch a French low level airshow in KAF.  An errant missile departed an airframe from the French Quarter, landing near the exit of Charlie Ramp.  It was quite entertaining!  The propellent burned for a few seconds after impact, putting on a fine display. Happily, no injuries or damage.



I wonder if this may have been the same French pilot who dropped a 200 lb bomb on CANBAT II in 1995?   :


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## aesop081 (21 Jun 2012)

WingsofFury said:
			
		

> RAF Special Forces C-130H



The correct designation for the RAF's legacy SF Hercules aircraft is Hercules C.3A (or also C-130K). They are essentially a C-130H, however. I'm not sure if there remains any Hercules C.1s in service with the SF flight ( short version of the C-130K)


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## WingsofFury (21 Jun 2012)

rnkelly said:
			
		

> ^Looks like a C6 on the Griffon, not the GAU .50 Cal.



Was told that they were practicing with a .50 Cal, but if you tell me it isn't, I'll believe you as my knowledge of firearms isn't good at all.


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## WingsofFury (21 Jun 2012)

CDN Aviator said:
			
		

> The correct designation for the RAF's legacy SF Hercules aircraft is Hercules C.3A (or also C-130K). They are essentially a C-130H, however. I'm not sure if there remains any Hercules C.1s in service with the SF flight ( short version of the C-130K)



I believe it would come down to which ones have been stretched and which ones haven't been, I'll take a gander at some other photos later today to figure it out.  It was also neat to learn about the defensive aids sub-system (DASS) and the suite of sensor systems as part of a Enhanced Vision System - makes me wonder if such things may come into existence for any future JSF type airframe use....


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## aesop081 (21 Jun 2012)

WingsofFury said:
			
		

> I believe it would come down to which ones have been stretched and which ones haven't been,



Both the "stretched" and "short" are C-130Ks ( shorts are C.1 and stretched are C.3).


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## WingsofFury (21 Jun 2012)

CDN Aviator said:
			
		

> Both the "stretched" and "short" are C-130Ks ( shorts are C.1 and stretched are C.3).



My bad, I apologize.  Tonight I'm going to try to id whether the one in the picture is a stretched C.3 as opposed to a short C.1.  The RAF website about 47 Squadron just mentions that the plane is used, but not whether it was used by SF Flight.


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## aesop081 (21 Jun 2012)

WingsofFury said:
			
		

> My bad, I apologize.  Tonight I'm going to try to id whether the one in the picture is a stretched C.3 as opposed to a short C.1.



Your photograph is C-130K Hercules C.3A, serial XV214.


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## WingsofFury (21 Jun 2012)

CDN Aviator said:
			
		

> Your photograph is C-130K Hercules C.3A, serial XV214.



Muchos gracias senor....


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## aesop081 (21 Jun 2012)

WingsofFury said:
			
		

> RAF Special Forces C-130J



This one is RAF C-130J Hercules C.5, serial ZH888.


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## Armynewsguy (21 Jun 2012)

WingsofFury

I am not sure if I have asked you this or not before; what lens are you using for your shots? And if you don't mind what are your settings?

I take a lot of pictures around Trenton of the aircraft but I can never get the sharpness that you display in all of your photos. Also, one last question if you don't mind; are you shooting from a tripod or hand held?

Thanks, and if you are ever in Trenton and looking for someone to shoot with let me know.


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## WingsofFury (21 Jun 2012)

Armynewsguy said:
			
		

> WingsofFury
> 
> I am not sure if I have asked you this or not before; what lens are you using for your shots? And if you don't mind what are your settings?
> 
> ...



Hello Armynewsguy,

The shots that I've posted above were all shot with the Canon 7D with either the 100-400mm or 24-105mm lens with the image stabilization (IS) turned on.  I find that the IS systems in both Canon and Nikon is a fantastic feature and should be used at all times...but this is just my personal opinion.  With regards to settings, if it has a prop (ie Hercules/Griffon) then I'll shoot in Shutter Speed mode and lower it down to about 1/100, sometimes lower.  For those with no prop (Hornets, Globemasters, Polaris, etc), I shoot in Aperture mode with the F stop of choice being about 7.1, at least that's what it was with the 100-400mm lens.  All my shots are hand held.

Don't forget to use the post processing tools that are available, as they will help bring out the colour already existing in your shots.  Another thing I do is to shoot in RAW format as opposed to JPEG - allows me to be more creative if called upon to be.

Best piece of advice I can give you - practice.  Then practice more, then more, then more....and then keep practicing.  Some, like yourself, have told me that my shots are good and I appreciate that.  But in my own mind, I still have a ways to go and I know the only way that I can get to where I want to be involves even more practice than what I currently put in.  Better lenses help, as do certain camera bodies, but lets be realistic...not everyone can go drop $5G's on some kit which is why when I was learning I picked up something simple and really used it for all that it was worth.

Hope this info helps, if you need any further feel free to pm me or just pose the question here.


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## cupper (21 Jun 2012)

Is it me or have all of the photos gone bye bye?


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## aesop081 (21 Jun 2012)

cupper said:
			
		

> Is it me or have all of the photos gone bye bye?



Still all there for me.


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## Jimmy_D (21 Jun 2012)

I'm getting: Photobucket, upgrade to Pro


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## cupper (21 Jun 2012)

All have been replaced with something from photobucket that says "Look who's popular. This image exceeds bandwidth with too many views. Go pro and get unlimited."

Here's a screen grab:


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## aesop081 (21 Jun 2012)

cupper said:
			
		

> All have been replaced with something from photobucket that says "Look who's popular. This image exceeds bandwidth with too many views. Go pro and get unlimited."
> 
> Here's a screen grab:



I don't know. I'm looking at them right now.


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## cupper (21 Jun 2012)

CDN Aviator said:
			
		

> I don't know. I'm looking at them right now.



So it's you hogging all the band width then.  ;D


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## cupper (21 Jun 2012)

Just got a server under high stress message.

That must be it.

Maybe Mike needs to issue the server a leave pass.


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## WingsofFury (21 Jun 2012)

No, Mike need not do anything....it's the views from here that ate up room on the Photobucket server which caused the bandwidth issue...all bs in my opinion.

Anyways, I upgraded to a pro account and now you should be able to see the photos without any problem.

I'm creating an album on my website for the EX and will provide the link once it's done, just having to spend some time getting everything for the Editor, the RCAF, and myself, in order and up to date.

Cheers, Attila


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## cupper (21 Jun 2012)

Nope. Still not seeing any photos you've posted recently. Even the ones from the Skyhawks as well.

Update:

Looks like it may also be an issue with Safari vs Firefox. Seems that I can view them now using Firefox on my Mac, but sill cannot view them using Safari. 

Upperdate:

And now they're back up on Safari as well.  Gotta love the wonders of modern technology.


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## cupper (21 Jun 2012)

WingsofFury said:
			
		

> But in my own mind, I still have a ways to go and I know the only way that I can get to where I want to be involves even more practice than what I currently put in.



As a fellow long time photo geek, I know that we can be our own worst critics. Excellent work. Would love to see more.


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## WingsofFury (22 Jun 2012)

cupper said:
			
		

> As a fellow long time photo geek, I know that we can be our own worst critics. Excellent work. Would love to see more.



Thanks for your kind words.

Work today and then fishing tomorrow, should have a couple more posted by the time Monday rolls around including some AETE stuff from the range.

Cheers all, and have a great weekend.

AP


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## Virtuoso (25 Jun 2012)

Beautiful pictures, WingsofFury. If you zoom in on CFB Cold Lake with Google Earth, you can spot the rare glimpse of a F-15 or F-15 in previous years.


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## WingsofFury (2 Jul 2012)

Finally finished a little bit of a writeup on EX Maple Flag and incorporated it into the new design and layout of my site.  Any feedback on the article is appreciated here, and any feedback on the new look of the website should be sent to me via email to attila@hotrampphotography.com.

2012 EX Maple Flag

Cheers, and thank you all for your ongoing support in helping me understand more about the RCAF.

Sincerely, 
Attila Papp
Owner/Editor -- Hot Ramp Photography


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## cupper (2 Jul 2012)

Dude, just had a quick flip through your website. The photos are awesome!

Loved the A-10 with the vortex contrails coming off the wingtips and back over the tail.

As I said before, us photo geeks are our own worst critics.


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## WingsofFury (3 Jul 2012)

cupper said:
			
		

> Dude, just had a quick flip through your website. The photos are awesome!
> 
> Loved the A-10 with the vortex contrails coming off the wingtips and back over the tail.
> 
> As I said before, us photo geeks are our own worst critics.



Thanks, there's still more to come as I get more work done on it.


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## WingsofFury (20 Jul 2012)

Anyone else noticing a red tinge to the photos above?

On a separate note...

Got a chance to go up in an RCAF CC-130H (T) Hercules tanker during EX Maple Flag.

Here is the Navigator at the NAV station....






And here's one of the planes which was refuelled - a Mirage 2000D from the French Armee de l'Air.


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## cupper (20 Jul 2012)

WingsofFury said:
			
		

> Anyone else noticing a red tinge to the photos above?



It's very very slight, and if you hadn't said anything I'd be hard pressed to notice it.


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## PWN (30 Jul 2012)

That refuelling shot is fantastic. Please keep posting! This is great eye-candy for us.

What makes you tend to use f/7.1? Is it a sharpness thing or a depth-of-field thing? I've noticed on my Nikon lenses that they all have an aperture "sweet spot" that gives me the sharpest image... Is that true for Canon glass too?


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## aesop081 (30 Jul 2012)

PWN said:
			
		

> Is that true for Canon glass too?



Yes.


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## WingsofFury (31 Jul 2012)

CDN Aviator said:
			
		

> Yes.



Heesh, taking over my thread??  ;D

He's right though, and given he's operated better camera's than I ever will, I yield to his understanding. 

On a photography note, I've found that each lens has its own sweet spot but ultimately it comes down to what you want the picture to look like and what it is you're trying to convey to the viewer.  One of my favorite things is to set the F stop higher to really blur the background which gives the viewer a truer sense of the speed along with the ability to focus on what matters the most - the plane. 

I've got a couple of trips planned to the east coast in August, which I hope will include a stop at Shearwater and Greenwood for some maritime aircraft fun.  Along with that, I plan on attending the air show in PEI as well which should be a good time with the Blue Angels performing there.

I'll definitely try posting some more photos from Flag below for all to see, might try to post some static shots.  Hope that's ok?


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## aesop081 (31 Jul 2012)

WingsofFury said:
			
		

> Hope that's ok?



Hell yes.


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## WingsofFury (31 Jul 2012)

Hehehe...



























My nemesis bird...finally got her.






Home, AETE home on the range...











Herc Tanker dashboard


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## WingsofFury (8 Aug 2012)

Thought I'd share a bit of take off vapour...


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## skyhigh10 (9 Aug 2012)

Those french mirages actually stopped in Thunder Bay for 2 days.  The probe on one of the Mirage jets broke off while attempting to fuel somewhere in Northern Ontario. Pilot seemed quite stirred! 

Was quite the treat


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## WingsofFury (22 Aug 2012)

Mirage 2000N on the roll out...


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## smale436 (23 Aug 2012)

"My nemesis bird...finally got her."

 - I'm guessing it was your nemesis because it was never around to get a picture of. It's our nemesis as it's one of our top 3 most uncooperative aircraft at home. (Although it was pretty good for Maple Flag. And it works very good on TD's for some reason) Glad you got a shot of it as it's gone and won't be back for quite awhile. Hopefully it leaks less when it gets back!  ;D


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## cupper (23 Aug 2012)

WingsofFury said:
			
		

> I've got a couple of trips planned to the east coast in August, which I hope will include a stop at Shearwater and Greenwood for some maritime aircraft fun.  Along with that, I plan on attending the air show in PEI as well which should be a good time with the Blue Angels performing there.



I'm gonna be in Summerside this weekend visiting the inlaws. If I get a chance to get to the show, I'll see if I can track you down.


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## Sf2 (24 Aug 2012)

WingsofFury said:
			
		

> I've got a couple of trips planned to the east coast in August, which I hope will include a stop at Shearwater and Greenwood for some maritime aircraft fun.  Along with that, I plan on attending the air show in PEI as well which should be a good time with the Blue Angels performing there.



Swing by the Griffon static...I'll be the one shooting with Sony glass


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