Latinbear

Au contraire mon brave! Your close friends the Crabs provided the Falcons parachute team; I just didn't post any pictures of them but I'm amenable to special requests . The Falcons' presence proved to be a result because following their jump they packed their 'chutes directly in front of our enclosure. Their escort/liaison officer turned out to be a former Mirage F1 pilot who is now the chief instructor on the PC21 with responsibility for standards evaluation as well. He had volunteered to be their liaison because he thought it would help improve his already excellent English. He stopped by the fence and we ended up talking to him for well over half an hour about the training structure and the advantages/ disadvantages of the PC21 versus the Alpha Jet as well as the issues that ground attack pilots have converting to the multi-role Rafale because of the challenges involved in air combat which is around 70% of the training against 30% for mud moving. It was very good of him to spend so much time talking to us and added to the enjoyment of the show.

Last weekend I attended the French Air and Space Force show at Cognac/Chateaubernard, home of the PC21s, Grobs and MQ9A Reapers. The show attracted a lot of press attention owing to the mid-air collision of two Rafales from Mont de Marsan during their tactical demonstration. The collision took place to the east of the airfield over a nearby village. Fortunately, both aircraft landed safely although some debris damaged a house in the village. Photos of the Tiger marked aircraft that had flown in from Greece on the Friday evening showed that it had lost the tip of its tail and RWR unit while the other aircraft suffered damage to its fuselage wing and a drop tank. Both aircraft landed after long approaches and were chased down the runway by the fire trucks. They taxied straight into the HAS area from the runway which is surrounded by large grassy berms and hence were out of public view. The weather for arrivals day was mixed with glorious sunny skies and 32C temperatures on the Saturday and Sunday. Unfortunately, the weather was appalling to start with for Monday's departures but as the storm passed through the aircraft began to move. From a photography perspective, Cognac is not great as the runway runs NE/SW and with the crowd line to the north then you are looking into the sun. A big thank you to FOSA for organising the show and Captain Julien and his colleagues for escorting us and making the whole occasion very enjoyable. 1. One of two Belgian F16s attending. 2. The German contribution. 3. 4. 5. 6. This Sabre is Canadair built. 7. 8. 9. 10. The home team. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. Caracal. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. The Wings of Storm. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. Singaporean M346 based at Cazaux. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. That's it, thanks for looking!

That is a real beauty. Love the weathering and attention to detail.

Super photos there! They really bring home the size of the SU27 and also do a great job of conveying the power and sheer dynamism of the machine.

Outstanding!

Absolutely first class! Brilliant replica of the real thing.

Terrific images as ever! Several of them look like they are air to air. The pair of sheep in image eight have either seen it all before or they're not helicopter enthusiasts judging by their lack of interest.

Seconded! (apart from the tiredness, that is). A tenner is a couple of pints of beer or a bottle of wine to put it in context and raising money for two worthy charities as well as a good day out means it was money well spent. A huge thank you from me to the club staff who clearly put a lot of time and effort into organising what was a very enjoyable show.

That is fantastic! Brilliant weathering and attention to detail. I enjoyed the article in SAM too.

What an extraordinary piece of work and well done you for persevering! I didn't know there was a kit of this aircraft available.

Fabulous shots! I think the head on Herc is my favourite.

Hi Ralph, I'm afraid I don't know which aircraft it is. It might be worth looking at Fighter Control or posing the question on the forum as there seems to be some very well informed people who contribute to it.

Lovely shots of a rare type in RAF service. Thanks for posting these.

That is a terrific set of shots there Gary! Very nice and sharp and a great, varied selection too. Difficult to pick favourites but the mixed formation and the E with its hook striking the runway stand out for me. Like you, I'm not a huge fan of the F-35 (especially from the rear) but it is growing on me and as you say, if that is what is on offer then we have to take it. I don't know whether it's the type of paint or, more likely my incompetence, but I have never been that happy with any F-35 shots that I've taken but yours stand out beautifully. Thanks for posting.

Thank you for all the kind comments, they are much appreciated!