Show Navigation

Search Results

Refine Search
Match all words
Match any word
Prints
Personal Use
Royalty-Free
Rights-Managed
(leave unchecked to
search all images)
{ 744 images found }

Loading ()...

  • The nose detail of a de Havilland Comet in the colours of the long-defunct airline Dan Air is seen in profile at the Imperial War Museum's Duxford airfield, Cambridgeshire, England. The British de Havilland Comet first flew in July 1949 and is noted as the world's first commercial jet airliner as well as one of the first pressurized commercial aircraft. Early models suffered from catastrophic metal fatigue and the aircraft was redesigned. Here, the nose structure is held together with rivets that sit askew of the aircraft skin making it aerodynamically unfit to fly. It remains however, one of the classic and iconic designs in the history of commercial aviation. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903. .
    aviation_corbis15-12-12-1997.jpg
  • In the darkness of a taxiway at the southern end of Heathrow Airport, the bright lights of an engineering hangar spill out into the night. A Boeing 747 Jumbo jet sits nose-in behind another during a scheduled set of maintenance tasks that every aircraft needs to keep to in order for its continued airworthiness. The unmistakable shape of this large aircraft is a half-silhouette against the intensity of the hangar and blue flare spots that arise from the internal glass in the camera's lens. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009). .
    heathrow_airport1564-19-08-2009.jpg
  • Rolls of turf are rolled up by exhibition workers at the end of a long day at the Paris Air Show, Le Bourget France. Removing the real grass from at the CFM stand (a company formed from SNECMA and General Electric jet engines) that manufactures a family of 7,200 commercial and military jet engines for Airbus and Boeing airliners. The men bend over to make a tight roll of organic lawn to keep it fresh and watered overnight before another hot day in this hall. Alongside them, a giant turbofan engine is seen, its huge turbine blades lit by artificial lights. The Paris Air Show is a commercial air show, organised by the French aerospace industry whose purpose is to demonstrate military and civilian aircraft to potential customers.
    paris_air_show224-20-06-2007.jpg
  • A lone Tornado jet fighter arcs across a typically overcast sky at Southend-on-Sea on a Bank Holiday Sunday. Well-defined figures of children and adults either play nonchalantly on the beach at low tide, or watch in awe as the aircraft thunders over the Thames Estuary mud. A few stranded yachts stand upright in the low water and a groyne stretches out to sea towards the Kent coast, seen in the distance. It is a bleak and depressingly empty scene and the jet is merely a dot in the grey English sky, traditionally familiar summer weather. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903. .
    aviation_corbis11-25-05-1997.jpg
  • A visitor to Oshkosh Air Venture, the world?s largest air show in Wisconsin USA, stands by an A-10 Thunderbolt Tank Buster or Warthog. Wearing a t-shirt depicting a Cherokee Indian and a Bald Eagle, the tourist awaits family as aviation enthusiasts climb steps to the aircraft's cockpit. The Fairchild-Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II is a single-seat, twin-engine jet aircraft designed to provide close air support of ground forces by attacking tanks, armoured vehicles, and other ground targets. It has also been involved with British friendly fire incidents in Iraq. Close to a million populate the mass fly-in over the week, a pilgrimage worshipping all aspects of flight. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903.
    aviation_corbis46-29-08-1998.jpg
  • Baggage belonging to a British Airways Concorde crew is lined up beneath their aircraft after arriving at Oshkosh Air Venture, the world?s largest air show in Wisconsin USA. Twelve cases match 12 of Concorde's tiny windows and some of the crowd either take shelter from the sun or walk around the supersonic jet in awe of this engineering marvel. Their baggage is lined up beneath the aircraft during its visit to this huge show in Wisconsin, USA. Close to a million populate the mass fly-in over the week, a pilgrimage worshipping all aspects of flight. The event annually generates $85 million in revenue over a 25 mile radius from Oshkosh. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903. .
    aviation_corbis44-27-08-1998.jpg
  • A visitor to the General Electric (GE) exhibition stand at Britain's Farnborough Air Show, points to a feature on a massive, GE90-115B turbofan jet engine. Powering Boeing 777 airliners with up to 115,000 Pounds of thrust, this is a state-of-the-art engine that entered service in April 2004 with Air France. Its giant blades are lit with blue stage lighting to make it look iconic and imposing, dominating this picture of technology and innovation. Such mechanical excellence attached to the world's aircraft are helping to make them quieter and more energy and fuel efficient at a time when oil prices are making air travel an expensive mode of transport.
    farnborough_air_show14-14-07-2008.jpg
  • Seen from the air at dawn, dozens of F-4 Phantom fighters from the Cold War-era are laid out in grids across the arid desert at Davis-Monthan Air Forbe Base near Tucson Arizona. These retired aircraft whose air frames are too old for flight are being stored then recycled, their aluminium worth more than their sum total at this repository for old military fighter and bomber aircraft. They sit in neat rows in low light, their shadowy wings are blue in colour but their fuselage are stripped of markings, being taped up against the dust. This is a scene of once-great flying machines relegated to sad scrap, long-after the Soviet Union's own demise when western armies fought a war of propaganda. .
    davis_monthan01-15-12-2007 .jpg
  • Using ladders and ropes during a rescue operation, Fire Brigade crews enter the floodlit broken air frame of a British Midland Airways Boeing 737-400 series jet airliner which lies on an embankment of the M1 motorway at Kegworth, near East Midlands Airport in Leicestershire, England. On the night of 8th January 1989, flight 92 crashed due to the shutting down of the wrong, malfunctioning engine. Attempting an emergency landing, 47 people died and 74 people, including seven members of the flight crew, sustained serious injuries. The aircraft's tail was snapped upright at ninety degrees. Here perished most of the passenger fatalities. The devastation was hampered by woodland and the fire fighters are attempting to rescue survivors or extract those killed in this air disaster that proved one of Btitain's worst.
    RB_124-08-01-1989.jpg
  • Using ladders and ropes during a rescue operation, Fire Brigade crews enter the floodlit broken air frame of a British Midland Airways Boeing 737-400 series jet airliner which lies on an embankment of the M1 motorway at Kegworth, near East Midlands Airport in Leicestershire, England. On the night of 8th January 1989, flight 92 crashed due to the shutting down of the wrong, malfunctioning engine. Attempting an emergency landing, 47 people died and 74 people, including seven members of the flight crew, sustained serious injuries. The aircraft's tail was snapped upright at ninety degrees. Here perished most of the passenger fatalities. The devastation was hampered by woodland and the fire fighters are attempting to rescue survivors or extract those killed in this air disaster that proved one of Btitain's worst.
    RB_022-30-04-2008.jpg
  • Near the end of the military runway at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk England, a road sign warns of low-flying aircraft near the base which is populated by the United States Air Force Refuelling Wing. Beneath the triangular sign is a locally made makeshift advertisement for CJ's, a nearby cafe. It is summer and the shrubs are green with white flowers to the side. The sign itself has become discoloured with green algae after being rained on over successive wet weather days. In the UK, the Highway Code for road-users lists this warning sign (always triangular) as "Low-flying aircraft or sudden aircraft noise." Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903. .
    aviation_corbis21-27-05-2001.jpg
  • A US Navy electrician looks straight into the camera wearing a brown colour-coded uniform and beneath the cockpit of an EA-6B Prowler, a communications and intelligence-gathering patrol aircraft on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman, on patrol off Kuwait in the Persian Gulf enforcing the coalition's no-fly zone over Iraq. Behind him are the signs and emblems of the US Navy aircraft that is parked on the deck of this carrier so named after the US President who was in office from 1945 to 1953. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903. .
    aviation_corbis02-19-04-2001.jpg
  • A father supports his son on his shoulders as a giant four-engined airliner passes directly overhead, about to land at London's Heathrow airport, England. Seen from a low angle, we see the graphic cruciform shape of the aircraft as it screams past two powerful airfield landing lights that help guide arriving aircraft to the runway. The backlit scene is largely monochrome apart from the boys red t-shirt and yellow-faced watch which are lit by flash, underexposing the overcast sky. Prior to 9/11, British airport authorities and police tolerated plane spotters near runway fences but with heightened terrorist alerts, these enthusiasts are told to move on or face arrest. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903. .
    aviation_corbis13-17-08-1997.jpg
  • A Bahrani aircraft mechanic stands beneath the giant nose wheel assembly of a Being airliner at Bahrain International Airport. Wearing a red headset, he can communicate by cable with the pilots high up in the aircraft's cockpit as a vehicle pushes-back the flying machine onto the taxi-way before starting its engines and departure. It is another hot day in this Gulf State, a key hub airport in the region, providing a gateway to the Northern Gulf. The airport is the major hub for Gulf Air which provides 52% of overall movements. It is also the half-way point between Western Europe and Asian destinations such as Hong Kong and Beijing. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903. .
    aviation_corbis06-21-04-2001.jpg
  • Like a huge caged animal in a zoo, the cockpit section of a Boeing 747 'jumbo' jet is perceived peering over the barbed-wire perimeter fence at London's Heathrow airport between engineering schedules and more transcontinental flights. Two fluffy cumulus clouds are stacked vertically above the hump of the airliner's nose to form three white blotches of the same tone. This major hub is mainly for British Airways operations, one of the three busiest airports in the world. When asked what is his favourite building of the Century, architect Sir Norman Foster offered the 747 the Jumbo has since carried 2.2 billion people: 40% of the world's population. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903. .
    aviation_corbis14-17-08-1997.jpg
  • Ten jets of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, fly over the Victoria Memorial opposite Buckingham Palace in London, on the occasion of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother's 100th birthday. Tourists watch as the ten aircraft leave a trail of patriotic red, white and blue smoke in honour of the monarch's elderly mother whose centenary was celebrated  in lavish style with cultural events and church services. The memorial to Queen Victoria was built by the sculptor Sir Thomas Brock, in 1911. The surround was constructed by the architect Sir Aston Webb, from 2,300 tons of white marble and is a Grade I listed building. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903. .
    aviation_corbis17-19-07-2000.jpg
  • Like a huge caged animal in a zoo, the cockpit section of a Boeing 747 'jumbo' jet is perceived peering over the barbed-wire perimeter fence at London's Heathrow airport between engineering schedules and more transcontinental flights. Two fluffy cumulus clouds are stacked vertically above the hump of the airliner's nose to form three white blotches of the same tone. This major hub is mainly for British Airways operations, one of the three busiest airports in the world. When asked what is his favourite building of the Century, architect Sir Norman Foster offered the 747 the Jumbo has since carried 2.2 billion people: 40% of the world?s population. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903. .
    aviation_corbis14-17-08-1997.jpg
  • Using ladders and ropes during a rescue operation, Fire Brigade crews enter the floodlit broken air frame of a British Midland Airways Boeing 737-400 series jet airliner which lies on an embankment of the M1 motorway at Kegworth, near East Midlands Airport in Leicestershire, England. On the night of 8th January 1989, flight 92 crashed due to the shutting down of the wrong, malfunctioning engine. Attempting an emergency landing, 47 people died and 74 people, including seven members of the flight crew, sustained serious injuries. The aircraft's tail was snapped upright at ninety degrees. Here perished most of the passenger fatalities. The devastation was hampered by woodland and the fire fighters are attempting to rescue survivors or extract those killed in this air disaster that proved one of Btitain's worst.
    kegworth_crash02-08-01-1989.jpg
  • Using ladders and ropes during a rescue operation, Fire Brigade crews enter the floodlit broken air frame of a British Midland Airways Boeing 737-400 series jet airliner which lies on an embankment of the M1 motorway at Kegworth, near East Midlands Airport in Leicestershire, England. On the night of 8th January 1989, flight 92 crashed due to the shutting down of the wrong, malfunctioning engine. Attempting an emergency landing, 47 people died and 74 people, including seven members of the flight crew, sustained serious injuries. The aircraft's tail was snapped upright at ninety degrees. Here perished most of the passenger fatalities. The devastation was hampered by woodland and the fire fighters are attempting to rescue survivors or extract those killed in this air disaster that proved one of Btitain's worst.
    kegworth_crash03-08-01-1989.jpg
  • Airliner and jet engines in mid-day heat of arid Sonoran Desert at Mojave airport facility, awaiting recycling for scrap value.
    aviation_graveyard07-16-03-2008.jpg
  • In the heat and dust of the arid Sonoran desert are the remains of a Boeing 747 cockpit at the storage facility at Mojave, California. The wiring of the now-extinct flight engineer's console is a jumble of old technology. Either by age or cooling economy airliners are either cannibalised for still-working parts or recycled for scrap, their aluminium fuselages worth more than their sum total. Elsewhere, assorted aircraft wrecks sit abandoned in the scrub minus their bellies, legs or wings like dying birds. After a lifetime of safe commercial flight, wings are clipped and cockpits sliced apart by huge guillotines, cutting through their once-magnificent engineering. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903..
    aviation_corbis43-15-08-1998.jpg
  • A Rolls-Royce turbofan has been fixed to the exterior of the company?s sales stand at the Farnborough Air Show in Hampshire, England. The British-owned company have been making aircraft engines since 1914 at the start of the First World War, in response to the nation's needs, Royce designed his first aero engine ? the Eagle. Modern airliners have the Trent engine's technology embedded in its power plants and Farnborough is a major showcase for its many designs. Here, their chalet has a mocked-up garden feature complete railings and the turbine blades attached to the wall above. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903. .
    aviation_corbis25-23-07-2002.jpg
  • Brown-shirted plane captains, responsible for cleanliness and operating readiness of aircraft on deck, wash an F/A-18..On the deck of USS Harry S Truman, the largest and newest of the US Navy's fleet of new generation carriers, a 97,000 ton floating city with a crew of 5,137, 650 are women.
    us_navy_carrier04-08-05-2000.jpg
  • B-52 Cold War bombers of the US Air Force lie abandoned at Davis-Monthan aircraft graveyard awaiting recycling for scrap..
    B52s_graveyard01-15-08-1998.jpg
  • Virgin Chairman Sir Richard Branson performs in front of the media during a publicity launch of Virgin Atlantic's new Airbus A340-600 which is parked behind the business tycoon during the Farnborough Air Show in Hampshire, England. He stands on one leg in a typically eccentric aviation-owner balancing trick. Behind him near the aircraft's nose a Virgin 'babe' echoes his outstretched arms while flying the British Union Jack flag. Farnborough centres its presence on big aerospace business to the tune of $40bn in orders and industry leaders like Branson, Boeing and Airbus parade their brands and announce new orders throughout the week-long display. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903. .
    aviation_corbis26-23-07-2002.jpg
  • During a lull in activity, a Boeing 747 is swathed in engineering gantries during a major check (maintenance schedule) at the British Airways Heathrow base in London England. As if in a hospital ER several metres off the ground, yellow struts surround the aircraft's forward nose section and the first class windows along the white fuselage allowing mechanics, engineers and avionics specialists unimpeded access to every element of the air frame. Neon tubes illuminate the hangar that houses flying machines which are serviced here between transcontinental commercial passenger flights. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903. .
    aviation_corbis20-17-11-2000.jpg
  • On a hot night at Bahrain International Airport, a Boeing airliner is about to be pushed backwards and start its engines. Two airport agents wearing traditional Arab dress stand patiently high up on the air bridge (that joins the aircraft fuselage during its turnaround time), several metres above ground level, ensuring no last-minute problems occur before departure. This Gulf State is, a key hub airport in the region, providing a gateway to the Northern Gulf. The airport is the major hub for Gulf Air which provides 52% of overall movements. It is also the half-way point between Western Europe and Asian destinations such as Hong Kong and Beijing. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903. .
    aviation_corbis08-21-04-2001.jpg
  • Bahrani baggage-handlers employed by SABTCO load cargo on to a Gulf Air jet at the Gulf state of Bahrain's international airport.
    bahrain_airport05-21-04-2001.jpg
  • A French Dassault-Breguet Mirage military jet interceptor/fighter stands on a pedestal in the Place de la Concorde, Paris during an aviation display weekend along the Champs Elysées. Passers-by seem oblivious to this celebration of French aviation as they walk through the Parisian square, the scene of public executions during the revolution. The Mirage seems to be climbing off its platform and up into the cloudless summer afternoon sky as a young child sits on top of his father's shoulders and passengers in a city bus seem trapped behind the windows. Its is a scene of incongruous moments, a surreal appearance of frightening military technology amid the calm of a public place. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903. .
    aviation_corbis28-15-09-1998.jpg
  • The lights from a jet airliner trail themselves in the shape of a giant question mark during a long, hand-held time exposure above London skies.
    night_sky02-12-08-2010.jpg
  • A scaled model by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China's C919 on the company's exhibition stand at the Farnborough Airshow, on 16th July 2018, in Farnborough, England. (Photo by Richard Baker / In Pictures via Getty Images)
    farnborough_airshow-109-16-07-2018.jpg
  • A scaled model by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China's C919 on the company's exhibition stand at the Farnborough Airshow, on 16th July 2018, in Farnborough, England. (Photo by Richard Baker / In Pictures via Getty Images)
    farnborough_airshow-110-16-07-2018.jpg
  • Ground crew with the Japanese airliner manufacturer, Mitsubishi wait for their MRJ (Mitsubishi Regional Jet) with the airline ANA to take off for its fliying demonstration at the Farnborough Airshow, on 18th July 2018, in Farnborough, England.
    farnborough_airshow-95-18-07-2018.jpg
  • Ground crew with the Japanese airliner manufacturer, Mitsubishi wait for their MRJ (Mitsubishi Regional Jet) with the airline ANA to take off for its fliying demonstration at the Farnborough Airshow, on 18th July 2018, in Farnborough, England.
    farnborough_airshow-96-18-07-2018.jpg
  • Ground crew with the Japanese airliner manufacturer, Mitsubishi wait for their MRJ (Mitsubishi Regional Jet) with the airline ANA to take off for its fliying demonstration at the Farnborough Airshow, on 18th July 2018, in Farnborough, England.
    farnborough_airshow-94-18-07-2018.jpg
  • Ground crew with the Japanese airliner manufacturer, Mitsubishi wait for their MRJ (Mitsubishi Regional Jet) with the airline ANA to take off for its fliying demonstration at the Farnborough Airshow, on 18th July 2018, in Farnborough, England.
    farnborough_airshow-93-18-07-2018.jpg
  • The flooring of a Qatar Airlines 747-800 Cargo aircraft on display at the Farnborough Airshow, on 16th July 2018, in Farnborough, England.
    farnborough_airshow-63-16-07-2018.jpg
  • The flooring of a Qatar Airlines 747-800 Cargo aircraft on display at the Farnborough Airshow, on 16th July 2018, in Farnborough, England. (Photo by Richard Baker / In Pictures via Getty Images)
    farnborough_airshow-65-16-07-2018.jpg
  • The flooring of a Qatar Airlines 747-800 Cargo aircraft on display at the Farnborough Airshow, on 16th July 2018, in Farnborough, England. (Photo by Richard Baker / In Pictures via Getty Images)
    farnborough_airshow-64-16-07-2018.jpg
  • The flooring of a Qatar Airlines 747-800 Cargo aircraft on display at the Farnborough Airshow, on 16th July 2018, in Farnborough, England. (Photo by Richard Baker / In Pictures via Getty Images)
    farnborough_airshow-62-16-07-2018.jpg
  • A jet airliner departing from nearby Bristol airport takes-off from a rural bungalow, recently sold by a local north Somerset estate agency, on 5th May 2018, in Wrington, North Somerset, England.
    wrington_family-83-05-05-2018.jpg
  • A jet airliner departing from nearby Bristol airport takes-off from a rural bungalow, recently sold by a local north Somerset estate agency, on 5th May 2018, in Wrington, North Somerset, England.
    wrington_family-84-05-05-2018.jpg
  • A passing jet airliner flies overhead, above the cross of a family mausoleum, on 14th July 2016, at Prazeres Cemetery, Lisbon, Portugal. Prazeres Cemetery (Cemitério dos Prazeres) is the largest cemetery in Lisbon, Portugal, located in the west part of the city in the former Prazeres parish. It was created in 1833 after the outbreak of a cholera epidemic. Many famous Portuguese citizens are buried here, including artists, authors and government figures, and the cemetery features many large mausoleums built in the 19th century. (Photo by Richard Baker / In Pictures via Getty Images)
    portugal_lisbon-118-14-07-2016.jpg
  • In mid-day heat of the arid Sonoran desert sits the gutted remains of a Lockheed Tri-Star airliner at the storage facility at Mojave, California. Here, the fate of the world?s retired civil airliners is decided by age or a cooling economy and are either cannibalised for still-working parts or recycled for scrap, their aluminium fuselages worth more than their sum total. After a lifetime of safe commercial flight, wings are clipped and cockpits sliced apart by huge guillotines, cutting through the sleek curves. Elsewhere, Jumbo jets, Airbuses and assorted Boeings sit abandoned in the scrub minus their bellies, legs or wings like dying birds. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903. .
    aviation_corbis39-15-08-1998.jpg
  • Old technology on RAF jet fuel bowser that serves the Hawks of the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team at their home base of RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire. Operated by Squadron ground crew whose duties include keeping the team's aircraft and vehicles up and running perform the vital job of using this ageing equipment. Using such technology, the team have since 1965 flown over 4,000 such shows in 52 countries.
    Red_Arrows080_RBA.jpg
  • Japanese employees demonstrate their full-size Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ) cabin interior at the Paris Air Show exhibition
    paris_air_show29-20-06-2007.jpg
  • Flight Lieutenant Dave Slow of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, is seated in a BAE Systems Hawk jet aircraft simulator at the fast-jet flying training centre, RAF Valley, Anglesey, Wales. Like all fast-jet pilots, Flight Lieutenant Slow is required to complete this emergency drill every six months. The pilot is seated in his ejector seat as if in a real jet using back-projected computer graphics representing a generic landscape below. Each aviator proves they can cope with a series of failures that operators select: Engine, hydraulic failure or bird strike.  Apart from the aircraft fuselage, the high-tech facility loads malfunctions on a pilot that he could experience in reality. The version of Hawk that the Red Arrows fly is actually a primitive piece of equipment, without computers or fly-by-wire technology.
    Red_Arrows043_RBA.jpg
  • A red Hawk jet aircraft belonging to the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, is parked outside a nearby hangar on the concrete 'apron' (where aircraft park) at the squadron's headquarters at RAF Scampton, Loncolnshire. A member of the team's support ground crew (the Blues because of their distinctive blue overalls worn at summer air shows) prepare to refuel as the last daylight fades and artificial light from the hangar illuminates the scene. Their winter training schedule is both rigorous on the aircraft and demanding on the pilots who will typically fly up to six times a day in preparation of the forthcoming summer when they display at 90-plus air shows. After the day's flying, the engineers' night shift arrive to service and maintain the aging fleet of 11 aircraft. .
    Red_Arrows013_RBA.jpg
  • Chief Technician Kerry Griffiths is a with the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team, the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team. In camouflaged military green jacket, large forearms and rolled-up sleeves, he oversees the loading of spares and personal effects into a C-130 Hercules aircraft before the two-day journey from RAF Scampton to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. Surrounded by heavy-duty flight-spares, survival equipment boxes and a tyre for a Hawk jet aircraft, the Hercules looms large in the overcast sky. The team complete their winter training schedule in Cyprus. The Red Arrows pilots fly their own jet aircraft to air shows but when requiring the support of ground crew  they borrow a transporter to fly behind the main airborne squadron. 10 tons of spares and personal effects are shipped for a six-week stay.
    Red_Arrows052_RBA.jpg
  • Exterior of the exhibition chalet of the Japanese aviation corporation Mitsubishi at the Farnborough Air Show, England. The Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ) is a regional jet aircraft seating 70–90 passengers manufactured by Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation, a partnership between majority owner Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Toyota Motor Corporation.
    farnborough_air_show29-14-07-2014.jpg
  • Some crates of flight spares belonging to the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team. Spares and personal effects go into a C-130 Hercules aircraft before the two-day journey from RAF Scampton to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. Surrounded by heavy-duty flight-spares, survival equipment boxes and a tyre for a Hawk jet aircraft, the Hercules looms large in the overcast sky. The team complete their winter training schedule in Cyprus. The Red Arrows pilots fly their own jet aircraft to air shows but when requiring the support of ground crew  they borrow a transporter to fly behind the main airborne squadron. 10 tons of spares and personal effects are shipped for a six-week stay.
    Red_Arrows223_RBA.jpg
  • Members of the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team, supervise the loading of spares and personal effects into a C-130 Hercules aircraft before the two-day journey from RAF Scampton to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. Surrounded by heavy-duty flight-spares, survival equipment boxes and a tyre for a Hawk jet aircraft, the Hercules looms large in the overcast sky. The team complete their winter training schedule in Cyprus. The Red Arrows pilots fly their own jet aircraft to air shows but when requiring the support of ground crew  they borrow a transporter to fly behind the main airborne squadron. 10 tons of spares and personal effects are shipped for a six-week stay.
    Red_Arrows041_RBA.jpg
  • The Hawk jet aircraft of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, are lined up at RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus as members of the team's ground crew step away from the aircraft that they respectively look after. From a low angle we see a wide landscape looking over the taxi-way markings that direct military airplanes. The Red Arrows aircraft are a deep red colour that stand out against the horizon in an identical line. It is a wide expanse of road surface, the yellow centre-lines are for the benefit of pilots who need guidance for parking areas after landing, or leaving towards the departing runway on the southern part of the Cypriot Mediterranean island. With the Red Arrows, the nine taxiing jets all peel off in unison to and from the parking area and these lines are vital for this technique.
    Red_Arrows281_RBA.jpg
  • A member of the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team, supervise the loading of spares and personal effects into a C-130 Hercules aircraft before the two-day journey from RAF Scampton to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. Surrounded by heavy-duty flight-spares, survival equipment boxes and a tyre for a Hawk jet aircraft, the Hercules looms large in the overcast sky. The team complete their winter training schedule in Cyprus. The Red Arrows pilots fly their own jet aircraft to air shows but when requiring the support of ground crew  they borrow a transporter to fly behind the main airborne squadron. 10 tons of spares and personal effects are shipped for a six-week stay.
    Red_Arrows263_RBA.jpg
  • A red Hawk jet aircraft belonging to the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, is parked outside a nearby hangar on the concrete 'apron' (where aircraft park) at the squadron's headquarters at RAF Scampton, Loncolnshire. A member of the team's support ground crew (the Blues because of their distinctive blue overalls worn at summer air shows) prepare to refuel as the last daylight fades and artificial light from the hangar illuminates the scene. Their winter training schedule is both rigorous on the aircraft and demanding on the pilots who will typically fly up to six times a day in preparation of the forthcoming summer when they display at 90-plus air shows. After the day's flying, the engineers' night shift arrive to service and maintain the aging fleet of 11 aircraft. .
    Red_Arrows073_RBA.jpg
  • Members of the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team, supervise the loading of spares and personal effects into a C-130 Hercules aircraft before the two-day journey from RAF Scampton to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. Surrounded by heavy-duty flight-spares, survival equipment boxes and a tyre for a Hawk jet aircraft, the Hercules looms large in the overcast sky. The team complete their winter training schedule in Cyprus. The Red Arrows pilots fly their own jet aircraft to air shows but when requiring the support of ground crew  they borrow a transporter to fly behind the main airborne squadron. 10 tons of spares and personal effects are shipped for a six-week stay.
    Red_Arrows060_RBA.jpg
  • Stored temporarily in a storeroom shelf, are the front and rear sections of a Hawk jet aircraft smoke pod belonging to the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team. Grubby and old, like museum artifacts, the two items are attached to the ageing aircrafts' belly accessory that provides the team with their distinctive red, white and blue smoke (a vegetable dye and diesel fuel mixture) during their air show display routines. This version of the BAE Systems Hawks are primitive pieces of equipment, without computers or fly-by-wire technology. Nevertheless, the team's aircraft are in some cases over 20 years old and their air-frames require constant attention with increasingly frequent major overhauls due. Here the parts are separated from the middle section which are receiving a winter modification.
    Red_Arrows393_RBA.jpg
  • Stored old airliners sit in mid-day heat of arid Sonoran Desert at Mojave airport facility, awaiting recycling for scrap value
    mojave_jets01-15-08-1998.jpg
  • During the turnround of the British Airways jet aircraft, a refueller checks the safety of heavy fuel nozzles that connect from his bowser truck on the apron at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5. He is ensuring the correct plugging of the connections as some 109 tons of Jet A1 aviation fuel flow at a rate of 3,000 litres a minute which is being uplifted into the wing tanks of this Boeing 747-300, a typical quantity of extra fuel for this aeroplane bound for Los Angeles. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009). .
    heathrow_airport1589-20-08-2009.jpg
  • A jet aircraft flies past the newly-completed One World Trde Center (WTC) on what was Ground Zero on the September 11th 2001 attacks on New York City, USA
    wtc_jet01-24-05-2014.jpg
  • On a misty morning, a red Hawk jet aircraft belonging to the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, is parked in the hangar at RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire, the home base for the squadron. The aircraft awaits attention from the engineer's night-shift who service and maintain all 11 of the famous red aerobatic jets before flying the next morning. The hangar, an original World War 2 shelter for the Lancaster bombers of 617 Dambusters squadron who attacked the damns of the German Ruhr valley on 16th May 1943 using the Bouncing Bomb. The Red Arrows use this and nearby offices administrative nerve-centre for the 90-plus displays they perform a year..
    Red_Arrows395_RBA.jpg
  • A red Hawk jet aircraft belonging to the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, is parked in the hangar at RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire, the home base for the squadron. Night is falling with only blue daylight remaining in the western sky and the warm light from the hangar spills out of the giant open doors on to the concrete. The aircraft awaits attention from the engineer's night-shift who service and maintain all 11 of the famous red aerobatic jets before flying the next morning. The hangaran original World War 2 shelter for the Lancaster bombers of 617 Dambusters squadron who attacked the damns of the German Ruhr valley on 16th May 1943 using the Bouncing Bomb. The Red Arrows use this and nearby offices administrative nerve-centre for the 90-plus displays they perform a year. .
    Red_Arrows007_RBA.jpg
  • Outside Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5, during the turnround of a British Airways jet aircraft, the refueller's heavy fuel nozzle is plugged into the airfield's underground reservoirs to pump some 109 tons of Jet A1 aviation fuel flowing at a rate of 3,000 litres a minute, to be uplifted into the wing tanks of a Boeing 747-300, a typical quantity of extra fuel for this aeroplane bound for Los Angeles. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009).
    heathrow_airport1592-20-08-2009.jpg
  • During the turnround of the British Airways jet aircraft, a refueller drags the heavy fuel nozzle from his bowser truck on the apron at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5. He is about to plug the connections into the airfield's underground reservoirs from where some 109 tons of Jet A1 aviation fuel flowing at a rate of 3,000 litres a minute will be uplifted into the wing tanks of a Boeing 747-300, a typical quantity of extra fuel for this aeroplane bound for Los Angeles. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009). .
    heathrow_airport1582-20-08-2009.jpg
  • Trails of white smoke left in the sky by Hawk jet aircraft of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team. Completing their off-season training, the team put the finishing touches to their display routine every Spring on the Mediterranean island where they perfect new manoeuvres. The sky is empty but as the light wind blows across the airfield, the remainder of the tapering coloured smoke (a mixture of vegetable dye and 'derv' - diesel fuel), blends together like a patriotic ribbon to make a haze of soft spectrum in the correct order of the United Kingdom's flag, and which becomes ever-sharper as the viewer looks towards the distant aircraft. They fly past, bend to the left and climb to a higher altitude, ready for their next formation.
    Red_Arrows478_RBA.jpg
  • A Hawk jet aircraft is towed by tractor from its hangar early on a January morning at RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire. It is the start of another training day for the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team who spend five months who have been using this aircraft type sine 1980,  A towing tractor is pulling the air frame from the warm glow of the shelter out into the drizzle and wind of bleak English weather. Since 1965 the Red Arrows have flown over 4,000 air shows shows in 52 countries.
    Red_Arrows008_RBA.jpg
  • Climbing at sub-sonic speed, a Hawk jet aircraft of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, is seen from a neighbouring aircraft during an 'In-Season Practice' (ISP), a summer training flight over the farming fields of Lincolnshire. A landscape of agriculture is behind the red airplanes as they loop after a vertical climb. The front-seated pilot and his guest passenger stare through visors towards the wing to keep a perfect 'reference', maintaining an exact formation as seen from the ground. The Red Arrows fly to within 10 feet (3 metres) apart in some formations with speeds of 480 mph (770 kph), keeping in formation is a skill they learn every winter and refine on spare days like this between public air shows. The RAF roundel, (emblem), is on the nearest wing and the other fuselage as the world falls away in perspective.
    Red_Arrows575_RBA.jpg
  • Flying overhead into the distance, Hawk jet aircraft of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, leave behind a trail of red, white and blue smoke in the clear skies above RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus. Completing their off-season training, the team put the finishing touches to their display routine every Spring on the Mediterranean island where they perfect new manoeuvres. The sky is empty but as the light wind blows across the airfield, the remainder of the tapering coloured smoke (a mixture of vegetable dye and 'derv' - diesel fuel), blends together like a patriotic ribbon to make a haze of soft spectrum in the correct order of the United Kingdom's flag, and which becomes ever-sharper as the viewer looks towards the distant aircraft. They fly past, bend to the left and climb to a higher altitude, ready for their next formation.
    Red_Arrows485_RBA.jpg
  • A 7 year-old boy has been lucky enough to spend a day with the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team. As just four members of the team of nine red jet aircraft fly past in formation, Mitchell stretches out his arm, holding a plastic toy Hawk aircraft up to the blue sky and light cloud with his back to the practice show, part of the team's winter training schedule. The Red Arrows' main purpose is Press and PR and corporate guest visitors are a weekly item in the team's diary during the winter training period - a 5-month schedule of up to six flights a day. Companies who help the RAF, the Red Arrows or local charities are privileged to be invited behind-the-scenes at the squadron's home facilities.
    Red_Arrows454_RBA.jpg
  • Nine pilots of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, stand in the shape of their signature 'Diamond Nine' formation with one of their Hawk jet aircraft at the team's headquarters at RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire. Today they have reached the all-important milestone of 'first 9-ship' (when all nine aircraft have flown a basic air show display together, after two groups have practiced seperately) and is the culmination of five months rigorous Winter training. They stand proud with beaming smiles on a warm spring day, their flying helmets with those famous arrows pointing towards blue sky and fluffy clouds. Still dressed in green flying suits, they go on to their spring training ground at Akrotiri, Cyprus where they earn the right to wear red suits, known around the world. At the front is team leader, Squadron Leader Spike Jepson...
    Red_Arrows421_RBA.jpg
  • A lone figure stands silhouetted against a hangar belonging to the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team at RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire. Two huge hangar doors are ajar revealing an orange glow spilling on to the concrete outside. A Hawk jet aircraft is parked awaiting overnight maintenance. Engineers talk inside as the door travels along its track. The men are the team's support ground crew and eleven trades are imported from some sixty that the RAF qualifies. The hangar dates to World War 2, housing Lancaster bombers of 617 Dambusters squadron who attacked the damns of the German Ruhr valley on 16th May 1943 using the Bouncing Bomb. This version of BAE Systems Hawks are low-tech, without computers nor fly-by-wire technology, Some of the  team's aircraft are 25 years old and their airframes require frequent overhauls due.
    Red_Arrows074_RBA.jpg
  • Corporal Chris Ward, one of the photographers belonging to the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, reads a novel while wrapped up in sleeping bag and hammock aboard a C-130 Hercules transport aircraft during a two-day journey from RAF Scampton to RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus. Corporal Ward has established for himself a comfortable nest in the rear section at the loading ramp. The interior is basic with sharp corners but the walls are padded.  Ward wears a heavy camoulflaged coat to counteract the cold and ear-plugs from the droning engines. The Red Arrows pilots fly their Hawk jet aircraft to air shows but on long journeys requiring the support of ground crew borrow RAF transporters that fly behind the main airborne squadron shipping 10 tons of spares and personal effects for their six-week winter training stay. . .
    Red_Arrows050_RBA.jpg
  • Squadron Leader John Green the executive officer of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, instructs a group of RAF fighter pilots in the art of manual close-formation aerobatic flying. Explaining how to line up their aircraft with their nearest neighbour using a system called 'referencing', he shows them with his fingers the margin of error that is tolerated when only 12ft (3-4m) apart and flying at 400mph (650kph).  The recruits all hope to be selected for next year's team and have travelled to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus where the Red Arrows complete their pre-season training. Seen from beneath the Hawk jet aircraft's nose on the 'line' Squadron Leader Green kneels by the trailing wing edge to demonstrate what he will expect from their upcoming flying test.
    Red_Arrows305_RBA.jpg
  • Engineer airframe specialist Junior Technician Barry Pritchard of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, forms part of the team's highly-skilled group of support ground crew who outnumber the pilots 8:1. Here J/Tech Pritchard straddles the fuselage of  the Hawk jet aircraft performing a Ram Air Turbine (RAT) jack change in the squadron hangar. Eleven trades are imported from some sixty that the RAF employs and teaches. The team's aircraft are in some cases 25 years old and their airframes require constant attention, with frequent overhauls needed. In these shelters were housed the Lancaster bombers 617 Dambusters squadron who attacked the damns of the German Ruhr valley on 16th May 1943 using the Bouncing Bomb. The Red Arrows nearby offices as their administrative nerve-centre for the 90-plus displays they perform a year. .
    Red_Arrows030_RBA.jpg
  • Junior Technician Brian Robb, an engineer with the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, shines his torch inside the flaps of a Hawk jet aircraft checking for obstructions, RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire. Wearing ear defenders clasped to his head, J/Tech Robb peers into the wing assembly during a pre-flight inspection before the pilot emerges from for another winter training flight. Robb is a member of the team's support ground crew who outnumber the pilots 8:1 and without them, the Red Arrows couldn't fly.  Eleven trades are imported from some sixty that the RAF employs and teaches. Crouching by an RAF roundel emblem, he wears an army style green camouflage coat as protection over the biting Lincolnshire wind, and a fluorescent tabard required for any personnel working on the 'line', where the aircraft taxi to and park. .
    Red_Arrows028_RBA.jpg
  • Flight Lieutenant Simon Stevens, a pilot in the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, makes a pre-flight check of his Hawk jet aircraft before a practice flight at RAF Scampton. Stevens and his fellow-aviators fly up to 6 times in winter training, learning new manoeuvres. The dangers of high-speed close formation flight makes health and safety precuations vital; the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Royal Air Force take working environments of their personnel seriously so pre-flight examination of aircraft happens before every sortie (flight). Performing the brief safety walk-around, Stevens bends at the waste to avoid the aeroplane's low aileron despite wearing a helmet, full flying suit, boots, life-vest and anti-g-pants. Flying still continues despite rainclouds in the gloomy Lincolnshire sky.
    Red_Arrows005_RBA.jpg
  • Some of the nine Hawk jet aircraft of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, perform the 5/4 Split high during an In-Season Practice (ISP) training flight near their base at RAF Scampton. Seen through the explosive Plexiglass cockpit of a tenth plane, we see forward into deep blue sky as two sets of aerobatic pilots steer their machines from a crossover manoeuvre, their organic white smoke pouring from their jet pipes to emphasize their paths through the air. In front of a local crowd at the airfield the team work their way through a 25-minute series of display manoeuvres that are loved by thousands at summer air shows. After some time off, spare days like this are used to hone their manual aerobatic and piloting skills before re-joining the air show circuit. Since 1965 they've flown over 4,000 shows in 52 countries.   .
    Red_Arrows730_RBA.jpg
  • With traffic cones arranged to avoid accidents in the darkness, the spinning turbofan blades of a British Airways Boeing jet aircraft are highlighted by the headlights of an airfield vehicle during the airliner's overnight turnaround at Heathrow Airport. The beauty of the engine's cowling and the wing to which it is attached shows the marvel of its engineering, of its magnificent aviation design. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009).  Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009). .
    heathrow_airport1099-11-08-2009.jpg
  • Squadron Leader Spike Jepson, leader of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, demonstrates the Corkscrew manoeuvre to his group of pilots and visitors in the briefing room at their RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire headquarters. Using two scaled model Hawk jet aircraft he shows how their formation is to be flown on their next training flight. Five autumn and winter months are spent teaching new recruits manual aerobatic display flying while the older members (who rotate positions) learn new disciplines within the routine. Their leaning curve is steep, even for these accomplished fast-jet aviators who had already accumulated 1,500 hours in fighters. By Summer they need every aspect of their 25-minute displays honed to perfection. In this meeting room they meet before and after every flight discussing safety, merits and failures.
    Red_Arrows610_RBA.jpg
  • On the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' first flight at Kitty Hawk in 1903, the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team, fly over the RAF Museum in Hendon, North London as part of the celebrations to honour this momentous date in aviations history. Coming from behind RAF personnel who are lined up to meet Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh, the ten Hawk jet aircraft make a perfect Diamond as they trail red, white and blue smoke across the blue skies above London. Since 1965 the team have flown over 4,000 such shows in 52 countries.
    Red_Arrows001_RBA.jpg
  • A young woman stands in front of a turbofan of engine manufacturer CFM during the Paris Air Show exhibition at Le Bourget airfield
    paris_air_show160-20-06-2007.jpg
  • Airliners and grass promote the environment at engine manufacturer CFM stand during the Paris Air Show exhibition at Le Bourget
    paris_air_show087-20-06-2007.jpg
  • Pilots belonging to the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, walk in line from their parked Hawk jet aircraft during their two-day visit to the airfield at the Payerne Air 04 show, Switzerland. It is a perfect day for aerobatics with blue alpine skies during the teams' two-day visit to the Swiss airfield. Payerne is home of the Swiss Air Force who host the cream of international aerobatic display flying every September to 275,000 spectators over a weekend. European display teams and air forces gathered to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Swiss military aviation. The team walk towards waiting transport wearing the red flying suits, synonymous with an ambassadorial role for the UK and recruiting tool for the RAF's pilots of the future. SInce their birth in 1965, they have performed over 4,000 shows in 52 countries. .
    Red_Arrows667_RBA.jpg
  • Sheltering from a rain shower at the Kemble Air Day, some pilots of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, gather beneath a full-scale model of a Hawk jet aircraft. Spectators have also gathered in their waterproof wear to make a colourful group. Flight Lieutenant Steve Underwood, who as commentator and Ground Safety Manager worries about the cloud cover and the implications for a safe display. He looks towards the gloomy sky to assess the prospects of a Red Arrows show in a short while. Dressed in red flying suits, the pilots have been signing PR autographs and distributing team brochures to some of their many fans before the deluge which sent the public undercover to seek shelter. The team's main purpose is to forge a link between the RAFand potential recruits plus the general public.
    Red_Arrows204_RBA.jpg
  • Crew room classroom of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team at their RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire headquarters. Using two scaled model Hawk jet aircraft he shows how their formation is to be flown on their next training flight. Five autumn and winter months are spent teaching new recruits manual aerobatic display flying while the older members (who rotate positions) learn new disciplines within the routine. Their leaning curve is steep, even for these accomplished fast-jet aviators who had already accumulated 1,500 hours in fighters. By Summer they need every aspect of their 25-minute displays honed to perfection. In this meeting room they meet before and after every flight discussing safety, merits and failures.
    Red_Arrows767_RBA.jpg
  • Stopwatch in the cockpit of a Red Arrows BAE Systems Hawk jet aircraft.
    Red_Arrows690_RBA.jpg
  • Air show organiser Jock Maitland of the Biggin Hill displays is to be presented with a momento by members of  the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team. We look down upon three pilots' backs (known as the Reds) who are lined up in their famous red flying suits during the ceremony and as speeches of thanks are made. A scaled model of a Hawk jet aircraft is hidden from view behind Flight Lieutenant Dave Slow's back before being handed to Mr Maitland as thanks for his contribution to the air show calendar. They stand at ease on the grass of this famous World War II airfield which saw much enemy action during the Batttle of Britain, patiently and relaxed with hands behind backs before leaving to perform their display routine in front of thousands of spectators.
    Red_Arrows727_RBA.jpg
  • A pilot of the French Air Force walks looking down along the fuselage of his C-130 Hercules oblivious to nine Hawk jet aircraft of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, who come screaming behind and 'breaking to land'. This set procedure prepares them to split up as a group, peel off seperately and land safely at the Payerne Air 04 show, Switzerland. It is a perfect day for aerobatics with blue alpine skies during the teams' two-day visit to the Swiss airfield. Payerne is home of the Swiss Air Force who host the cream of international aerobatic display flying every September to 275,000 spectators over a weekend. European display teams and air forces gathered to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Swiss military aviation. .
    Red_Arrows663_RBA.jpg
  • Seen in profile view, we are looking at the edge of a Hawk jet aircraft port wing flap set at about 45 degrees. Designed by BAE Systems and painted in the colour of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, at RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire. An original serial and issue numbers plate is riveted to its end assembly. The Hawk's classic, highly-efficient lifting wing is legendary with aeronatutical designer experts who recognise its ability to withstand excellent rates of climb and high g-forces (positive or negative gravity) routinely exerted on it by the Red Arrows team who fly more sorties (flights) and undergo more 'g' than other RAF squadron. In bright sunlight we see the graish red that is the signature colour of the team and the RAF's roundel is seen out of focus in the background to make a graphic engineering detail. .
    Red_Arrows643_RBA.jpg
  • A member of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, sells Rolls-Royce-sponsored charity posters of their workhorse Hawk jet aircraft for £5 (?10) each on the beach at Clacton-on-Sea after the Air Show on West Greensward on the sea front. It is a hot summer's afternoon but wearing black heavy-duty RAF regulation boots and the distinctive, specially-tailored  blue overalls, is a member of the team's support ground-crew (known as the Blues). Their jobs might include engineering, operations or administration work. Secondary duties are asked of them too and here we see the lower body of photographer Senior Aircraftman (SAC) Matt Reid who holds a hardened folder containing the scaled artwork while standing on the soft sand. The crowd mingles in the background and a lady dressed in only a bikini returns to her possessions. .
    Red_Arrows623_RBA.jpg
  • A large man with a shaved head and hairy back is seen from behind as he watches a display by the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team at Weymouth, England. A heart shape which grows from his bald head has been drawn with red smoke in the sky two Hawk jet aircraft taking part in the town's annual air show along the sea front. Such a tough-looking male specimen contrasts with the romance of this valentine symbol helping to make this picture's quirky juxtaposition touching. The Red Arrows use smoke to emphasize their flight-path, help the spectators see their manoeuvres and to make more of an enjoying spectacle. In blue sky they use white smoke for The Heart and red when overcast. We watch the man from below and see him craning his neck skywards, the skin on his thick neck wrinkling as he looks heavy from this angle.
    Red_Arrows614_RBA.jpg
  • Squadron Leader David Thomas of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, sits on the wing of his Hawk jet aircraft and concentrates on the air display at the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) RAF Fairford, UK. The pressures on the pilots are enormous when thousands of people scruntinise the team's every move. Squadron Leader Thomas is Synchro Leader - the prime flyer in a partnership of two who perform some of the most spectacular manoeuvres in the Red Arrows routine, including the most physically demanding high 'G' (gravity) turns. Leaning back on the fuselage, he replays the manoeuvres through his mind. The psyching-up process mentally prepares him for the intensive show. Thomas wears his anti-g pants which squeeze blood back to his thorax and head during the turns and loops, also wearing the famous red flying suit. .
    Red_Arrows507_RBA.jpg
  • A young boy wearing ear-defenders and dressed in a child's miniature red flying suit is perched on a metal crate of flight spares belonging to the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team. Joshua Lewis is the son of one of the team's electricians Corporal Dave Lewis, and they are both at RAF Scampton in Lincolshire to wave goodbye to the departing Hawk jet aircraft who are leaving for their winter training ground at Akrotiri, Cyprus. Other team-member families have come along to see these famous red aircaft. Most of the team leave the UK for a six-week stint, refining their evolving air display routines and manoeuvres in the clear Mediteranean skies. Pilots and ground support crew will be away from loved-ones and their absence is one of the toughest aspects of RAF frontline personnel - and aerobatic squadrons.
    Red_Arrows260_RBA.jpg
  • A flying helmet belonging to a member of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, is cradled in the highly-polished open Plexiglass  canopy of a team Hawk jet aircraft. With the arrow pointing downwards we see it from below along with the airplane's red fuselage and the words Royal Air Force stencilled in blue lettering on the side within a white stripe. There are strong angles with clear blue space on the top right. The colours that dominate this image are red, white and blue - the colors of the Union Jack, United Kingdom's flag. This scene is at RAF Akrotiri, Cypus where the Red Arrows put the finishing touches to their display sequences before starting the gruelling air show calendar in the UK and Europe. The squadron represents all that is perfect with aerobatic flying, about teamwork and discipline.
    Red_Arrows102_RBA.jpg
  • At the start of another day's work, pilots belonging to the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, walk in single-file out into the pink morning light for the first winter training flight of the day at RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire. Emerging from their squadron building the aviators make their way along a pathway towards the waiting Hawk jet aircraft known the world over. Wearing winter green flying suits and carrying their helmets, their day is spent flying and de-briefing up to six times a day when weather permits. Long shadows spill over on to the airfield's cropped grass. Scampton  is one of the original World War 2 RAF stations for the Lancaster bombers the 617 Dambusters squadron who attacked the damns of the German Ruhr valley on 16th May 1943 using the Bouncing Bomb. Today, it is used almost exclusively by the team.
    Red_Arrows011_RBA.jpg
  • A Boeing 747 is surrounded by gantries during late night work by engineering staff perform maintenance checks in the British Airways engineering hangar on the far side of London's Heathrow airport. As a landscape of confusing lines and linear design, we see the paintwork of the jet aircraft echoed in those of the platform struts and the steps that help the maintenance crews gain height and access to the high places required for the work to be carried out. At its tallest point, the 747's tail is 63 feet (19m).
    ba_engineering03-23-11-2000.jpg
  • Members of the the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, spend hours aboard a C-130 Hercules transport aircraft during a two-day journey from RAF Scampton to RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus. The interior is basic with sharp corners but the walls are padded.  Ward wears a heavy camouflaged coat to counteract the cold and ear-plugs from the droning engines. The Red Arrows pilots fly their Hawk jet aircraft to air shows but on long journeys requiring the support of ground crew borrow RAF transporters that fly behind the main airborne squadron shipping 10 tons of spares and personal effects for their six-week winter training stay.
    Red_Arrows053_RBA.jpg
  • The main nose wheel of a British Airways airliner is parked on a stand at Heathrow Airport. The identifying names of the Boeing type range such as 777s, 767, 747 and 757s are also stencilled on the apron concrete to allow exact distances for expandable air bridges and other airfield vehicles to connect and service these differing-sized commercial airliners. The pilot has devices inside and outside to gauge the exact spot to break to a standstill though these marks are largely unsighted to them, high up in the cockpit. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009). ..
    heathrow_airport1090-11-08-2009.jpg
  • The main nose wheel of a British Airways airliner is parked on a stand at Heathrow Airport. The identifying names of the Boeing type range such as 777s, 767, 747 and 757s are also stencilled on the apron concrete to allow exact distances for expandable air bridges and other airfield vehicles to connect and service these differing-sized commercial airliners. The pilot has devices inside and outside to gauge the exact spot to break to a standstill though these marks are largely unsighted to them, high up in the cockpit. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009). ..
    heathrow_airport1570-20-08-2009.jpg
  • Stored old airliners sit in mid-day heat of arid Sonoran Desert at Mojave airport facility, awaiting recycling for scrap value.
    aviation_graveyard03-16-03-2008.jpg
Next
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
x

Richard Baker Photography

  • Archive
    • All Galleries
    • Search
    • Cart
    • Lightbox
    • Client Area
  • Portfolio
  • About
  • Contact
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Blog