The moment the twin engines simultaneously pour out all their power as the plane is slowly but surely propelled forward is for me one of the most spectacular images when it comes to plane spotting.
We call this phenomenon an afterburner takeoff. It is actually nothing but a huge stinging flame caused by injecting paraffin into a combustion chamber in the exhaust of a turbine engine that provides extra power.
The result: roaring engines, a flare sometimes up to a few metres long and a lot of thrust to get this heavy aircraft into the air.
The picture shows a German Tornado getting ready for its morning mission under a lovely spring sun. The weight of this fighter will be somewhere around 20,000 kg and that is not something you just pull into motion.
I was able to take the photo on a kitchen ladder that allowed me to just get above the hedge to capture this spectacle with a 400mm lens.
What I especially like is the composition in which a lovely, relaxed spring morning suddenly takes on a whole new dimension with this roaring violence.
Fun fact: after the planes took to the skies, we saw bunnies darting across the base.....
'What do you do with all those photos you take'? Is a question I am regularly asked. 'Well, sometimes I print a few to enjoy myself', is then my standard reply. Lately, I have noticed that more and more people enjoy my photos and that is why.. Read more…