Thursday 3 September 2015

Mach Loop - Cad West

Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 ZK315

The "Mach Loop" is a series of valleys in Wales that form a loop, in which the RAF practice their low level flying - an essential skill in many campains the RAF may be required to participate in.

Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 ZK315

Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 ZK315

There are many locations where the air enthusiast and amateur photographer can gain enough height to essentially look down on these aircraft to experience the spectacle and hopefully come away with some different aircraft photographs.

There is no guarentee that aircraft will be flying on any particular day - my first attempt (a Friday) resulted in a "blank". I had to abort my second attempt after putting out my back whilst putting up my tent, so I was thrilled to whitness 19 passes on my "thrid time lucky"

Tornado GR4

Tornado GR4

Tornado GR4

USAF F-15

USAF F-15



Settings & Findings

Equipment used: Canon 5D III with a Canon 100-400L lens (IS mode 2)
Shutter Priority at around 1/1000th - 1/1250th, Auto ISO
Exposure Compensation: =1/3 - 2/3

400mm was too long for the close passes and too short for the distant approach (on the full frame sensor) - I might try the 7D (1.6 crop) next time as that will give more flexibility with the zoom lens.