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  • Squadron Leader Duncan Mason of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, strides out across a gloomy, rainswept 'apron' at RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire. Squadron Leader Mason will fly up to 6 times daily during winter training ,when weather permits, learning new manoeuvres. Wearing winter green flying suits, their day is spent flying and de-briefing. Mason  wears a green flying suit with anti-g pants and helmet on with its pilot number. He is being greeted by a member of the team's support ground crew who outnumber the pilots 8:1.  The engineer wears a fluorescent yellow tabard and stands politely by the waiting aircraft on the 'line'. He has already prepared it for flight and helps with any technical issues that may arise.
    Red_Arrows015_RBA.jpg
  • Brian Lecomber flew as a professional aerobatic pilot for 23 years, during which time his Firebird Aerobatics team completed over 2,800 solo and formation displays in front of an estimated total of 90 million spectators. They gave displays in 15 countries, and had a 100% safety record before closing in 2003. They will be remembered as one of the UK's most successful professional civilian aerobatic display company. Lecomber has been a racing motorcycle mechanic; journalist; wing-walker in a flying circus; chief flying instructor in the Caribbean; crop-spray pilot, and then a best-selling author of aviation novels. We see him in-flight performing a tight turn above southern English fields of Buckinghamshire with flying partner Alan Wade when the team was sponsored by the Rover Group.
    brian_lecomber01.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
  • 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
  • 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
  • In the mid-day heat, Squadron Leader John Green is a member of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team. Here he walks out alone to his aircraft, which is lined up with some of the others jets at RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus before flying out to Marka in Jordan for the first display of the year. The Red Arrows arrive each April to fine-tune their air show skills in the clear Mediterranean skies and continue their busy display calendar above the skies of the UK and other European show circuit. We see John Green carrying his flight bag and life-vest over his shoulder. He paces confidently across the bright 'apron' dressed in his famous red flying suit that the Red Arrows have made famous since 1965. He is alone and striding confidently towards the matching red eight Hawk airplanes.
    Red_Arrows093_RBA.jpg
  • Joining with the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team on the far left, are the smoke trails of forty leading European display aircraft: Spanish Patrulla Aguila; Italian Frecce Tricolori; French Breitling Jet Team and the Swiss Patrouille Suisse. All flew together in the clear, blue alpine skies on a spectacular fly-past at the Payerne Air 04 show, Switzerland. The two-day festival at the Swiss airfield 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. Flying on the far left here, the Red Arrows have performed over 4,000 shows in 52 countries since 1965.
    Red_Arrows672_RBA.jpg
  • Joining with the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team on the far left, are the smoke trails of forty leading European display aircraft: Spanish Patrulla Aguila; Italian Frecce Tricolori; French Breitling Jet Team and the Swiss Patrouille Suisse. All flew together in the clear, blue alpine skies on a spectacular fly-past at the Payerne Air 04 show, Switzerland. The two-day festival at the Swiss airfield 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. Flying on the far left here, the Red Arrows have performed over 4,000 shows in 52 countries since 1965.
    Red_Arrows671_RBA.jpg
  • Joining with the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team on the far left, are the smoke trails of forty leading European display aircraft: Spanish Patrulla Aguila; Italian Frecce Tricolori; French Breitling Jet Team and the Swiss Patrouille Suisse. All flew together in the clear, blue alpine skies on a spectacular fly-past at the Payerne Air 04 show, Switzerland. The two-day festival at the Swiss airfield 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. Flying on the far left here, the Red Arrows have performed over 4,000 shows in 52 countries since 1965. .
    Red_Arrows673_RBA.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
  • 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
  • Flight Lieutenant Dan Simmons of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, zips up his g-pants before climbing into his Hawk jet. G-pants counterac the effects of high gravity stresses that jet-fighters impose on the human body, automatically inflating and squeezing blood back to the thorax and head when blood drains towards the legs. As he attaches the zipper, he rests his straight right leg on a retractable step which helps him and his ground crew engineers to gain access to the cockpit, high above the ground. Hanging from another part of his airplane is his life-vest which he will wear around his neck, whilst in flight. Flight Lieutenant Simmons wears heavy-duty black boots which are regulation footwear for flying personnel and dressed in his red flying suit that is famous around the world.
    Red_Arrows173_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
  • In mid-flight over Greater London, we see a passenger?s view of a turning airliner's wing and the capital's dusk landscape below at a low altitude. As the starboard (right) wing dips, the Virgin Atlantic Airbus banks and a long exposure blurs the city lights below. A small curved portion of the passenger window, red engines and the Union Jack colours are seen. As aerodynamic design, the flying machine is a perfect gesture towards the conquest of flight, copied from the characteristics of a bird?s anatomy. As art, the mere beauty of taking to the air and maintaining level, organised speed is so routine, we rarely look our from our window to marvel at how and why. 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_corbis50-10-11-2000.jpg
  • In a farmer's tool shed, a painted mural depicting B-24 Liberators sweeping over the cracked brick wall of what was once an officers? mess at the WW2 Wendling airfield, Norfolk England. Below this scene of heroic military might, young officers flying Liberators of the 392nd Bomb Group gathered before and after raids into Germany from November 1943 to July 1945. The runway is now partly covered by a turkey farm and this building is now full of car and tractor parts. 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_corbis19-05-10-2000.jpg
  • Spectators watch an air show at North Weald in Cambridgeshire, England. A man films a lone aircraft that banks across the summer sky. The enthusiast's blue denim jacket is almost fully-covered with aeronautical badges which depict various foreign military aerobatic teams, including the Swiss, Norwegian and German squadrons, whose emblems have been stitched into the fabric. Plane spotters form hardcore groups of aviation pilgrims. Logging and photographing flying machines, they follow air displays across their own countries and the calendars of other European festivals that attract hundreds of thousands. 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_corbis10-12-05-1997.jpg
  • An airport worker employed by SABTCO guides an arriving Airbus onto its stand at Bahrain International Airport. The man carefully encourages the slow-moving flying machine using his illuminated sticks alerting the pilot in control of this commercial airliner to an exact stopping place after its taxiing from the runway. 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_corbis07-21-04-2001.jpg
  • Joining with the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team on the far left, are the smoke trails of forty leading European display aircraft: Spanish Patrulla Aguila; Italian Frecce Tricolori; French Breitling Jet Team and the Swiss Patrouille Suisse. All flew together in the clear, blue alpine skies on a spectacular fly-past at the Payerne Air 04 show, Switzerland. The two-day festival at the Swiss airfield 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. Flying on the far left here, the Red Arrows have performed over 4,000 shows in 52 countries since 1965.
    Red_Arrows641_RBA.jpg
  • Craning their necks skyward, both a pilot and support ground engineers of elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, gaze up to view an air display directly overhead at the Payerne Air 04 show, Switzerland. It is a perfect day for aerobatics with blue skies and during the team's two-day visit to the Swiss airfield at Payerne. Pilot Squadron Leader John Green is one of nine aviators who are collectively known as the Reds because of their famous red flying suits. The ground crew are obviously called the Blues. 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. The picture is full of humour because John Green is looking one way and the two others look in the opposite direction, while standing next to the aircraft.   .
    Red_Arrows660_RBA.jpg
  • A female passenger leans forward with head in hands amid the busy terminal at Chicago O'Hare Airport, Illinois, USA. Fellow-travellers in the background appear unworried, waiting for their respective flights in a calm manner. The lady in the foreground's body language however, suggests fatigue and distress and perhaps a fear of flying. 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_corbis52-10-11-2000.jpg
  • In mid-flight between Hamburg in Germany and London Heathrow, we see a passenger?s view of a climbing airliner's port wing and the hazy German landscape below at a high altitude. The sky above reflects its soft blue hue on the upper surface of the left wing but the air below is a soft pink, a rural patchwork of fields and villages. As an example of aerodynamic design, the flying machine is a perfect gesture towards the conquest of flight, copied from the characteristics of a bird?s anatomy. As art, the mere beauty of taking to the air and maintaining level, organised speed is so routine, we rarely look our from our window to marvel at how and why. 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_corbis34-21-05-2002.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
  • New first year pilots of the Red Arrows, Britain's RAF aerobatic team try on their new red flying suits for size.
    Red_Arrows434_RBA.jpg
  • A competitor in the annual Birdman of Bognor event attempts to fly at Bognor Regis, East Sussex, England. English eccentrics gather annually at the southern seaside town to jump from the pier into the chilly waters of the English Channel. Fun jumpers ?wearing? their aeroplane suits compete for a £25,000 prize for the one to fly 100 metres from the pier platform ? a record not yet achieved. Entrants (who often jump for charity rather than any aeronautical pretensions) include sugar plum fairies, condoms, Ninja Turtles and vampires. The winner was a hang-glider pilot reaching 26 metres but here, a Spitfire sponsored by a milk company drops vertically. 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_corbis22-27-05-2001.jpg
  • Young women are unaware of a young skateboarder suddenly flying through the air during his acrobatic jump over steps during London's rush hour.
    skateboarder_jump21-07-02-2014.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
  • Stored in their respective wooden boxes are the flying helmets and miscellaneous equipment belonging to two pilots of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, at their headquarters RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire. All ten pilots have their own storage space for gear. We see the place names of Reds One and Two: Squadron Leader Spike Jepson and Flight Lieutenant Matt Jarvis, whose visors are protected by soft cloths preventing scratches protective face screen. Squadron Leader Jepson is team leader and Flight Lieutenant Jarvis flies slightly behind and to the right in the Red Arrows Diamond Nine formation. On an average winter training day at Scampton, the crews will collect their kit up to six times a day in readiness for the forthcoming summer air show season. Flight Lieutenant Jarvis died of cancer one year later in March 2005. .
    Red_Arrows021_RBA.jpg
  • The two main commercial aircraft manufacturer rivals are seen in the same skyscape: A Boeing 777X makes a tight turn during its flying display above the Airbus corporate chalet during the Farnborough Airshow, on 20th July 2022, at Farnborough, England. The Farnborough International Airshow (FIA) is an aerospace and defence industry trade fair which, due to Covid, is being held for the first time in four years. The pandemic has had a major impact on commercial aviation, while the war in Ukraine has changed the mindset for defence industries. There are 1,200 exhibitors from 42 countries here with organisers hoping to attract more than 80,000 visitors over the week.
    farnborough_airshow-73-20-07-2022.jpg
  • A young woman drinks, unaware of a young skateboarder flying through the air during his acrobatic jump over steps during London's rush hour.
    skateboarder_jump18-07-02-2014.jpg
  • Commuters watch a young skateboarder flying through the air during his acrobatic jump over steps during London's rush hour.
    skateboarder_jump13-07-02-2014.jpg
  • Pedestrians ignore a young skateboarder flying through the air during his acrobatic jump over steps during London's rush hour.
    skateboarder_jump11-07-02-2014.jpg
  • Onlookers watch a young skateboarder flying through the air during his acrobatic jump down steps.
    skateboarder_jump09-07-02-2014.jpg
  • Pedestrians ignore a young skateboarder flying through the air during his acrobatic jump down steps.
    skateboarder_jump07-07-02-2014.jpg
  • An airshow aviation enthusiast adorned with badges enjoy aerobatic activity above their heads at Biggin Hill, Kent, England. As a helicopter banks tightly to the right, other groupies film something else to the left from the public areas during the many varied flying displays  at this small airfield north of London that saw action as an important airfield during the WW2 Battle of Britain, a location for the "Operations Room" for the Operation Crossbow V-1 flying bomb defences.
    plane_spotters03-29-07-2002.jpg
  • A detailed view of a Mark 1 Hawk jet belonging to 'Synchro Leader' of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team. We see the flight controls and instrument panels looking grubby and worn with grey paint rubbed or flaking off. This version of the BAE Systems Hawk is low-tech without computers nor fly-by-wire technology it is one of the most user-friendly modern jets to fly and serves as a first step trainer for pilots to accumulate fast-jet flying hours and who are destined for the most sophisticated of fast military fighters in the future. Their aerobatic displays demands that their workhorse machine must have phenominal turning circle ability and rate of climb. The team's aircraft are in some cases over 25 years old and their airframes require constant attention, with frequent engineering overhauls needed. .
    Red_Arrows769_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
  • Officer pilots of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, lean aginst a wing of their Hawk jet in a pre-flight briefing while a member of their ground crew positions some wheel chocks. The highly-skilled engineer is known as a 'Blue' but the 'Reds' discuss  flight plans. Eleven trades skills are imported from some sixty that the RAF employs and teaches. It is mid-day and only their flying boots and red legs are seen with the RAF roundel emblem is on the underside of the wing. The better-educated officers in the armed forces enjoy a more privileged lifestyle than their support staff. In the aerobatic squadron, the Blues outnumber the pilots 8:1. Without them, the Red Arrows couldn't fly. SOme of the team's Hawks are 25 years old and their air frames require constant attention, with increasingly frequent major overhauls due.
    Red_Arrows174_RBA.jpg
  • Specialist Corporal Mal Faulder is an armourer engineer (qualified to handle ejection seats and weaponry on military jets) but here in the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team he is seen polishing the aircraft's flying surfaces using wool and cleaning fluid on the morning of the team's PDA Day. PDA (or 'Public Display Authority'), is a special test flight when their every move and mistake is assessed and graded. Corporal Faulder is to buff up the airplane for an extra special shine on such an important day and we see the UK's Union Jack flag on the side of the diagonal stripes of the tail fin. The Red Arrows ground crew take enormous pride in their role as supporting the aviators whose air displays are known around the world. Blues like Mal outnumber the pilots 8:1. Without them, the Red Arrows couldn't fly.
    Red_Arrows129_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
  • 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
  • Red flying suit belonging the Red Arrows, Britain's RAF aerobatic team, hanging near another Squadron's cock emblem
    Red_Arrows332_RBA.jpg
  • Fresh red flying suits of the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team await owners for new display season.
    Red_Arrows398_RBA.jpg
  • Sam and Eve Branson, son and mother of tycoon Sir Richard, relax together on a roof terrace in Manhattan, New York. Both are queueing to join the hundreds already having paid their $200,000 for Virgin Galactic's space tourism rides in 2009. Launched in September 2004 by Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Galactic will invest up to $250 million to develop the world's first commercial space tourism business with the building, testing and flying of five space shipShipTwos and two mother ships. It is expected that within the first full year of commercial operations Virgin Galactic will enable 500 people to fulfil their dreams of becoming astronauts. Aboard the space vehicle will be 6 passengers, each paying $200,000 for the 40 minute flight to 360,000 feet (109.73km, or 68.18 miles) and to experience 6 minutes of weighlessness.
    baker_virgin13.jpg
  • Deep below-decks, we peer through a striped window of the highly-classified Conflict Direction Center or War Room on the aircraft carrier US Navy USS Harry S Truman during its deployment patrol of the no-flyzone in the Persian Gulf, near the Kuwaiti coast. This top secret office is used for planning and executing sophisticated tactical electronic warfare that fighter jets and surveillance aircraft engage in from air operations mounted from the carrier. The Truman is 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. The Iraqi no-fly zones (NFZs) were proclaimed by the United States, United Kingdom and France after the Gulf War of 1991 to protect humanitarian operations in northern Iraq and Shiite Muslims in the south. Iraqi aircraft were forbidden from flying inside the zones. The policy was enforced by US, UK and French aircraft patrols until France withdrew in 1998.  .
    RB-0046.jpg
  • Using a specially-designed trolley, we look down from above on two US Navy crew members transporting smart weapon armaments across the deck of the aircraft carrier US Navy USS Harry S Truman during its deployment patrol of the no-flyzone in the Persian Gulf, near the Kuwaiti coast. The Truman is 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.  The Iraqi no-fly zones (NFZs) were proclaimed by the United States, United Kingdom and France after the Gulf War of 1991 to protect humanitarian operations in northern Iraq and Shiite Muslims in the south. Iraqi aircraft were forbidden from flying inside the zones. The policy was enforced by US, UK and French aircraft patrols until France withdrew in 1998.  .
    RB-0016.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
  • An old fashioned pair of public address speakers have been attached to a no access sign overlooking the Northumberland countryside at the Kielder Air Show. Here, the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, are to perform and the squadron's commentator - known as Red 10 - will be describing the 25-minute routine performed in front of a few hundred people, probably the smallest of the Red Arrows audiences. The Hawk aircraft will be flying over the borderland between England and Scotland during this display which has attracted a local crowd to this pretty landscape. This primitive method of amplification makes for it charmingly quirky. Tangled electrical wires and an extension reel is low-tech and makeshift, vastly different to other shows where digital sound quality reproduces audio to many of thousands of spectators.
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  • Looking out to the Mediterranean Sea from the Akrotiri Peninsular, Cyprus, we see the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, practising their display finale, the Vixen Break, a show-stopping manoeuvre of their 25-minute air show display routine. A rusted and crumbling hulk of a ship lies in the shallow surf and the Hawk jets used by the Red Arrows fan out above it using red, white and blue smoke. It is a calm sea near the shoreline and the shipwreck's remains provide a sad foreground to the dynamic flying beyond making a graphic landscape. 'Datum' is an axis on which the Red Arrows focus their displays, from where the whole show is visible at the crowd's centre. 'The Wreck' is but one of a series of datum points selected by the team leader at short notice to simluate diverse geographical features and wind directions. The wreck is the MV Achaios. Built in 1932, it was on a voyage from Yugoslavia to Jeddah in 1976 with a cargo of timber. She ran aground in a storm at Akrotiri Peninsula, but no lives were lost.
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  • 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.
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  • Flight Lieutenants Steve Underwood and Anthony Parkinson and Wing Commander Bill Ramsey of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, discuss logistics beneath the emblems of long-disbanded fighter squadrons which decorate the squadron building at RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus. They sit in faded pink armchairs supplied by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) that are seen in many RAF stations and airfields with the same drab blue paint on the walls. Painted by hand are circular badges  with bold colours (colors) and illustrations of birds of prey, fighter-jets, swords and shields which all symbolise  warfare. The three pilots are relaxed wearing their red flying suits with their sunglasses dangling in the regulation loop, they are holding a bottle of mineral water and a coffee cup.
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  • Senior Machinist Supervisor, Tricia Randle finishes a red flying suit of Squadron Leader David Thomas, a pilot of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team. Tricia is a bespoke seamstress at Dale Techniche, Nelson, Lancashire. Every Winter, the Red Arrows place about 40 pilot suit orders and 180 blue (support ground crew) suits. Tricia adjusts her thread while the suit is complete on her work bench. The clothing factory also designs the Red Arrows badges, each requiring 15,000 stitches. All suits are made from Nomex by the Du Pont corporation, containing 5% Kevlar. Flame-retardant, they fit exactly each team member. Fouteen different measurements are taken before the first suit is cut, each one requiring approximately three metres of dyed cloth. When a suit is complete, each one is signed inside by the machinist.
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  • In a red helmet, Squadron Leader Spike Jepson, team leader of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, plunges into the blue  Mediterranean waters for his annual Wet Drill exercise during Spring training in Cyprus. We see the pilot, small in the picture surrounded by frothing, blue water that engulfs his small body making him look vulnerable. There are lines attaching him to a boat ensuring his safety. The rehearsal is to practise a helicopter recovery after a fast-jet ejection over the sea. His RAF-issue life vest (containing a vital life-raft) has inflated when in  contact with the salt water and helps him stay afloat in the cold water. This yearly event is required of all flying personnel to ensure that any accident over water can reach a positive outcome - by the rescuing of an expensively-trained pilot or navigator. .
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  • Now an overgrown, mildew-ridden farm shack in woodland in Seething, Norfolk England, this wall mural was once one of the barracks housing 3,000 young World War 2 bomber crews so was probably painted by a young aspiring artist and aviator with the 448th Bomb Group, a fleet of bombers based in England from November 1943 to July 1945. The picture depicts a confrontation between US Air Force B-24 Liberators, a P-51 Mustang and probably a German Dornier. There are hairline cracks in the plaster but the yellow hue of the hand-painted wall is largely intact despite damp conditions in the shed. There are however, other artistic details now faded. 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.
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  • 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. .
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  • Taking notes from an air band receiving radio, plane spotters log aircraft serial numbers and other details in notebooks near their perimeter fence at London's Heathrow airport. A large man has a pair of binoculars and an old SLR film camera and leans against his Peugeot car's bonnet (hood) to record the obsessive facts about airliners that pass overhead as they approach the runways of West London. His fellow-aviation enthusiast checks the radio that transmits the voices of pilots and air traffic controllers. In Britain, plane spotters are regarded as eccentric and sad but not trespassers. Some have been accused of spying near foreign military airfields. 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.
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  • 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. .
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  • The main nose wheel of an Airbus is parked on a stand at Bahrain International Airport. The names of other Airbuses and Boeing 737 types are also written on the concrete to allow exact distances for expandable air bridges and other airfield vehicles to connect and service these similarly-sized commercial airliners. A key hub airport in this region, providing a gateway to the Northern Gulf, Bahrain 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. .
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  • An aircraft cleaner from Kathmandu, Nepal, stands in white overalls with his bucket and mop on the tarmac at Bahrain International airport. It is another hot day in this key hub airport in this Gulf region, providing a gateway to the Northern Gulf. The airport is the major hub for Gulf Air which provides 52% of overall movements and is also the half-way point between Western Europe and Asian destinations such as Hong Kong and Beijing. Gulf states also rely on the workforces from south-Asia such as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh whose wages are often low and harsh living conditions compared to local nationals and tourists who enjoy superior accommodation. 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.  .
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  • Flying machine invention and Last Supper painting at Chateau de Clos Lucé, home to Leonardo da Vinci for the last 3 years of his life and now a celebration of his life and achievements, Amboise, France.
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  • The below-deck highly-classified Conflict Direction Center or War Room on the aircraft carrier US Navy USS Harry S Truman. This top secret office is used for planning and executing sophisticated tactical electronic warfare that fighter jets and surveillance aircraft engage in from air operations mounted from the carrier. The Truman is 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. The Iraqi no-fly zones (NFZs) were proclaimed by the United States, United Kingdom and France after the Gulf War of 1991 to protect humanitarian operations in northern Iraq and Shiite Muslims in the south. Iraqi aircraft were forbidden from flying inside the zones. The policy was enforced by US, UK and French aircraft patrols until France withdrew in 1998.  .
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  • Red pilots' flying suits of the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team, left drying on washing line.
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  • The 'Red Arrows', Air Force aerobatic team train over the skies of Lincolnshire, above 'low flying' warning road sign.
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  • We look through the windscreen of a Royal Air Force C-130-J Hercules to see a pilots-eye view of his fixed head-up-display (HUD), while in flight over Hampshire during the Farnborough Air Show. We see the aircraft flying data in green set against the magenta colour (color) of the clouds and sky beyond. The pilot will see the statistics that are important aspects of his aeroplane's altitude, compass heading, localiser, air speed, pitch, roll and yaw. Head-up displays are increasingly important to military and commercial aircraft (airplanes) when information can be displayed without obstructing the user's front view front. The second type of HUD is mounted within a protective helmet visor. The C-130 Hercules primarily performs the tactical portion of airlift operations. The aircraft is capable of operating from rough, dirt strips and is the prime transport for air dropping troops and equipment into hostile areas. The C-130-J is the newer generation digital version with fully integrated digital avionics; color multifunctional liquid crystal displays including the HUD; state-of-the-art navigation systems with dual inertial navigation system and global positioning system; fully integrated defensive systems; low-power color radar; digital moving map display; new turboprop engines with six-bladed, all-composite propellers; digital auto pilot; improved fuel, environmental and ice-protection systems; and an enhanced cargo-handling system..
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  • Virgin boss, Sir Richard Branson and Virgin Galactic directors Will Whitehorn and Stephen Attenborough, talk to the media during the unveiling of their SpaceShipTwo concept model's unveiling at the New York Wired NextFest at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.  Now under construction by Burt Rutan in Mojave, California and looking more like a Stanley Kubrick movie set from '2001 A Space Odyssey,' than the future for everyday holidays, SpaceShipTwo is a re-usable orbiting vehicle that will become an important tool for Man's leisure time in space when affordable commercial space tourism starts in around 2009.  .Aboard the re-usable space vehicle will be 6 passengers, each of whom will have paid $200,000 for the 40 minute flight to 360,000 feet (109.73km, or 68.18 miles) and to experience just 6 minutes of weighlessness..Launched in September 2004 by Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Galactic will invest up to $250 million to develop the world's first commercial space tourism business with the building, testing and flying of five space shipShipTwos and two mother ships.  It is expected that within the first full year of commercial operations Virgin Galactic will enable 500 people to fulfil their dreams of becoming astronauts; in the last 4 decades the world has seen fewer than 500 astronauts. Flights start around 2009..28/09/2006
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  • 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.
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  • 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. .
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  • 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. .
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  • On a foggy Spring morning at RAF Scampton, in Lincolnshire, a yellow MoD airfield telephone stands alone in the mist. Scampton is the headquarters of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team who largely have the sole use of its air space. The ageing equipment is a push-button type and its colour matches the painted stripes on the damp, concreted ground. The gloomy mist is obscuring buildings and hangars in the background and flying has been cancelled so an eerie stillness has settled on the normally busy facility that would normally host up to six red Arrows sorties (flight) a winter's day. Communications with remote areas of the aerodrome is often necessary to alert the air traffic control tower. Only qualified personnel are to use this system, just as drivers must have undertaken an MoD vehicle course.  .
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  • 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.
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  • A 40th anniversary celebration cake has been baked for the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team who are soon to appear. Displayed in a hospitality tent at the Kemble Air Show, the iced gateau has a red ribbon and an image of nine aircraft in mid-flight. A bouquet of flowers and assorted cutlery for the forthcoming lunch is alongside. Blue paper is draped over the top adding to the patriotic red, white and blue colours. After several identities, the Red Arrows started life near this location in 1964 at RAF Little Rissington in Gloucesterhire. Their name originates from the French 'Fleches Noirs', or Black Arrows, so in England, a new team was established flying black Hawker Hunters in the colour of their Squadron 111. As the Red Arrows diaplay team, they have since flown over 4,000 shows in 52 countries.
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  • 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. .
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  • 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. .
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  • Behind railings that honoured American aviator Wilbur Wright at the annual Le Mans air show, France, seven spectators gaze upwards to a clear sky where a lone but unseen aircraft performs in front of the French crowd. Wright made 110 flights at Le Mans and nearby Auvours in 1908 and his legacy for French and global aerospace lives on at events like this where a replica of his Wright Flyer was also exhibited. It is a bright summer's day and the blue sky has vapour trails left by a previous display pilot's jet engine. A prominent British Union Jack flutters on a pole and the words 'invites' (for invited guests only) are printed on to sheets of paper. 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. .
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  • Stacks of cigarette cartons are piled up in a display of duty free goods at Bahrain International airport . Camel Filters are featured more prominently here to suggest the importance of desert Gulf States like Bahrain in the global market. Bahrain 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. Duty free merchandise such as tobacco, jewellery, perfumes and electronics are big business here, favouring cheaper import duties and currency rates. 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.
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  • 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. .
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  • A Bahrani baggage-handler employed by SABTCO pauses during his shift at Bahrain International airport. Having loaded luggage and cargo into the hold of an Egyptair Airbus, he sits looking hot and tired on the company?s conveyor belt awaiting last-minute additions to the manifest before its imminent departure for Cairo, across the Mediterranean. 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 home for Gulf Air which provides 52% of overall movements and 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.
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  • The glow and trails of night manoeuvres seen from an upper deck of the US Navy's Harry S Truman aircraft carrier whilst on exercise somewhere in the Persian Gulf. <br />
The Truman is 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. The Iraqi no-fly zones (NFZs) were proclaimed by the United States, United Kingdom and France after the Gulf War of 1991 to protect humanitarian operations in northern Iraq and Shiite Muslims in the south. Iraqi aircraft were forbidden from flying inside the zones. The policy was enforced by US, UK and French aircraft patrols until France withdrew in 1998.
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  • Young and older aviation enthusiasts look through a rack of modelling kits during an airshow at Biggin Hill in Kent, southern England. Packets of scaled models of all types - in particular, British Spitfires and Mustangs) are on display for the buyer to browse during the hours before the flying displays commence at this small airfield north of London.
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  • The wrecked remains of a Curtiss C-46 Commando WW2-era transport aircraft awaiting salvage or recycling in the desert airfield of Davis Monthan in Tucson, Arizona. The Curtiss C-46 Commando is a transport aircraft originally derived from a commercial high-altitude airliner design. It was instead used as a military transport during World War II by the United States Army Air Forces as well as the U.S. Navy/Marine Corps under the designation R5C. Known to the men who flew them as "The Whale," the "Curtiss Calamity," the "plumber's nightmare" and the "flying coffin," At the time of its production, the C-46 was the largest twin-engine aircraft in the world, and the largest and heaviest twin-engine aircraft to see service in World War II.
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  • Seductive world destinations on view in a Manama City travel agency window, in the Bahrain capital. Showing the capitals of the world with the faces of European flight attendant and the children from an Asian country, the poster promises a seductive opportunity to book a trip to new experiences - the clock tower of Big Ben in London and the Sphinx of Giza in Egypt being two ideas that wealthy Bahrainis might wish to see for themselves, seen here months before the terrorist attacks on America that changed the public's attitude to flying on commercial airliners.
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  • The British Union Jack Flag flies in a stiff breeze, its colours of red-white and blue almost wholly horizontal as the wind tears through the blue skies and beneath wispy cirrus clouds, in Eastbourne, West Sussex, England UK. Tied to its flag-pole, this symbol of patriotic nationalism, evokes a sense of pride and spirit the British are known for - having encouraged them through two world wars and more recently, other military campaigns. The colours (colors) of Scotland's blue and white crosses and the English cross of St. George are merged to make this well-known symbol of the British Isles.
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  • A union jack flies proudly in front of tall Leylandii trees in a garden at Horning on the Norfolk Broads. As a statement of British territorial ownership in sububia where an Englishman's home is his castle is reflected also in his garden and the high boundaries between him and his neighbour, with the blight of the evergreen - a screen of privacy and supremacy. Even on sites of relatively poor culture, plants have been known to grow to heights of 15 metres (49 ft) in 16 years. Their rapid, thick growth means they are sometimes used to enforce privacy, but such use can result in disputes with neighbours whose own property becomes overshadowed.[
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  • Britain's Union Jack flag flies in a breeze with British Parliament's Big Ben clock tower at the Palace of Westminster in the background. As a symbol of parliamentary power and a national democracy, the colours flutter in a breeze alongside the Thames River on the southern Lambeth bank side. The clock shows just after 1 in the afternoon. The Palace, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is where the two Houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (the House of Lords and the House of Commons) conduct their business. It is therefore a potent symbol for British Governmental power, influence and a world-famous landmark for tourists. Big Ben is the name of the clock's bell and not the tower itself.
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  • Britain's Union Jack flag flies in a breeze with British Parliament's Big Ben clock tower at the Palace of Westminster in the background. As a symbol of parliamentary power and a national democracy, the colours flutter in a breeze alongside the Thames River on the southern Lambeth bank side. The clock shows just after 1 in the afternoon. The Palace, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is where the two Houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (the House of Lords and the House of Commons) conduct their business. It is therefore a potent symbol for British Governmental power, influence and a world-famous landmark for tourists. Big Ben is the name of the clock's bell and not the tower itself.
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  • The Ukrainian national flag and the British Union Jack both fly over British government buildings in Whitehall in Westminster, a symbol for military, humanitarian and financial aid given after Russia's invasion of the war-torn European state, on 6th October 2022, in London, England.
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  • The Ukrainian national flag flies over British government buildings in Whitehall in Westminster, a symbol for military, humanitarian and financial aid given after Russia's invasion of the war-torn European state, on 6th October 2022, in London, England.
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  • A single jet airliner flies across south London skies, its shape silhouetted against cumulus cloud formations on its in-flight journey overhead, on 19th August 2022, in London, England.
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  • A single jet airliner flies across south London skies, its shape silhouetted against altocumulus cloud formations on its in-flight journey overhead, on 24th July 2022, in London, England. Altocumulus is a middle-altitude cloud whose altitude is between 2,000–7,000 m (7,000–23,000 ft).
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  • A single jet airliner flies across south London skies, its shape silhouetted against altocumulus cloud formations on its in-flight journey overhead, on 24th July 2022, in London, England. Altocumulus is a middle-altitude cloud whose altitude is between 2,000–7,000 m (7,000–23,000 ft).
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  • A single jet airliner flies across south London skies, its shape silhouetted against altocumulus cloud formations on its in-flight journey overhead, on 24th July 2022, in London, England. Altocumulus is a middle-altitude cloud whose altitude is between 2,000–7,000 m (7,000–23,000 ft).
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  • A single jet airliner flies across south London skies, its shape silhouetted against altocumulus cloud formations on its in-flight journey overhead, on 24th July 2022, in London, England. Altocumulus is a middle-altitude cloud whose altitude is between 2,000–7,000 m (7,000–23,000 ft).
    jet_clouds-03-24-07-2022.jpg
  • A single jet airliner flies across south London skies, its shape silhouetted against altocumulus cloud formations on its in-flight journey overhead, on 24th July 2022, in London, England. Altocumulus is a middle-altitude cloud whose altitude is between 2,000–7,000 m (7,000–23,000 ft).
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  • A seagul flies over a seascape of inland paddleboarders and a cross-Channel DFDS ferry sailing into the Port of Dover, on 24th July 2022, in Dover, Kent, England. Following continuing Covid pandemic restrictions last year, the summer holday weekend of 2022 is the first real test for border controls in the post-Brexit travel era.
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  • A single jet airliner flies across south London skies, its shape silhouetted against altocumulus cloud formations on its in-flight journey overhead, on 24th July 2022, in London, England. Altocumulus is a middle-altitude cloud whose altitude is between 2,000–7,000 m (7,000–23,000 ft).
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  • Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II at the age of 96 last week, the union Jack flies at half-mast above Windsor Parish Church - St John the Baptist, on 12th September 2022, London, England. Queen Elizabeth came to the British throne in 1952 and was, after 70 years, the longest reigning monarch in British history. Succeeded by her eldest son Charles, his new title of King Charles III heralds a new era for Britain's monarchy and consitution.
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  • The stars of the EU flag fly over the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, seat of government and power of the United Kingdom during Brexit negotiations with Brussels, on 23rd November 2017, in London England.
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  • The stars of the EU flag fly over the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, seat of government and power of the United Kingdom during Brexit negotiations with Brussels, on 23rd November 2017, in London England.
    eu_flag-11-23-11-2017.jpg
  • The stars of the EU flag fly over the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, seat of government and power of the United Kingdom during Brexit negotiations with Brussels, on 23rd November 2017, in London England.
    eu_flag-05-23-11-2017.jpg
  • Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II at the age of 96 last week, the union Jack flies at half-mast above Windsor Parish Church - St John the Baptist, on 12th September 2022, London, England. Queen Elizabeth came to the British throne in 1952 and was, after 70 years, the longest reigning monarch in British history. Succeeded by her eldest son Charles, his new title of King Charles III heralds a new era for Britain's monarchy and consitution.
    queen_dead-49-12-09-2022.jpg
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