Red Chequers

I went to the Classic Fighters Air Show at Omaka Aerodrome today. It was a lovely warm day, at least 26 C , with a gentle northerly breeze. Perfect flying conditions. There were a few clouds in the sky to add interest.
John and Maureen got to the Show a couple of hours ahead of me and I did not catch up with them until early afternoon. There were thousands of spectators at the show. And it was very noisy with the noise from fast planes and artillery noise from mock battles.
I teamed up with Ricky, another Blipper, and we had great time. 1200 images later... or even more! Ricky was having a bit of trouble with his camera so he had a turn using mine. I was using the Nikon D7000 as I want ed the advantage of the 1.5 crop factor. I used only one lens today and along with the camera it was jolly heavy. The lens was my Nikon 70 - 200 mm, 2.8. A lovely fast lens. I combined it with a Nikon 1.7 teleconverter and used a German polariser. It turned out to be a good combination despite being heavy. I surprised myself by being able to handle the weight all day long. I had surgery on my left shoulder 18 months ago so I was feeling a bit apprehensive.
The flying displays were amazing and I loved the planes. I can see how easily folk get hooked on air shows. Both Ricky and I put our energy into capturing images of the flying so alas, I did not get time to investigate the photographic possibilities of the set displays such as the mock wartime encampments and the display of Classic Cars.
We saw other blippers there...Janny and Busywilli. I believe at least two more blippers will be attending the show tomorrow.
As for me, I will give the actual show a miss and will concentrate on capturing images from the Taylor River bank. I have sussed out a great spot pretty well under the flight path into the Omaka Aerodrome. It will be another great day!