RAF Air Show PDA

Posted by: Fast Air Photography Tags: BBMF, Hurricane, Lancaster, PDA, RAF Coningsby, Spitfire, Typhoon Posted date: April 29, 2009 | No comment

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Each year the display teams of the RAF have to perform a Public Display Authorisation (PDA) before they are allowed to perform for the public (as the name suggests!). The process is the end of a lot of practice by the pilots and is performed in front of a high ranking member of the RAF.RAF Coningsby being the home of both the Typhoon and the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) was naturally the place for the PDA to be carried out for the display teams from these two squadrons. Originally the 28th was scheduled as the PDA date and the 29th as the weather reserve. The weather of course didn’t play ball and the PDA was moved to the afternoon of the 29th.

I had decided to try to get photos of the Typhoon performing it’s ‘performance takeoff’ and positions myself by the crash gate along side the active runway. This did mean I would be limited in the amount of the display I could shoot as the centre point of the display is directly over the hardened air shelters used by 3 Squadron and that would be more or less directly into the sun from my position.

Unfortunately my gamble plan didn’t work out as the Typhoon display started with a slow taxi before engaging reheat and pulling up into the vertical. This mean the rotation point was much further down the runway that was usual for a Typhoon taking off and I missed the shot I wanted.

For this reason my selection of photos are heavy on ground shots. I’ve decided to sort the pictures by aircraft type rather than the order they were shot in. To start with the Lancaster……

BBMF Lancaster B1 PA474 taxi photo