PoAF 57th Aniversary

In 2009 Portuguese Air Force celebrated its 57^th anniversary with an awesome airshow. Taking place at Air base Nº1 located at Sintra, the airshow lasted the entire afternoon with demonstrations from a great variety of military and civilian aircraft. Here is summary of some of the aircraft present:

Lockheed Martin F-16 A Fighting Falcon                            Lockheed Martin F-16 B Fighting Falcon

Lockheed P-3 C+ Orion                                                          Lockheed C-130 E Hercules

Lockheed C-130 H Hercules                                                  Agusta-Westland EH-101 Merlin

Aerospacial Alouette III                                                         Dassault Falcon 50

Casa C-212 Aviocar                                                                 Casa C-295 M Persuador

DeHavilland Chipmunk                                                          Yakolev Yak-52

Bleriot                                                                                       Dornier Do-27

Boeing Stearman                                                                    Dassault AlfaJet

Westland Lynx                                                                        Eurofighter EF-2000 Typhoon

The airshow took place under some challenging meteorological conditions, with very intense cloud cover which, unfortunately, resulted in some ruined photographs due to improper exposure settings. Here are some of the moments captured by the Panasonic Lumix FZ28.

Thank you for your visit,
Paulo Antunes


Lockheed C-130H-30 Hercules

CASA C-212 Aviocar

Lockheed C-130H Hercules

Aerospacial Alouette III

Lockheed P-3 Orion

Dornier Do-27

Agusta-Westland EH-101 Merlin

Bleriot

De havilland Chipmunk

Yakolev Yak-52

Westland Lynx

Eurofighter EF-2000 Typhoon

Boeing BT-17 Stearman

Dassault AlfaJet

Real Thaw 2012

Real Thaw is an annual exercise held by the Portuguese Air Force (PoAF), coordinated from airbase  Nº5 at Monte Real, Leiria, and under the control of Air Command, the Air Force´s entity responsible for reediness and training of operational units.

The exercise stages a simulated scenario of political crisis that intends to mimic has realistically and accurately has possible a complex theater of operations similar to those fund in recent armed conflicts.

Aside to the three branches of Portuguese armed forces, other NATO countries also participated, namely the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Spain and Holland.

Portuguese Air Force participated with the Lockheed Martin F-16 AM Fighting Falcon, AgustaWestland EH101 Merlin, Lockheed C-130H Hercules, Casa C-295 Persuador, Lockheed P-3 CPU Orion and the Aerospatiale Alouette III helicopter.

Spain participated with the Eurofighter EF-2000 Typhoon and a Airbus A330 MRR, UK with a Falcon 20 and NATO with a E-3 Sentry AWACS aircraft.

At the closing days of the exercise the PoAF was kind to invite Spotters to attend for a day to flight operations and other activities. More than 50 spotters had the unique opportunity to witness the excitement of military operations and the consensus was unanimous, the spotters day was a resounding success and all spotters were very appreciative for the opportunity.

In conclusion I wish to present all readers with a summary of some of the best moments captured by the camera.

Thank you for your visit,

Lockheed Martin F-16AM Fighting Falcon

Lockheed Martin F-16AM Fighting Falcon

Lockheed C-130H Hercules

CASA C-295M Persuader

Dassault Falcon 20

Lockheed P-3 Orion

Lockheed Martin F-16AM Fighting Falcon of the 301st squadron "Jaguares"

Eurofighter EF-2000 Typhoon

Lockheed Martin F-16AM Fighting Falcon

Lockheed Martin F-16AM Fighting Falcon departing in full afterburner

Lockheed Martin F-16AM Fighting Falcon, this was an OCU model, note in the fin, the bulges for the rudder actuators 

Eurofighter EF-2000 Typhoon

Lockheed Martin F-16AM Fighting Falcon departing and carrying a ECM pod

Eurofighter EF-2000 Typhoon, twin seater

Lockheed Martin F-16AM Fighting Falcon performing a aerodynamic landing

Agusta-Westland EH-101 Merlin

Exercise Patch

Paulo Antunes

Passion

Since I can remember aviation has been my passion, perhaps due to the sounds, the speed or the graceful lines of aircraft. Whatever the reasons might be, it´s something that has brought great joy in to my life.  

I attended my first airshow has an adolescent in 1996, the so-called “Tiger Meet” was held at Beja airbase and it was a memorable day. It was also at this airshow that I took my first pictures of aircraft, resulting in a very fascinating experience that would set the foundations for aviation photography hobby.

With a masters in mechanical engineering I have had the opportunity to develop my knowledge on aeronautical science in general, and if everything goes according to plan I expect in the near future to take my pilots license therefore fulfilling a long time dream.
Has far has photography is concerned, over the years I have had the opportunity to practice, acquire new equipment, explore new techniques, uncover little secrets and step-by-step improve on my skills. One of the most interesting discoveries that I have made was that photography is an art on constant evolution, not just is terms of gear and tecnology but in personal terms, for everytime i take my camera out I feel I´m learning, and that is amazing for I still have a long way to go and I love a good challenge.

Photo by Leonardo Coelho

Also, I have had the privilege and honor of meeting new friends, some of them pilots and aviation professionals but also professional photographers and other enthusiasts, just like me, all of witch with lots of experience and the good will to share them, and with whom I have learned so much and am so grateful.
It´s been a great adventure and that is what has lead me to create this blog. To pay my tribute to aviation and photography, allowing me to be able to show my work and to establish a bridge in witch experiences and knowledge can be shared and exchanged.

Paulo Antunes