Contrail spotting August 2007

Planespotting in the upper atmosphere! All pictures, reports or whatever question about upper level traffic come here

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Sabena320
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Post by Sabena320 »

Just gave the photo a "bit" more contrast. :lol:

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ilpavone2004
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Post by ilpavone2004 »

Hey skystef,
i just wanted to ask you what kind of barlow lens do you use. i really would like to take such photos...you're really the best ;)
regards

Mattia

tangolima
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Post by tangolima »

Hello,

Seen this morning above Ghent:

- Delta Airlines B767 Dep. at BRU as DL 141 to New York
- MNG Cargo A300F (it was the yellow version)
- United Airlines B767 Dep. at BRU as UA 951 to O'Hare and Washington
- Lufthansa A340 heading USA
- British Airways B737

Greetings,
Kristof

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Skystef
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Post by Skystef »

ilpavone2004 wrote:Hey skystef,
i just wanted to ask you what kind of barlow lens do you use. i really would like to take such photos...you're really the best ;)
Ok thx,

I've tried 2" lenses: one from Geoptik & one from Soligor.

Comparing these two I've noticed the Soligor lens is less convex and produces sharp images in the whole viewfield. This is not the case with the rather convex Geoptik lens in which images turn a bit blurry at the edges. As airframes mostly do cover +75% in a viewfield this blurry aspect is visible in most pictures. So I stick with 2" Soligor (magnification 2x).

Another negative aspect using a barlow is that the spidervain becomes visible as a brighter spot in the middle of pictures. I suppose it all depends on the width of scope and the mark of camera. Some users have no trouble. My combi of 8"scope, 2" barlow & Canon sensor produces a faint brigt spot. But lucky, major correction is possible via photoshop.

In my opinion pictures taken from the side are favorable, as distance becomes consequently larger, a good quality 2x Barlow lens may be a cost efficiënt solution for acceptable pictures. Major part is of course the photographers skill :wink: .

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Skystef
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Post by Skystef »

Not much to show from my side this month, heat waves you know.

Anyhow, on August 30, around midnight the Moon stood at a rather good place for close encounters with east bound traffic on UL607.

Every day between 2330-0030LT, more than a dozen heavies are passing by and after two near misses with the Moon's disk, one was bingo. For once, I didn't use the scope but the Bigma lens.

I suppose everyone recognises the type, however the company will be a mistery forever unless I 'll tell you.

So here the complete info. August 30 @ 0015LT on UL607: Etihad Airways A340-600 A6-EHE at 38000 ft enroute Heathrow-Abu Dhabi as ETD018.

A crop of the entering.
Image

Full view of Moon & contrailing plane.
Image
Last edited by Skystef on 30 Aug 2007, 13:06, edited 1 time in total.

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Gliderpilot
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Post by Gliderpilot »

Lovely!

One pic like that is worth a thousand of the others...

Congrats

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sn26567
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Post by sn26567 »

Superb images, Stef. Congratulations!
André
ex Sabena #26567

Sabena320
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Post by Sabena320 »

An amazing photo! :shock: :D

Robin_Bamps

Post by Robin_Bamps »

Really amazing Skystef !

Thanks a lot for sharing !

Regards, Robin Bamps.

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lumumba
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Post by lumumba »

Yep Stef.
J'adore.
I so a Jetairways 777-300 this August over Bari (Italy).
Regards
Patrice
Hasta la victoria siempre.

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contrailwatcherUK
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Post by contrailwatcherUK »

Wow, great image Stef!! :shock:

Regards

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