Still trying to import all of my photos into Lightroom to process them, but just one that stood out for the moment:

The newest toy in the inventory of the USAF, the F-22A Raptor displays in the Summer skies of England over RAF Fairford during RIAT 2010.

Flown by Major Dave ‘Zeke’ Skalicky from Langley AFB, here he pulls up steeply showing off the Raptor’s thrust vectoring ability courtesy of the two Pratt & Whitney F119 engines which propel the Raptor.

The Sussex Air Ambulance responds rapidly to 999 calls with a Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS), serving the people who live, work or travel through the counties of East and West Sussex.

Their highly skilled team of Doctors, Paramedics and Nurses can arrive at the scene of most emergencies anywhere in Sussex within 15 minutes to provide swift medical intervention.

Patients can be transferred by air, fast and unhindered to an appropriate major hospital of specialist unit, dramatically improving chances of survival and a speedy recovery.

Please support the fantastic work they do by Donating Now.

Don’t forget to take a trip to Dunsfold yourself on the 11th of July for the Air Ambulance Open Day to meet the crew, have a look around the helicopter and even meet some Daleks and Storm Troopers!

The Sussex Air Ambulance approaches its base at Dunsfold.

The Sussex Air Ambulance lands at its base at Dunsfold, with the Paranedic giving the camera a wave.

Here The Sussex Air Ambulance hovers overhead, the Doctor is attached to a harness inside the helicopter and is surveying the scene before the helicopter lands.

The Sussex Air Ambulance hovers behind the Fast Response Car which the crew use when the helicopter is unavailable.

Thankfully because it had a UV filter over the lens I only have to buy a replacement filter and not a replacement lens! UV and clear filters can be used for this exact reason, they also help with keeping your lenses clean and intact as you only have to clean the filter and avoid scratching the surface of the lens.

Of course there are always arguments for and against, Wikipedia has more on the subject.

The film crew were interviewing the crews of the various aircraft which were on the ground, but neglected to change it between the Spitfire Pilots and The Guinot Wingwalkers, Kirsty Joly and Danielle Hughes. The interviewer was doing fine until he got to one question which threw Kirsty and Danielle.

Interviewer: So this being a Battle of Britain Airshow and it having been 70 years since The Battle of Britain, what does The Battle of Britain mean to you?
Guinot Girls turn to each other and laugh, then say to the interviewer…..
Guinot Girls: You can’t ask us that! We’re bimbos!

…The film crew didn’t know what to say to that and quickly gave up on the interview.

Unfortunately the airshow organisers had to cope with more than a few cancellations at the last minute but they managed to book a few acts to replace some of the gaps but unfortunately some of the cancellations led to a 45 minute gap on the Sunday, which did see some of the crowds dispersing.

The Tigers Parachute display team decent from the skies above Eastbourne.

The organisers did book several acts that went down well with the crowd, one of them being The Tigers Parachute Display Team representing the Army. The Tigers Parachute Display Team represent The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment which is the local Regiment for the South East of England, and so there was plenty of support from the crowd for the team. Instead of landing in the arena like at many airshows, the team cut themselves free from their parachutes a few feet over the sea and then splashed into the water before being picked up by the lifeboats.

One of the Tigers Parachute Display Team from The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment about to splash down into the sea off of Eastbourne.

An RAF Tutor T1 flown by the display pilot Bill Ramsey displays over The English Channel off Eastbourne.

As with most airshows in the UK the RAF had a large presence with The Tutor T1, Hawk T1 and the Eurofighter Typhoon flew their impressive displays with some spectacular views being had of the displays being held over the English Channel. The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight also made an appearance with their Lancaster, Spitfire and Hurricane in front of the white cliffs of Beachy Head taking people back to the dark days of WWII.

The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight begin their display with a formation pass low over the sea allowing people to look down onto the aircraft, something rarely seen at airshows.

Another Hurricane was seen around the cliffs of Beachy Head during the airshow as well, Peter Teichman brought along his latest toy his Hurri-bomber which has just recently been restored flew its maiden display on the Thursday of the airshow.

Peter Teichman flies his Hurri-bomber as it performs at its first airshow.

On the civilian side of things, The Blades performed on all four days much to the crowds enjoyment with gasps from the crowd when they performed their close formation manurers. Several jets were also displaying, Duxford’s F-86 Sabre as well as the Gnat Pair from North Weald putting on great displays on each day, unfortunately on a couple of days the weather forced flat displays but they did manage full displays on Sunday. Team Guinot also put on fantastic displays each day, with the girls getting closer than I can remember seeing them for a long time on the mirror pass.

The Team Guinot girls get just a few feet from each other during their mirror pass.

Keeping up the International participation of the airshow a USAF KC-135 tanker displayed on the Thursday and Friday, and on every day the Dutch F-16 Display Team flew their specially painted orange F-16 in formation with a two seater Spitfire TR.9 in Dutch markings flown by John Romain from the Aircraft Restoration Company before performing a break and then going straight into their display.

The Dutch F-16 Demo Team perform a formation pass with a Spitfire TR.9 in Dutch markings for a Dutch Heritage Formation Flypast.

The Dutch F-16 Demo Team perform their fantastic display at Eastbourne.

On every day of the airshow the Red Arrows performed their highly refined display which had the crowds looking to the sky on each and every day. On Saturday one of the aircraft suffered a suspected bird strike when taking off from Manston airport in Kent and had to return, leaving only 8 aircraft displaying. The rest of the time however everything went as planned and the crowds were wowed by the 9 aircraft performing in the deep blue skies over Eastbourne.

The Red Arrows perform their display in the deep blue skies over Eastbourne.

The Red Arrows prepare to perform a break high in the skies over Eastbourne.

The Red Arrows Gypo section perform their final break for the Eastbourne Airbourne Airshow.

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A Post stands proud on the top of The South Downs with a view stretching across The Sussex Weald.

A Fence Line on the top of The South Downs leads down the scarp face of The South Downs.

The Cheap Seats; A couple watch the proceedings of a cricket match from the top of The South Downs.

The 2009 RAF Hawk Display Aircraft with a special colour scheme.

As with most years there was a nice mix of both fast jets, warbirds and props. Unfortunately the show was hit by technical glitches with quite a few aircraft ‘going tech’ on each day, however with some creative rearranging this was barely noticeable.

To Celebrate 25 Years of Virgin Atlantic The Red Arrows were led into Biggin Hill by a Virgin Atlantic 747.

On the Sunday one of the local display pilots had a rather embarrassing incident when landing. Flt Lt Matt Barker burst a tyre on landing, unfortunately leaving the Hawk stranded at the end of the runway for about half an hour, fortunately Team Guinot who were due up next were able to use only half the runway to take off for displaying.

The Army Air Corps brought their toys in the form of an Apache and a Lynx as part of the Blue Eagles.

Other than a few minor problems with aircraft ‘going tech’ the rest of the show went off without a hitch, with displays from The Red Arrows, The Great War Display Team and Team Viper who are new to the display circuit. But without a doubt the display which left the crowd watching the sky in stunned silence was the Swift Glider Display Team who received the loudest round of applause at the end of their display.

The Red Bull Matadors put on their flawless routine of close formation aerobatics.

The Fly Navy 100 celebrations were unfortunately dampened a little by the Royal Navy Historic Flight aircraft being unserviceable and the de Haviland Sea Vixen unable to fly one of the days, however the Hawker Nimrod was still able to fly its full display on both days. There was some Naval Heavy Metal on display on both days in the form of a Douglas Skyraider, in U.S. Naval markings.

Hawker Hunter F58a Miss Demeanour makes a topside pass along the crowd flown by Jonathon Whaley.

Classic Jets were out in force this year, with Hawker Hunter F58a Miss Demeanour, F-86 Sabre, A Folland Gnat Pair, and of course The Vulcan. The Vulcan being one of the crowd favourites that everyone was looking forward to seeing, having unfortunately missed last year’s show it had been 17 years since XH558 had displayed at Biggin Hill.

The Vulcan finally returns to Biggin Hill after 17 years.

Warbirds were well represented as well, with Peter Teichman and his P-40 Kittyhawk in its new paint scheme straight from a new George Lucas film where the aircraft was starring as one of the Tuskagee Airmen aircraft. Also displaying were Spitfire MH434 and P-51 Mustang Ferocious Frankie who closed the show with their traditional close formation display, unfortunately on the Sunday Ferocious Frankie was unable to display and so a solo Spitfire display closed the Airshow with a couple of trips into the forbidden valley complete with audible gasps from the gathered crowd.

One of Team Guinot’s Boeing Stearman sits in the static park on Sunday Evening.

Hopefully next year’s show will be just as lucky with the weather and hopefully a bit luckier when it comes to participants serviceability.

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Taking in Films

Me: Which size prints would you like?
Customer: 1 Hour.

Me: When would you like these films ready by?
Customer: As soon as possible!
Me: 1 Hour?
Customer: Oh God no! Not that quickly!

Customers Using the Digital Kiosk

Customer: What does this mean?
Me: What does it say on the screen?
Customer: It says do you want to put your photos onto a CD?
Me: …Well do you want to put your photos onto a CD?
Customer: No
Me: Then press no.

Customer finishes order and receipts come out of the kiosk.
Customer: Is this machine not instant?
Me: No, that’s our instant kiosk over there *points at large standalone unit with Instant Print Kiosk written down the side*
Customer: Oh I thought this was instant
Me: *Looks at Receipt* You’ve chosen the 1 Hour service on here.
Customer: Oh, so that isn’t instant then?

Customers Using the Instant Kiosk

*Sound of coins going in the top slot and coming straight out the rejected coins slot at the bottom*
Customer: This machine is broken!
Me: What seems to be the problem?
Customer: It’s not taking my money!
Me: That’s because it only takes card payment, not cash.
Customer: There should be a sign saying that!
Me: You mean like that one? *Points at sign saying just that right above the cash slot they have been putting coins into.*

…I am so looking forward to going back next week!